It was a rainy day and I was the naturalist guiding a small family on a vehicle safari. At around 5pm, I spotted a big Stripe-necked Mongoose and stopped the vehicle to view it more closely.

It was conspicuous from the fact that it was standing on its hind legs and looking into the grass, that it was investigating some movement taking place there.

A Mongoose Peering out of the Grass at a Python

As we were observing the mongoose’s interesting behaviour, one of the guests spotted a snake coming towards the jeep track and cried out, “Snake!” After a closer look, I found that it was a magnificent Rock Python, about 10-12 feet long, with a swollen belly – an indication that it just recently had its meal. We were awestruck as we watched it gently cross the jeep track right in front of our vehicle!

A Python on the Grass

What a sighting! The Mongoose was in fact trying to distract the snake, but the Python was not bothered about it, and kept crawling into the bushes. As it moved, the Mongoose followed it for some distance before continuing its routine. In my one-and-a half years of experience working in Nagarahole, this was the very first time I saw a Python and with a Mongoose in the background at that!

A Python Crawling into the Bushes

That was a fascinating experience! This was also the first time I had the opportunity to photograph this magnificent snake.

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 14th, 2010 at 4:04 pm and is filed under Mammals, Reptiles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.