The Day of the Dog

So how could we top yesterday then…..? Well on entering the safari vehicle the naturalist-guy asked kinda smugly what we’d like to go for today, having been with us yesterday afternoon for the Tiger. So naturally we said Wild Dog or Leopard which really wiped the smile off his face I can tell you. So we drove out to the open areas near the river and had a look, and there were a few birds around but I suspected it was going to be a bit dull this morning. Well how wrong can you be? As I scanned the far side of the grassland I picked up a couple of Dholes (Wild Dogs) and rather frantically said “dogs, dogs, dogs…!” Not too cool really. But then what transpired couldn’t have been more amazing as there were 7 Wild Dogs and they had tried to reach a calf Gaur which was hiding behind a group of adults just inside the forest. Then a huge bull Gaur came charging forward and tried to scare the pack away but only succeeded in getting surrounded and it looked at one point as if it would get taken down. 

Wild Dogs Attacking Gaur

But three other adult Gaurs came charging out and saved the lone bull. So the dog pack quickly gave up and settled down for a play in the middle of the meadow where they remained for several minutes, a picture of serenity and calm. But just then a couple of domestic dogs ambled out into the grassland and the Dholes saw them immediately and gave chase. They were unbelievable fast and came hurtling past our jeep and soon caught up with one of the domestic dogs and the last we saw of them was when they disappeared into the forest. The chase was enlivened by the almost Attenborough-esque commentary from Jeff although it couldn’t be repeated on a public forum such as this, but I think you were right and those domestic dogs definitely did poop themselves!

So with that excitement over we headed back to the lodge and after breakfast we left, checking out a nearby area where we had Richard’s Pipit, Malabar Lark, Indian Black Ibis, and both Woolly-necked and Painted Storks before driving on to Mysore, a long and boring journey which eventually resulted in our arrival at a nice hotel in time for a late lunch. We did check out the nearby hills a little later but saw very little, so had to settle for a lovely evening meal to round the day off nicely.

Indian Black Ibis