Wildbuzz: Revenge on Rudyard’s Rikki

0
83

[google-translator]

Nature can deliver a rejoinder to Rudyard Kipling’s fictional mongoose, Rikki Tikki Tavi, immortalised in the Jungle Book for having disposed of a pair of Naags that posed a danger to an English family. Serpents can, on rare occasion, get the better of mongooses, as witnessed by this writer at the Shivalik Golf Club, Chandimandir, when an exceptionally-large Spectacled cobra forced a Grey mongoose to beat an unceremonious retreat near the 8th hole tee.

But the prevalent reality is that mongooses invariably get the better of cobras, if sizes are not inordinately mismatched like the Chandimandir face-off. The oddity of a reversal of fortunes in favour of cobras will naturally provoke public interest.

A reel posted on Facebook last week by Gobinda Kumar showed a dark cobra coiled around a dead mongoose. The reel drew 1.3 million views and 16.3K likes.

Admittedly a classic click-bait, the reel reeked of contrivance. Artful saperas could have inveigled an already-dead mongoose into the cobra’s coils and filmed it to elicit populist response.

I sought a perspective from the legendary herpetologist, Rom Whitaker, Padma Shri, on its “authenticity”. Also, what circumstances in raw nature could lead to a reversal of fortunes for the proverbial Rikki, embodying the myth of the infallible mongoose?

Whitaker’s response: “There are lots of possibilities for the reel. It could be a ‘set-up’ by someone for his FB page. It could be that the mongoose was dead of other causes and the cobra was interested in eating it, etc. However, a mongoose could die if it gets a full, lethal dose of venom via a cobra bite. While a mongoose is ‘somewhat’ immune to cobra venom, mongooses are not fully protected from the neurotoxic and/or haemotoxic effects of cobra (and other) snake venoms. Mongooses use their energy, speed and agility to beat cobras who usually don’t have a chance against them. Cobras don’t have the constricting abilities that true constrictors (such as pythons) have and it is unlikely that the mongoose in the reel was killed by the cobra’s tightening coils. With regard to vipers (such as the Russell’s), mongooses may have some resistance to other venom components but the long fangs of a viper (which can penetrate the adversary’s bristling fur) would certainly be problematic for mongooses.”

The Greater scaup at Siswan. (Pushkar Bali)
The Greater scaup at Siswan. (Pushkar Bali)

From Siswan’s treasure trove

The Siswan dam has invariably rewarded those birders, who display perseverance in negotiating the hazardous and arduous ramble. Rugged terrain, formidable creatures, swamps and thorny, thick foliage distance Siswan from the realm of comfortable birding drives and roadside picnics. Here, at this picturesque community reserve, rare avians are just not “served up” on a platter for real-time Instagram consumption.

In the course of one of his consistent explorations of Siswan’s avian diversities, Pushkar Bali, reckoned as “Siswan Snoop”, stumbled upon a rarity that set birder tongues wagging. It was an esoteric migrant duck, a limited hybrid tilting heavily in favour of the Greater scaup species. A couple of its deviant features — a more-rounded forehead and a wider black mark on bill tip — suggested hybridisation with an allied species, the Tufted duck.

The scaup was discovered by Bali on February 5 in a flock of Tufted ducks and exhibited different behaviour from the latter by diving frequently. The only other record of the scaup from Punjab is a sighting (not photo) by the Swede, Per Undeland, from Harike in the 1990s.

Explaining the significance of Bali’s find, Mohali-based birder Gurpartap Singh told this writer: “This species is considered a winter vagrant to India and only a handful of records exist. In Eurasia, the scaup summer breeds from Iceland and Scandinavia east across Northern Russia to Eastern Siberia, Kamchatka, and Commander Islands. The most-likely reason for its rare appearance in Siswan is that some scaups may join migrating flocks of other (allied Aythya species) ducks flying in from nearby or overlapping breeding areas in the northern latitudes, like the Tufted Duck and Common Pochard which regularly winter in India in large numbers. As they migrate in mixed flocks, some scaups may land up in regions where they are uncommon. Or a single scaup may lose its way after separating from a flock of its own kind due a weather disturbance, injury, illness, etc. The scaup sighting at Siswan underscores the importance of conserving habitats where our winged visitors can seek refuge. Bird watchers should remain vigilant to the presence of uncommon birds which get overlooked due to similarities with commoner, allied species.”

vjswild1@gmail.com

Source link

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here