Day 2 - Land of the Tiger, India. Time to visit the ‘Jungle Book’ jungle
- Joanne Short
- 4 days ago
- 7 min read
Today was the day we were waiting for… time to visit the Pench National Tiger Reserve and go and spot some animals.
We had an extremely early start - with our alarms set for 5 am and we were ready to meet the team by the gate at 5.45! Too excited to be tired, we hopped aboard the open-topped safari vehicle and headed off to Silari Gate - our gateway to the forest.
It was so dark we could hardly see as we waited outside the gate for our paperwork to be checked. The safaris are timed to catch the sunrise which is when the animals start to move around the forest and the big cats start to roam around.
Sure enough, the sun started to rise slowly and we could start to make out the shapes of the trees in the Forest. This particular forest is called a deciduous dry tropical forest and we were very interested to hear that the leaves start to drop in the spring, just like our autumn, and they are completely bare in the summer, just like our winter! This means that it is exactly the opposite to the forests and woods in the UK.
As well as the animals, there is a lot to learn about the trees in the forest too. We learnt that, because the forest is a national park area on the edge of the park are looked after and maintained to a point and trees are thinned out and replanted. This is to grow a fast growing Teak trees, used around the world for furniture and other items. By growing it this way it hopefully prevents people from cutting the trees in the centre of the forest down and diminishing their habitat. As we know, whole areas of forest are cleared by loggers in other parts of the world.
As we drove through the forest we could hear a strange repetitive high melodic sound which was the alarm call of the Spotted Deer. This meant that there was definitely a tiger in the vicinity and they were averting the attention of the other animals nearby. The monkeys were also calling - these two animals work hand in hand as a team to protect one another from the carnivores. The meat eaters who will hunt and kill them for their food supply. Another sure sign adult deer would last a tiger about a week’s food supply.
Another sure sign that they were in distress was that they had their tails up, showing a flash of white and were facing away from the rest of the herd so as to pass the message down the herd to be alert. It felt very eerie and magical at the same time as the figures of the deer appeared amongst the trees in the half light, with a slight mist. You can hear the sound of their call in today’s video.
The Spotted Deer was very beautiful, with lovely markings on its back, hence its name. We could see that they were on high alert and could sprint away at any moment.
Gradually, as the light began to brighten, their calls stopped which meant that the danger was over… no tiger spotting for us today, as this meant that the imminent danger had abated and the Tiger had moved away.
This time of year the trees and bushes still have most of their leaves which makes it very difficult to spot the wildlife. In the summer, when the trees are bare, there is a higher chance of catching sight of a tiger - by then the summer will have arrived and it would be far too hot for us. And soon after that the Monsoon season sets in which lasts until around October. We must also remember that Tigers are an endangered species and so they aren’t just hidden behind every tree!
However we were very excited when we were pointed out some massive claw marks on a couple of trees nearby! They were huge! These claw marks are to warn off fellow tigers as each male tiger has its own territory and needs to warn any other encroaching male away. And the other thing we spotted was some fresh Tiger poo! From the poo you can tell what their last meal was and we could see for ourselves that there had been something furry on the menu the day before!
Now that it was light and the sun had come out, the time for tiger spotting was over and it was time to look out for some of the stunning birds that inhabit this forest. We were lucky enough to spot several interesting ones, including the Hoopoe, a big owl, a woodpecker, ‘Submarine birds’ which are little coot-like birds that swim and dive down to feed on the weed under the water, hence their name!
In the afternoon were given special permission to enter a certain part of the forest and get out of the vehicle to paint. This was very special indeed. John chose a rocky area amongst the trees and set up to paint while I chatted to Mandar about our surroundings.
He showed me a large termite mound, saying that he thinks that the termites are some of the best architects that nature has ever created!. What they do is decompose all the fallen leaves and plant matter on the forest floor creating a natural and essential compost for the forest. They create enormous mounds of earth built up over a period of time. The mounds are super hard and strong enough to hold Mandar up when he stood on one!
Termites are the favourite food of the sloth bear who will go to enormous effort to dig into the nest to eat them. A sloth bear has a long nose and a very long tongue which it uses like a straw to suck up the termites. It also has really long claws - about 15cm long, that it uses to dig up the termite mound. To protect itself from the inevitable attack from the angry termites it has long hair to stop them from biting.
While we were walking around the area Mandar demonstrated how they teach the local schools a bit about the different trees by doing rubbings from them and labelling them. Every tree has a different style of texture. It is a very good activity to do - all you need is a piece of paper and a pencil and carefully using the side of the pencil lead rub the paper with it. Each tree has its own identity.
Mandar pointed out several really interesting trees:
A leopard tree whose bark looks just like a leopard’s markings. This is where a leopard likes to hide because the markings on the tree help to disguise it and will then pounce on its prey unexpectedly from above.
A crocodile tree with bark like the pattern of a crocodile. this tree is fiul of water and if you cut it down it sprays it out. It is a sacred tree for the Gond Tribe and they never cut them down. They only use the trunks when the tree has naturally fallen. One of the ways the tribe use it is for propping up fabrics outside the bride’s house on the day of her wedding.
A ghost tree has a white trunk that shows up when the forest quite dark and gives a ghostly appearance. It sheds its bark three times during the year and has three different identities - it is white, then pink, then green depending on the season.
John busily painted away all afternoon while the guards ket watch on us. We just assumed that they were making sure we didn’t trample the forest or misuse it in any way, or stray off the path, but when everyone started to get fidgety at about 4.30, they weren’t just wanting to get home for their tea, they didn’t want us to become the tiger’s tea! That made John clear up. His paints the quickest i have ever seen! The afternoon in the daylight and strong sunshine is much safer tan in the half light of sunset. So watch out for tier at tea time!
The area where we were is a ‘dark sky’ area, which means that there no light at night. This means that it is the perfect place for star gazing and the forestry commission run groups to come and see the stars with a gig telescope they have in their watch tower.
The guards have a watch tower to make sure people don’t abuse the forest by poaching the big animals for their skins, cutting down trees to use the wood or digging up sand to sell. The forest is manned night and day because of these activities.
John worked hard on his painting until it was time to leave. He wasn’t able to quite finish because of the last minute rush, but he made sure he had all the key elements in the painting and was able to do the final touches back in the small garden outside our hotel room.
When we headed back to the hotel Mandar took us to buy a new sunhat for John with Pench Forest on the front! The ladies in the shop were so lovely - we had our photo taken with them! Mandar explained to us that the Satpuda Foundation helped with setting up their small shop. He explained how helping people create a livelihood is the best way to educate the about the forest an its The main thing for these families is to keep their children fed, so by helping them with this via a new profession rather than just giving them money means they no longer have to risk their lives foraging for firewood or walking to collect water in the forest.
We had another full day, finding out lots of things on the way! We look forward to telling you about our adventures tomorrow because it is our first time working in a local school and helping the children here to paint.
Send us your questions so we can answer them in the next blog and video - Q&A form available on lastchancetopaint.com
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