Saturday, March 08, 2008

Time stood still...


Time stood still...
Originally uploaded by Pandiyan
... for these crocodiles. This could have been a picture taken million years ago. But things are changing for them a lot more rapidly. They have a deadly adversary now. One who is smart, reckless and ruthless. These muggers came close to disappearance few decades ago.

Luckily for them all humans are not their adversaries. Thoughtful among them are finding ways and means of coexistence after fully realising the interconnectedness.

These muggers are testy during the nesting season. They don't readily back off for Arun or his bamboo pole. They seem to have some primal instinct which triggers maternal feelings to guard the nest. They stand down eventually as self-preservation and fear of humans take over.

I understand that only in very isolated breeding grounds where they don't encounter humans crocs defend the nests very aggressively. In all other places over time they succumb to fear and rightly so. People who hunt crocodile nests for eggs usually kill the defending crocodile. Crocs learn to live to fight another day.