Frenzied feeding of fish and more jungle tales

by Walter. R. Gooneratne

(Continued from last week)

About 5 pm we witnessed something we had never seen before. The river came alive with fish, mainly godaya or grey mullet, dashing upriver, and sometimes leaping in the air, followed by a shoal of koduwa or estuary perch (Latef calcarifer) in a frenzy of feeding. Behind this trail of turmoil followed a small dingy with an outboard motor. In it were the late Dr. Douggie Zilva and another, trolling a line. We heard that the other occupant of the boat was Mr Phillip K. Crowe, the American ambassador who later wrote the book, Diversions of a diplomat in Ceylon on his jungle experiences.

Garuwa told us that this phenomenon occurs not only in the river but also in the two lagoons, Itikala and Yakala Kalapuwa. Even when the mouths of the lagoons are closed. the landlocked koduwas start their frenzied dinner at about 5.30 pm and stop as abruptly at about 6 pm. I witnessed this once again at Yakala on a subsequent trip.

I have seen this kind of frenzied feeding twice more, but this was when there were crocodiles feeding on fish. The first occasion was at Katagamuwa tank. Pervey, Simon and his wife Emilda, Mackie and I were camped on the shore of the lake while on a pig-shooting expedition. One morning there were loud splashing noises coming from the take. I rushed out of the tent thinking a herd of elephants was wading across the water. Just then our tracker came rushing up and wanted us to witness this most unusual sight. A group of about 30 to 40 crocodiles had surrounded a shoal of fish, mainly bolas or murrel or giant snakeheads and walaya or cat fish, and tossed the hapless fish in the air so as to align them and swallow head first. I witnessed the same thing once again on Kokkare Villu in Willpattu National Park.

Partly eaten bait

The next morning we rose early and went to inspect the bait. Sure enough, it had been partly eaten by a leopard. However, as only a small portion of it had been consumed, Garuwa said that the bait had probably been found by it only in the morning and the animal would return early to the feast. Leaving the bait undisturbed, we drove on to Kumana tank. Almost in the centre of the tank was a large sambhur stag feeding on probably the yams of the lotus which grew there in abundance. At the sight and sound of the jeep, it galloped across the lake splashing water before it — a spectacular sight.

After breakfast in the camp, we went back to where the bait was and built a hide in the manner I have described earlier. It was about 15 yards from the bait. However, the rear wall of the hide was an abandoned termite mound which was conveniently located.

Prawns and Russell’s viper

Back at camp, Wasthua suggested that we should have prawns for lunch. He gave me the modus operandi. There were clumps of dead and decaying leaves and twigs stranded in the shallow parts of the riverbed. All one had to do was to pick up these clumps and throw them on the shore and gather up the stranded, hopping prawns that were in them. I was by his side watching the demonstration, but as always in those days, I carried my gun with me. Suddenly Wasthuwa saw what he thought was an extra large prawn wriggling in a clump of leaves. He lifted up what he thought was a king-sized prawn, when he let out a yell, polonga (viper) and ran for dear life. I immediately shot the Russell’s viper which he had pulled out of the water. He was still shivering from fright when I went up to him. Having lived all his life in the jungle, he declared that this was his most terrifying experience. He said that he had once been chased by a wild elephant which had snatched the towel from his shoulder, but that experience was not half as terrifying as this one.

Some years later I came with Mr. Lyn de.Alwis to Kumana on an expedition to collect animals for the zoo. On that occasion, Wasthua accompanied us, and was astounded at the ease with which the staff of the zoological gardens captured deadly snakes, such as cobras and vipers.

Leopard returns

We left camp early at about 4.45 pm for the evening’s adventure with the leopard. Garuwa insisted that the ladies remain in camp, much to their disappointment. Having arrived where the bait was, we found it undisturbed. Spreading out the ground-sheet on the floor of the kotuatte (hide), we sat down on it as comfortably as possible and started our vigil.

Till about 5.30 the jungle was comparatively quiet. Shortly after, a mongoose walked up gingerly, and having checked all was clear, started to feed on the carcass. A few minutes later, the jungle folk started their calls, warning everyone that a leopard was on the prowl. The first was the bark of a muntjak or barking deer. This was followed shortly after by the alarm calls of a troop of langur monkeys. Soon the jungle was alive with calls from more monkeys as well as spotted deer. Obviously the leopard did not bother to conceal himself, as he knew that he had a ready made feast awaiting him.

