A Day in the Kuno Wilderness
This piece appears in SanctuaryAsia February 2012 issue. What ever confusion I had distinguishing the small Indian mongoose Herpestes javanicus from the larger grey mongoose Herpestes edwardsii disappeared as we saw them, one after another, within a gap of five minutes. The smaller of the two was a frequent visitor at our campus near the kotra ( boundary wall ) . While both are slender with long, bushy, tapering tails, short legs, long and pointed snouts and rounded ears, the grey mongoose has long, seemingly coarser fur, with a more reddish than yellowish tinge. It was a special moment to see both, this early in the morning and I was thrilled. Perhaps it was the early morning breakfast that Ummed Kushwah had made -- my favourite Agraa breakfast ( read alu subzi – paratha) that had set the lucky tone of the day. I have always loved the laid-back, rustic landscape of the area. Agraa, a nucleus for the villages relocated from the Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary, is less than 1