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Further inland from the lake we saw wild boars...

Photo essay: Folklore in India’s villages

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Photo essay: Folklore in India’s villages

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A female sambar and her newborn stayed rested on the shore. “The sambars’ other predator here is the crocodile,” Davendar said.

Photo essay: Folklore in India’s villages

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Photo essay: Folklore in India’s villages

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Three kinds of kingfisher bird and a pink-leg stork were keeping them company.

Photo essay: Folklore in India’s villages

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Davendar made a sound which he called “tiger noise,” imitating tigers as we approached a lake where some sambars were eating the algae.

Photo essay: Folklore in India’s villages

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They have poor eyesight. “But the monkeys who co-exist here help them.”

Photo essay: Folklore in India’s villages

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“Repeated calls means that there is a tiger or a leopard nearby,” Davendar said. Following them we drove fast to the edge of a pit.

Photo essay: Folklore in India’s villages

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The black-face Langur monkeys also make warning calls when they see tigers.

Photo essay: Folklore in India’s villages

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Sambars make a barking call to alarm each other when they hear tigers or smell them. These are sambars’ strong senses. “See their big ears,” Davendar pointed out.

Photo essay: Folklore in India’s villages

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“Seventy percent of this land is covered with dhoks,” he said. This is a sturdy plant that needs little water. It stays green even in the driest season. It is the favorite food of sambar, the slow and big deer which is, in turn, the favorite food of tigers.

Photo essay: Folklore in India’s villages

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Photo essay: Folklore in India’s villages

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Davendar pointed out banyan trees, flame of forest trees, uphor cactus, Ficus, and dhok trees.

Photo essay: Folklore in India’s villages

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Within an hour Davendar found some tiger footprints. “This is a female tiger,” he said. “See how the toes are pointed out. She is also young”.

Photo essay: Folklore in India’s villages

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Like his father before him, our “naturalist” guide Davendar was a warden of this Ranthambhore National Park. That was a small truck, open on the sides, which seated 20 passengers.

Photo essay: Folklore in India’s villages

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