My Wild experiences at ATREE’s Wild Camp

My Wild experiences at ATREE’s Wild Camp

By: C.R.Ramana Kailash

It was already 11 O’clock and we need to go to the District Science Centre Tirunelveli by 1 pm. It was 11:30 when we started our car, it took nearly 2 hours to reach Tirunelveli. We were already late but luckily the bus which we were about to travel was a little late too. It took another one and a half hour to reach the foothills of Agasthyamalai. After a gradual descent over a hill, we reached our dormitory which is near the bank of a stream. After refreshment, we began to walk towards the interpretation centre which is on the other side of the stream. Tufted grey langurs, a langur endemic to Southern Western Ghats and bonnet macaques came in troops around us, but they were quiet, causing no harm to us. After a tea break, we headed to the building where the evening sessions began. The first session was about KMTR, its landforms, flora and fauna.

The session was conducted by Vinod sir who is a volunteer in ATREE, his session was pretty engaging and resourceful. The next session was about butterflies, their identification, life cycle, importance in nature and varieties. This was conducted by Thalavai sir, this session was ingenious and enlightening. I found a few other methods to identify butterflies after the session. Another small session was conducted by Antony sir about wild camp as well as problems faced by kids of my generation. It was 7:00 pm when we came out of the building. The forest submerged in dark. The sounds of songbirds changed into slightly haunting sounds of crickets, owls and nightjars. We ate our dinner at 7:30 and travelled back to our dormitory for moth screening. The sky was filled with monsoon clouds which disabled us from stargazing. When some prepared screens with tying them with poles. We were looking around the bushes for some night creatures. Then, a small pair of strange lights appeared above ground, it was a female firefly. That was the first time for me to see this creature, it was larger than, and looked totally different from their partners. After a few minutes, the moth screening was ready and we plugged mercury light for attracting moths and other insects. Few dozens of moths appeared and Mr. Thalavai explained about each of them. 

After a few minutes, we switched off our lights and started to share our experiences on wildlife as well as other things. Some sang songs too. Mathivanan sir said his encounter with an elephant in his own style of telling a story in a comical way. Then we prepared for a night ride. We did not see any creatures for a first few minutes and then a female Sambhar appeared. Seeing our vehicle, it ran into vegetation. We saw a male Sambar with 2-4 female deer after a kilometre. Sounds of crickets and nightjars continued. We saw two Indian gerbils, crossing the road when we were about to reach the check post. We went to the dormitory at 10:30 pm. Antony sir announced that we will leave the dormitory by 6 am tomorrow and have a 7-kilometre trek on a path named Puckle’s path. All of us were excited about tomorrow’s trek and nearly everyone set the alarm time in our mobile phones. But I and some other boys woke up much earlier than the time we set in our mobile phones. It was still dark and light showers poured down slowly. After finishing regular morning routines, we roamed around the dormitory. After an hour we were ready, the eastern horizon brightened fading away from the dark and so the sounds. After having tea and biscuits, we had a group photo.

Antony sir conducted a session about the gadgets used in wildlife including camera traps, GPS, anemometer, binoculars etc… we walked on the road towards Puckle’s path and waited on the check post. After some time, a bike arrived, Raja sir and his friend came and gave us the tiffin. We packed it in our backpack and started to walk on the path. Because of rain, the soil was muddy, which made deep impressions on the soil. after walking a few yards we found a track of footprint belonged to Indian gaur. Then we saw the footprint stamped by another, which made us conclude that it was a herd. The man who accompanied us was a retired forest guard, belonging to the Kanikaran tribe. He said that these footprints are not washed away by rain which means these footprints are after rain and if we are lucky enough we can see a herd of gaurs. As we walked further, we found a flock of chestnut bee-eaters, a bird which was in my list of the yet-to-photograph list. I photographed it for nearly 3 minutes until the flock flew away. We came across a number of seasonal streams flowing on our trek path. The forest guard said the names of every stream including its name cause and the plants found near it. He said about each and every plant which we pointed out, he gave their local names. I was quite astonished by his knowledge of this forest. Antony sir and Thalava sir distributed a paper which we need to do and tick after the work was finished. We finished the list instantly. As we walked further we saw many pits which were dug by sloth bears in search of termites. Thalavai sir and Antony sir explained about butterflies, orchids, plants, worms, insects and many other small creatures whose role is important in the ecosystem. As we walked to the deeper jungles we found a pugmarks of a leopard, it was freshly impressed in the mud and I felt slightly terrified. I couldn’t overcome the sense of being watched by a predator. We ate our food near a stream it was full of tiny tadpoles and we started to move again, the area had fewer trees and many shrubs and many butterflies roamed around us and Thalava sir helped us to identify them.  

After a while Antony sir walked into a bush and took a skull of Sambhar deer. He said that the deer was hunted by a pack of Indian hunting dogs three years before and after all natural process like decomposition, the remains are found here. One antler of the deer was nibbled by a porcupine for balancing calcium. The deer’s skull was full of algal growths with some fungi and a woodlouse. He said that it is called as micro-habitat. I and some other boys walked with Antony sir interrogating about wildlife and forest with him. Suddenly a person back of us screamed as if she had seen something terrific. Antony sir and I ran towards her and saw a small, slithering, thing which was in the middle of our path. Feeling the vibrations of approaching people it tried to escape but after discovering that there is no more escape it coiled around and exposed its head outwards. It tried to strike on us aggressively to drive us away.

It hissed and tried to strike again. The snake was thin and small with brownish scales and a pointed nose. Antony sir said that this snake is called the hump nosed pit viper and is a venomous snake. Antony sir took a cap and covered it on the snake. He counted for thirty seconds and took the cap, amazingly the snake turned calm, it did not even move its muscles and lay like a twig for a very long time. I was wondering whether Antony sir hypnotized it, I took a lot of snaps until Antony sir tempted it to move by pushing the cap on it. Suddenly it raced to the nearby vegetation and disappeared into the jungle. After seeing the snake I was quite happy, it was my first snake photograph. We then headed to the deeper jungle again now with multiple footprints of animals especially of leopards, spotted deer, mongoose, wild boar and gaur. The path was now frequented with heaps of elephant dung and pits dug by bears. Many varieties of mushrooms thrived on the dung. We saw an oriental garden lizard on a wall. I photographed it too. We reached a large stream a few moments later. 

After having a bath in the stream we crossed the stream and walked another 1 kilometre. The land was filled with impressions of spotted deer. The howling sound of Nilgiri langur echoed all over the hills. At last, our trek ended, even when we are on the road, we saw peafowls, a giant wood spider, and a shield tail snake killed by a vehicle. Then we reached Servalar dam which was full of water with the reflection of mountains and clouds. The dam gave us a very good view of the hills around the dam, a spectacular scene. We then went to the dormitory, packed our bags, ate lunch and after having a group photo, started to descent downwards. I and Antony sir talked all the way until we reached Tirunelveli science centre, after telling goodbye to all. We went home with lots of memories and a few good photographs.                                                

                

Thanks to ATREE’s Wild Camp