Teesta Review: A Journal of Poetry, Volume 5, Number 1. May 2022. ISSN: 2581-7094
Birds and Predators
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Photo: Checkered Keelback It’s a predator snake, swims in the water and preys upon the birds. Courtesy: Puttenahalli Neighbourhood Lake Improvement Trust |
The Eurasian coots
are unmistakable with their black bodies and white shield on their beaks
stretching between the eyes to the top of their heads. As if this will not make
them stand out, they stamp their presence by chasing one another across the
water. Sometimes though, they become noisier and swim frantically. Other birds which
normally don’t pay attention to the squabblers instantly become alert. Their heads
swirl and every one of them will follow the cause of the commotion – a small projecting
head of a snake gliding swiftly in the water in search of a chick. Our hearts
pound too while we, as mute, non-interfering spectators, watch the drama unfold
in the water. Fortunately for us, in this fight for survival, whenever we
watched, we have seen only the underdog win, never the predator. Perhaps we
were the lucky charms for the birds, if not for the water snake.
We had noticed
three little black blobs accompanying their Eurasian coot parents everywhere. A
few days later, there were two chicks and then only one. That day it seemed as
if this was doomed. The water snake was chasing it mercilessly even as the
little one tried frantically to reach its nest. The parents were trying to
distract the snake from their young one. For a brief while it seemed as if the
birds had won. The chick managed to reach the little island of alligator weed but
so did the snake. What followed was a hide and seek between the chick and the
snake in the vegetation patch while the adult birds hovered helplessly. The
chick moved quickly from one spot to the other to evade the rapid thrusts of
the snake. This went on till one of the parent birds managed to come between the
island and the snake. Its partner joined. They kept up the attack with aggressive
flapping of the wings and loud “kwo.. kwo...” till the snake went to the edge
of the water and got lost in the weeds. The chick came out and joined the
parents.
Occasionally the
predator swoops from the sky. Then the parents can do nothing to shield their
young ones. We saw a Coot family of four swimming together, a happy sight that
was disrupted when a Brahminy kite that had been circling high above suddenly
descended, swooped on a chick and flew away with it. The remaining three
scattered before regrouping and swimming away. The Brahminy came by another day
but the surviving chicks had learnt its lesson from the sibling. Each time the
kite approached, they dove into the water and escaped.
However
territorial the Coot, other species rally to help in times of need. They raise
such a ruckus that the predator beats a hasty retreat. Once no less than three
Eurasian coots, two bronze-winged jacanas, a red-wattled lapwing and a white
breasted waterhen came to the rescue of a purple swamphen. Working in tandem, they
first brought the snake, one of the longest we’d seen, out into the open. They then
chased it beyond the island in a magnificent show of strength in numbers. Such
encounters between the avian and the reptiles species are so common that
children, especially, highlight these as a memorable moment of their visit to
the lake! Adults are more wary of snake in the water or on land.
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Photo: Rat snake stuck in the mesh Courtesy: Puttenahalli Neighbourhood Lake Improvement Trust |
The Indian rat
snake is non-venomous but its swiftness and length can freeze the passer-by. Some
visitors used to complain to us about it and ask us to “do something about it.”
Politely but firmly, we refused to interfere in the natural world that was
evolving on its own at the lake. In any case, the reptiles may eat birds and
eggs but they also kept rodents in check. At least for this, we needed them
around.
We may not be
able to help the birds in the water but our gardeners have extricated a silly
rat snake or two that didn’t realize how bloated it had become after gorging on
some animal or bird and got stuck in the fence. To prevent it from entangling
itself further in the mesh, one gardener held its tail firmly while the other eased
the body gently through. They may not have been so brave if it had been a cobra
that had found itself in a tight spot.