Now when I look back I think I was collecting bites in much the same way that some people collect trophies. Although this may appear quite a foolish thing to do and perhaps it was too (some of the bites were quite painful), one good thing did come out of all those bites. I have no paranoid fear of such bites any longer. I am very careful when I handle reptiles and take all the precautions that I have been taught but I know that I would not be terror stricken should I get bitten and would know what remedial steps to take.

Apart from my practical studies, there was a huge library at the Croc Bank where I would browse through several books on crocs, snakes, monitors, turtles, the works. It was always with great pleasure that I would search for information about something that I had learnt or seen that day. And the best part is that although I didn't have to memorize the facts for any examination, nothing of what I read has gone out of my head.

And then, there was always time for fun. Sometimes I would go to Harry's house where Tharaq and I played music or recorded songs. Other times, I would watch a movie at Rom's. There was time for barbecues of field rats, froglegs, frankfurters, parrot fish, chicken and beef, rounded off with chocolate cake. The beach at the back was for swimming during the day and catching crabs during the night.

One of the interesting happenings at the time that I was there was the arrival of a film team from the magazine National Geographic to film the King Cobras at the Bank. I became one of the many hands-on they had for the job: I would a.s.sist in various ways like holding the flash, helping with the setting up of shots, catching and re-catching the frogs as they scampered off during the numerous retakes.

One lazy afternoon Tharaq suggested a haircut for me. My hair was by then really long. In fact I had not put a scissor to it since the beginning of my sabbatical. So now it stood nearly at shoulder length.

He told me he had one and a half months' experience in hair cutting. I was thus persuaded to take up his offer of a "free" haircut in the "latest style".

I explained in great detail to Tharaq how I wanted it cut and he nodded attentively making a few suggestions here and there. Then he started to work with the scissors, cutting and shaving here and there.

When he announced that he had finished he produced a mirror and I looked into the face of an unrecognisable Rahul with a hairstyle of triangles sitting amidst shaved parts and a long strand of hair in the front. I looked crazier than any rock star! It was only then that I learnt that Tharaq did not know the ABC of haircutting, much less hairstyling and that he had just had a great time experimenting on my head.

Anyway I decided that now was a good time to try out the "bald look"

and so I got to a proper barber and had my hair shaved off completely.

It was truly liberating. I took several pictures of myself at this time with the reptiles at the croc bank to remember my days here and also to record for posterity my new look.

I felt truly sorry when it was time for me to leave Croc Bank. I promised everyone that I'd be back soon. I carried a souvenir with me-a red-eared turtle (which I still have) and some turtle eggs.

I travelled through the night on a bus to Bangalore. At my foot was the turtle in a box and I had left a small opening for her to breathe.

Suddenly I noticed that the turtle was out and was already making for the door of the bus. I quickly caught her and put her back without any of the sleeping pa.s.sengers noticing it except for a dear old lady who smiled and said, "Dropped your water bottle, son?"

Field Work Notes: Crocodiles

Living millions of years before man, but today facing extinction...with many myths about them and very little known about their nature. Many are considered dangerous. None are considered useful. Who are these creatures? They are called crocodiles, alligators and lizards.

There are 21 species of crocodiles and alligators in the world.

Three species of crocodiles are found in India, namely:

1) the Gharials-which are fish-eating crocodiles;

2) the Muggers; and

3) the Salt-water crocodiles.

The biggest and the most dangerous of all crocodiles in the world is the salt water crocodile, which can grow upto 25 feet. It is the only crocodile that can live in the sea for a long time. The Nile crocodile of Africa is yet another deadly species. Fossils of three other extinct species of crocodiles have also been found in India.

These cold blooded animals have evolved with dinosaurs millions of years ago and are more closely related to birds than to snakes or reptiles. Being cold blooded they control their body temperature by seeking shady, sunny spots or different levels in water. They often bask with their jaws open, which probably helps them to keep cool.

Their eyes, nose and ears are positioned in a straight line along with head and snout. They have good eyesight and a good sense of smell, and can hear very well. Their tail is very strong and helps them in swimming. They have a very low metabolic rate and thus need to hunt only every few days. They can decrease their metabolic rate and stay under water for a long time. Alligators have been known to stay under water for upto 6 hours. They do not make any unnecessary movements but can move very fast even on land when necessary. Small salties can gallop at a speed of 48 kph for short distances.

Crocodiles are found in large and small rivers, lakes, mangroves, and in brackish and fresh water. When a baby crocodile hatches, it is just about three quarters of a foot (25-30 cms) in length. In a few years it matures into an adult. Maturity depends upon size rather than on age.

Generally males mature slower than females.

In the wild, a female will take between 5-7 years to mature whereas males will take 9-11 years. Gharials take longer to mature; about 8-10 years for the female and 12 years for the male. In captivity, such as in the Madras Crocodile Bank, females mature in four years and males in five.

The average size for maturity for a Mugger is-male (2 metres) and female (1.6 metres). Males of Gharials and Salties mature at three and a half metres and females at three metres.

Mugger crocodiles breed in between February and April. Salties breed in April and Gharials between the last week of March to the second week of April.

