MYNAHS & A BUFFALO
LT COL NOEL ELLIS
27/V/2023
Last couple of days the weather has been cool. Rather, it rained too. Here in the desert, rain is welcome anytime. At least for the next couple of days, temperatures will stay tolerable while the sun is kept veiled by clouds bringing relief from the scorching sun.
This gave me an idea to visit the ‘river front’. Peafowl froze and admired this handsome young man. They know me well by now and even call out sometimes. However, there was one very unusual thing which caught my eye on the green grassy patch of the river bed.
It was a ‘Jhota’, a male buffalo, in Punjabi. This young black buffalo was lame. It had fractured its front leg in a fall I reckon. The animal could not use one front leg, making it difficult for it to walk around without a limp. Luckily, there was enough grass for it to graze on. It seemed that the animal had been left to fend for itself. It now was no use because of a broken leg. How sad!
What caught my attention was a few Mynahs tagging along. They were following this black beast in its footsteps. Through my lens, I saw insects being disturbed as this buffalo sauntered along. That’s what the Mynahs were hunting. They were not eating them but gathering them in their beaks, a sure sign that they were nestling. I had an inkling where their nests were, which was my next stop.
The buffalo too was enjoying their company. Mynahs were definitely pulling out ticks besides its hair. That must be giving it relief from the itch that happens after ‘ticks bite’. One has had a first-hand experience of tick bites in Kashmir. Imagine they didn’t even spare human beings.
We had established a ‘temporary post’ in some abandoned ‘Gujjar Bahiks’ (shelters) deep in the jungles near GangaBal Lake, guarding a favourite route of infiltration taken by militants coming after training from Pakistan. That place was infested with ticks totally unknown to us because Gujjars stayed with their animals in them. On the first night halt, many ticks found a way up our legs and got embedded on our waist, in line with the belt. They probably could not crawl any further up.
Next day, my buddy and I picked them off from each other with our pants down. ‘Bloody fellows’ had bloated after sucking our blood. Only one antidote worked. They fell off when kerosene, which we were carrying in abundance, was applied on them. Every man jack smelled of kerosene. A new perfume was discovered. It also hid the typical signature of faujis from the village dogs, who used to raise an alarm well before our arrival.
Be that as it may. I also saw Mynahs picking hair out from the back of that buffalo while riding ‘piggy back’. A sure shot case of making their nests as comfy and soft as possible. Their chicks would enjoy the warmth and the cushiony effect of the hair.
There is bridge over river ‘Jojhri’. On its retaining walls, there are holes left for water drainage I suppose. Mynahs are bringing up their young ones in them. How safe & tactically viable they are was understandable. Snakes could not climb that near vertical wall.
I was taken by surprise when heavy traffic passed overhead. The foundations of the bridge shook quite violently, giving me shivers. Hope the material used is strong enough for the bridge to sustain the impact of heavy traffic. Probably, bridges are designed that way.
There was another revelation. Mynahs & Parrots were in competition to nest in those holes. Parrots were too shy to pose for me and abandoned their nests seeing me.
A good morning walk ended on a happy note. Parrots and Mynahs were enjoying their time and were well fed. I only hope someone adopts that Jhota and is not left to fend for itself.
Nature has its own ways for sure? Can we humans ever understand it? I wonder!!!!!!!
JAI HIND
© ® NOEL ELLIS
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