Nature’s Layers Unravelled – Encounters with birds, beasts, and relatives
Discovering wildlife in Bengaluru doesn’t require venturing far. A walk in your garden or a peek under a leaf reveals a world of tiny architects, hunters, and builders. Meet the city’s most fascinating and rare fauna.
The harsh habitat of the Zanzibar coastline shelters a uniquely adapted reptile, the African Coral-rag Skink
Writhing on the beach under the glare of the sun and the heat of the fishermen’s ire, the Hook-nosed Sea Snake had little to choose between the devil and the deep sea
One thing is clear after watching this Carolina Anole wrestle a stick-fast caterpillar off its leafy perch – this picky eater really loves its greens
The charismatic Australian Water Dragon can be seen sunning itself on the outskirts of Australian cities. As its name implies, it is wedded to water
Oman does not have a lot of large charismatic wildlife but some of the small creatures, almost trampled underfoot, are spectacular. Like this stunning Sinai Agama
It’s Wildlife Weekend. Download this Cat Snake, our October calendar-wallpaper, for your desktop and iPad!
Carl Safina’s mellifluous prose evokes the beauty and mystery of the sea and its ancient denizen, the Leatherback turtle Voyage Of The Turtle: In Pursuit Of The Earth’s Last Dinosaur by Carl Safina Published by Henry Holt and Co.; 1st edition (May 30, 2006) Rs 689 on Flipkart Carl Safina is a…
Pankil Desai recounts a most amazing and suspenseful encounter between a Green Vine Snake and a Calotes lizard It was a regular sunny day and I was in my hostel room at the National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal. At around 11:30, I got a call from an unknown number…
Did that curious crowd know, or care, that the snake we were trying to see off to safety was a harmless albeit aggressive Checkered Keelback? Here’s how to tell a Checkered Keelback from its venomous relatives: Round eyes, checkered scale pattern, keeled scales and the oblique stripes behind and beneath…
These are not just encounters, but close encounters. In these situations I have either touched or been too close for comfort with certain members of the suborder SerpentesI’d never imagined that such a day would dawn. In 2008, I visited the Agumbe Rainforest Research Station (ARRS) with friends PD, Zak…
The snake tried every trick to climb the coconut tree. Failing, it slithered down and risked death. How could I stop it from being killed, I wondered. But the snake had plans of its own… Remember how Kaa of Walt Disney’s Jungle Book hissed seductively from a tree: “Trusssst in…
True to its name the Common Sand Boa spends most of its life under the sand or in loose earth, and its tough skin offers protection while burrowing. I’m glad we didn’t run over this fine snake.
The two faces of a forest stream are so unlike each other
Little did we know that we were being watched by a silent and mysterious presence on a wooden beam behind us