Breeding depends on environmental conditions. In the breeding season males often fight for the right to court with several females. During courtship each pair may blow bubbles, rub noses, raise their snout and periodically submerge and re-emerge. Different species show different courtship displays. Gharials, for example, often court each other by making a loud buzzing sound. Mating occurs under water with the male mounted on top of the female.

The average gestation period is between 35-60 days. The gestation for a Mugger is 35-40 days and for Gharials and Salties, 40-65 days. The temperature at which eggs are incubated and the moisture content of the environment (humidity) influence the s.e.x within the embryo.

Crocodiles will either dig a hole about 30 cms deep or pile up leaves to incubate their eggs. They sometime splash water on the nest to control the temperature. In mugger crocs, females are exclusively produced at constant temperature of 28C through 31C. At 32.5C only males are produced. Both s.e.xes in varying proportion are produced at 31.5 to 33C.

The female guards the nest. At the time of hatching the young start croaking so the mother (sometimes even the father) digs open the nest.

Then she cracks some of the eggs with her teeth to set free the young and carries them to the water in her mouth. The adult crocodiles continue to guard the young until they are about 5-7 months old.

Crocodiles have many uses in nature's ecosystem. They help keep the environment clean by eating the carca.s.ses that would otherwise rot.

They capture the diseased, wounded and weaker prey thus letting only the strongest survive and thus maintaining a healthy population and keeping up the genetic quality of their prey species.

In the dry season, wallows and tunnels dug by crocs provide essential water for other animals, turtles and fish. Many animals depend upon crocs for food for e.g. the sacred Ibis and monitor lizard will eat the eggs of the Nile crocodile. Crocs are also exceptionally resistant to disease and thus may be of great use in medical research.

Chapter 11: Learning to Teach

January brought fresh experience for me and it happened entirely because of Hartman de Souza. I was to return to Goa via Bangalore and since our good friends, Hartman and Ujwala, live in Bangalore and had expressed willingness to accommodate me, should I need a place to stay for a while during my sabbatical, my parents suggested that I spend a few days there before returning home. I was to stay at their place, sight-see Bangalore if I liked and inform my parents as soon as I was ready to return. This then was the general plan.

I reached Bangalore at 1.40 p.m. on the 7th of January. Bing (that's how we all call Hartman) was at the bus-stand to pick me up, with his car. We drove to his house, me chatting away in reply to all his questions. At home there was Ujwala and their kids, Zuri and her younger brother, Zaeer. Also living with them at the time was Mrs Kalai who was Bing's colleague at the India Foundation for the Arts.

After settling down to a good meal and generally relaxing, Bing told me that he had in mind a few people and inst.i.tutions connected with my interest i.e., wildlife and that I should use my time in Bangalore to meet them. I agreed to his suggestion, little realizing that the people he suggested I meet would make their own suggestions about other people I should meet and when I would report this information to Bing, he would insist that I go and meet them as well. So I spent quite a few days meeting, or writing to, various persons connected with wildlife in Bangalore.

Bing is quite a hard taskmaster and he would not let me off easily; if the people were not in station at that time or, if the names suggested were not from Bangalore, I had to write to them instead. I wrote numerous letters as a result. The general purpose of this activity was that I should get an idea of what options were there for me if I decided to pursue a career in wildlife eventually. Bing also suggested that I should try to find out how and why these people decided to take to environment and wildlife studies, whether they were happy in their choices and so on.

Bing made several copies of an introductory c.u.m reference letter for me which I was to give to the people I was to meet. The letter, which was signed by him, stated that I had taken a one year sabbatical to explore wildlife which I had done for the past eight months and that I would like to have a small interview with the person concerned. I also prepared small questionnaires to help me in the interviews. Bing would most often phone the person in advance and make the appointment for me.

Sometimes he even reached me to the place; at other times I went in a rickshaw.

The first person I met was Mr T. Parameswarappa, Retd. Princ.i.p.al Chief Conservator of Forests. I reached Mr Parameswarappa's house at 11.45 a.m. I had an appointment with him at 12.30 p.m. However Mr Parameswarappa was out and did not arrive home until 1.30 p.m. So I sat and looked at a couple of books in his office. Soon after he returned we began to talk, first about my sabbatical and then about what I wanted to do in the future.

He told me that after graduation, one must answer a compet.i.tive examination held by the Union Public Service Commission. The students who are selected are trained and then posted to a forest. At the University of Agricultural Sciences at Dharwad or Hebbal, a four year course on forestry can be done after completing pre-university. At the Wildlife Research Inst.i.tute short courses may be available, he said, but after graduation long courses are definitely available.

I asked him some questions and I relate briefly the interview I had with him:

Rahul: Is it possible to have a ranger give you a private guided tour within the Banargatta Wildlife Sanctuary?

Parmeswarappa: I'm afraid not. There are only routine safaris for visitors. But if you like you can meet Mr Venkatesh, Deputy Conservator of Forests and give him my reference.

R: What is the condition of the sanctuary?

P: It is a government initiative and as you can expect, there are good and bad points to all such activities.

R: Are there any unusual career courses offered in Wildlife?

P: In India there are no privately run sanctuaries or zoos. Therefore any career in wildlife or forestry must be through the government. This makes it almost impossible to have any rare or unusual career courses.

R: What are the duties of the staff at the Banargatta Park?