Slow down, deer crossing

Later, relaxing on the verandah, I espied two Nilgiri langurs — an endangered species — frolicking in the trees bordering the garden. Quite unconcerned about my presence, they gaily swung from branch to branch in what appeared to be a game of hide-and-seek, their grey-bonneted faces and jet-black coats standing out amidst the greenery. In the evening I heard their eerie whooping rise to a crescendo before fading out.

Gaur often pose a threat here. They frequent the tea fields and sometimes saunter down the main road in broad daylight like stray cattle! Many a motorcyclist has had to hastily ground his bike and flee after running into these fearsome bovines on a blind corner.

Panthers, too, are uncommonly bold here. A local planter told me that one frequented his bungalow garden. Once he had found it relaxing on his lawn — with an appreciative, though nervous, audience watching it from a safe distance. While walking his Alsatian, another planter heard a yelp and turned just in time to see a panther disappear into the adjacent tea field dragging the dog along.

Strolling alone in the evening, I heard furtive footfalls in a tea field. I peered under the bushes to find a spiky porcupine slinking away. A rustling sound from behind made me spin round instinctively — to see another porcupine melt into the bushes above the road. Presumably, it was trying to join its mate.

Sadly, the previous week a wild elephant had killed a worker. Yet, surprisingly, at night I found the locals traversing the dark, unlit roads without a torch or even a flare. Was it fatalism or foolhardiness?

As I left Valparai in the early hours, the headlights of the car suddenly focused on a timid mouse deer stealing across the road — an extremely elusive creature high on the endangered list. That rare sighting made my day.