Finally Got Him! The Elusive Black-Naped Hare! 💚

Encounters with the ‘March Hare’ and Master Naturalists

#intothewildwithrufus

Today happened to be a very rewarding day in many ways!

While on my solo-birding adventures today, I ran into my favourite naturalist Mr. Karthikeyan, in the dense forests near Chikmagaluru, Karnataka. He recognised me quite instantly and asked me, ‘It must have been at least a year since we met, right?’

Exactly 18 months, Sir, I said. He then introduced me to his wife, who is a Naturalist coach herself!

Then he was pretty focused on clicking a rare variety of spider, and with such excitement on him, showed it to me on his camera’s screen. It looked so marvelous on the screen, and so I asked him the name of the spider. He said that it’s a new genus of jumping spider.

Still curious, I asked him, “Is it poisonous, Sir?”

Nope. Indian spiders aren’t poisonous at all. They might be venomous but not poisonous, and hence they are not fatal.

Indeed, for the first time today I realised the huge difference between venomous and poisonous, thanks to my interactions with the legend.

With Karthikeyan Sir and His Book that he Gifted me! :-)

And then he invited me to have lunch with them. “Come with us, we’ll have lunch together”, he exhorted me. I was thrilled to no end.

Over lunch, I asked him about his writing, and he said that he’s working on his next book which he hopes to publish by the end of this year.

Mrs. Karthikeyan said that she is working with ‘The Naturalist School’ based in Bengaluru.

When I enquired more about the TNS, she said that –

The Naturalist School offers training for resident naturalists in wildlife resorts & parks through their Master Naturalists who have global accreditations.

She said that, it is a first of its kind in initiative in India, created as a key human resource development initiative to cater to locals whose livelihoods are dependent on ecotourism, visitors engaged in travel to protected areas (PA), employers who are facing a shortage of skilled staff, PA managers who are trying to spread awareness on conservation, etc.

The Naturalist School aims to offer courses for the purpose of vocational skilling of individuals desirous of working in the arena of nature-based tourism, environmental education, voluntourism and conservation. Moreover, they provide vocational skilling & training to operators, trainers, managers, guides, naturalists and students in the area of ecotourism and allied sectors, she added.

Then I asked her, if placements are good after this three-month training, and she said that, the chances of getting placed are 200%

Felt so happy to have met with two great legends who have devoted their life to Nature and Nature Conservation.

I remember having interviewed Karthikeyan Sir in our past blogpost 18 months, ago. You may want to read that post HERE on our blog.

Coming back –

Today, although we were able to get lovely sightings – leopard, spotted owlet, brown fish owl, barking deer, crested serpent eagle amongst a host of other vibrant wildlife, one snapshot that I would remember for the day is my click of the black-naped hare, which has been eluding me for life!

He was sitting still, (or stunned?) I guess, and then I happily clicked away a few blessed shots for memory sake! 😊

The Naturalist accompanying us told us that, its most defining physical feature is the striking patch of black fur running along the nape of its neck. Moreover, unlike rabbits, black-naped hares do not dig burrows. They dwell above ground, and entirely rely on camouflage for their survival, and they can even reach speeds of up to 80 km/h, he said.

Although basically they are very shy animals, during their peak breeding season they become very highly aggressive it seems. The males engage in a fight amongst themselves over females, wherein they stand on their hind legs and strike each other with their front paws, he added. 

I was quite reminded of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland where he introduces the “eccentric” March Hare character.

Then we also spotted the Spotted Owlet at close quarters. He was initially turning to the other side, not giving us his lovely, wide-eyed pose! Then, over a gentle owl-like whistle by our Naturalist, the spotty turned gently towards our side, which helped us click away a few lovely snapshots.

On the whole, a rewarding day in every way! 😊

this evening - no filters and embellishments, as usual! :-)