Though Manu wanted to call her Spotty, Avni decided to call her Bambi – (for obvious reasons!), and being the youngest of the lot, we all decided to christen her Bambi! Every evening, by 5pm, Bambi’s mom would move away from the herd and walk towards JC2 (for those who have stayed with us, JC2 needs no explanation, but for those who haven’t yet, JC2 stands for Jungle Cottage Nr 2), which, just like the other cottages, juts out into the meadows. So, Bambi’s mom, with Bambi on tow, would walk towards the cottage, come right under the sundeck and then would leave Bambi there for the night before re-joining the herd. Bambi would stay hidden right under the cottage all night long and you won’t even hear a squeal from her till her mom comes in the morning, and then Bambi would be seen bouncing off into the meadows to run around and graze till 5 pm, and this event was repeated like clockwork every day.
It was around 5:30 pm yesterday and I was sitting inside the villa looking at some of the Tiger photos we had taken over the last few days and that is when I heard the alarm calls coming from the northern end of the field. We hear alarm calls multiple times a day, I made a mental note of the direction and continued looking at the photos without giving the calls much of a thought. The calls were very strong and I realized that they were coming from the grassland inside the property, so I decided to get off the chair and investigate.
I went to the window and peeked out and that is when I saw the 2 Dholes that had come down for a drink.
This being a common sight, I decided against reaching for my camera, and as I was about to take the chair to continue ID-ing the Tigers we had seen over the last few days, a movement from near the cottage caught my eye! I looked towards where I thought I saw the movement, then I also noticed the Dholes slowly getting up and looking towards the cottage! I couldn’t believe what I saw next! I saw our own Bambi come out from under the cottage, climb on to the walkway and then trot towards the Dholes! I don’t think the Dholes could quite believe it either, as they both stood staring at the fawn coming towards them!
That is when I reached for my camera and decided to take the photos of what was about to unfold! The fawn came right up to the dogs, and when it was around 20 feet away, it stopped and that is when it realized that this was no deer it was looking at, but in fact they were the most dangerous predators in the Indian jungle – the wild dogs!
The fawn turned around and made a run for it and that triggered the instinct in the dogs and in a flash, they both went after the fawn, which by now was flying across the grassland towards the cottage.
It was too little too late and in a tremendous burst of speed, the dogs went after her and in just 5 seconds they were on the fawn, with one getting a firm grip on the fawn’s neck, while the other had its teeth sunk in on her hind leg. Bambi’s fate was sealed!
I had my finger pressed on the shutter button, and it kept taking photos of what had just happened, all this from the window of my room. Though my mom and daughter wanted to go and shoo the dogs away, no matter how painful it was to watch the dogs devour Bambi, we decided against disturbing them – this was nature’s way and we decided against interfering, and let nature take its course. It was a depressing sight especially for my daughter, and in less than 30 minutes, all that was left was a bit of Bambi’s skin and bones.
This is the law of the jungle and who are we mere humans to interfere…
