An Environmentalist Adventure

For our introduction to FES, we tagged along to check on various forest projects outside of Udaipur. This included tromping through a dry, prickly “ thorn forest” for hours checking on bird nesting boxes, then sitting for two hours quietly watching to see if any birds had nested yet. While I love spending time in nature, I felt like the city girl I am compared to our FES colleagues. With two PhD’s in biodiversity conservation and two masters students in environmental studies, this was an Indian wildlife safari with the best of experts.

Our team leaders, Justus and Himani, helped us find a Monitor Lizard (3 feet long), hundreds of frogs simultaneously doing an ear-pounding mating call, monkeys, wild buffalo bathing, blue-colored antelopes called “blue bulls,” many peacocks, and more!

It turns out that male lizards do push-ups against tree branches to show their masculinity before fighting over territory. This looks a lot like human wrestling match where the winner must get the other lizard in a solid hold for some time before the loser must slink away in defeat. I have a video of this show-down, so feel free to ask when I get back.

One of our projects will involve tracking Sloth Bears and surveying villages about any encounters, to learn how to minimize conflicts between the bears and humans. As we discovered fresh sloth bear footprints, droppings, and scratches on trees, Justus informed us that sloth bears are known to maul human’s faces. How comforting! Also, after we had been sitting on some rocks for 10 minutes to watch for nesting birds, he informed us that before sitting down we should check the area for scorpions or sit in a clear and flat area. We Americans are still not comfortable with all the pests and pervasive bugs, but have realized how many of our reactions are conditioned- like screaming about a lizard or harmless beetle. But when the dangers are real, there is no one I’d rather be hiking through a forest with than the FES employees, because they also can explain how to avoid or mitigate encounters.

The experience of being surrounded by animals is not unique to the forest. The city streets, temple steps, and dried lakes (Udaipur is “The City of Lakes” but with years of summer droughts is currently a City of Feilds) abound with cows, bulls, dogs and sometimes goats, sheep, and buffalo. Every driver will pass a person or motorcycle with only 3 inches to spare without slowing, but will slam on brakes for a cow. In India, “holy cow” takes on a whole new meaning.