Suddenly the jungle fell silent and the mongoose scurried away. Garuwa covered the peepholes and signalled to us to be quiet. Two minutes later the tearing of flesh and crunching of bones were clearly audible. A little more time was given for the leopard to settle down. Garuwa then gently opened the peepholes and signaled Ivor to shoot. He was using my shotgun. After what appeared to be a long time, Ivor fired. We heard an animal dashing away into the jungle beyond. We checked to see if there were signs of injury to the animal. Ivor was thoroughly disappointed when there was none.

Garuwa cheered him up, saying that since the animal was unhurt, he would think that the sound of gunfire was due to thunder and therefore return to the kill. I have seen this happen before. As there was still plenty of light, we decided to continue our vigil.

Ferocious elephant

Garuwa had warned us that there was a vicious elephant in these parts and it had attacked a number of people recently. As if in answer to his warning, there suddenly was loud trumpeting of an elephant to our right. As seen through the peephole that covered the track leading to the tank, was a huge elephant, waving its trunk and eyeing us menacingly. Garuwa and I shouted at it in unison. The infuriated animal trumpeted and dashed off into the scrub jungle to our left and a little way behind the bait. From there it made squealing noises and made short rushes at our hide. At our shouts, it would stop and thrash the bush, uttering its squealing noises all the time. Garuwa thought it meant business and decided to beat a hasty retreat. We made an exit through the rear of the hide, over the termite hill, to the jeep which was parked a short distance away.

We made a dash to the camp and safety, though on the way another elephant made a short but abortive charge in the wooded part of the track. When the ladies heard our story, they were not so annoyed that they had been left behind.

As the moon was quite bright, Wasthua suggested that we have a swim in what he said was a clear rock pool lower down the river. The pool was indeed a lovely one, glistening like silver in the bright moonlight. Having returned to the camp quite refreshed, I inquired from Garuwa whether the pool had a name. Of course, he answered, it was called Thummini Gala or Three-death-rock, since three persons had been killed there by crocodiles. I berated him for putting us in such danger. A sundowner was followed by dinner and bed where we were lulled by the persistent call of a nightjar.

Leopard returns again

Early next morning we went to see if the leopard had returned to the kill. The sight that met us was unbelievable. The kotuatte (hide) had been smashed to smithereens, and the termite mound flattened to the ground by the elephant. We thanked our lucky stars for our miraculous escape. However, the leopard had returned to the bait and finished off quite a bit of it. Garuwa was sure it would return as there was quite a lot of flesh left. He set about building a new hide a few yards from the old one and to its left.

We then went bird watching to the villu. There was a large variety of them, mostly aquatic birds, with nests and hatchlings in them. They included spot-billed pelican, painted stork, ibis, spoonbill, and several species of egrets, cormorants, Indian darters, shags, whistling teal, grebes, white-breasted and stork-billed kingfishers and pond herons. A few crocodiles were also seen cruising about in the villu, and a sounder of wild boar was grubbing about on the far side of the villu. A bath in jungle rivers is always most refreshing. After a glass of chilled beer, and a chicken-curry lunch, we retired for a short siesta as we had to be up early in preparation for the evening’s adventure.

After previous evening’s happenings, the ladies were not keen on accompanying us. At about 4.30 pm, Garuwa, Wasthuwa, Ivor and I left for the hide. Having made ourselves as comfortable as possible in the cramped conditions, we settled down to our vigil. By 5.30 the mosquitoes descended on us in their buzzing hordes.

Having been undisturbed the previous night, the leopard, as predicted by Garuwa, was coming early to the banquet, as evidenced by the chorus of alarm calls by the jungle community. The first was a cacophony from the langur monkeys. This was followed shortly after by the calls of peafowl and spotted deer. At 6.05 pm the noise of tearing flesh and crunching of bones came from the site of the bait. Our prize was at his meal, and too engrossed in it to notice the danger he was in.

Garuwa cautiously uncovered his peephole, and peered through it. I was behind him and saw the leopard lying down and feeding. Garuwa now silently uncovered Ivor’s peephole too and motioned him to shoot. Soon a shot rang out and the leopard was felled by the impact of the SG slugs, and there was no further movement from it. We waited awhile, threw some sticks at it and as there was still no movement, we knew the animal was dead. It was a young male in its prime. Ivor was jubilant with his trophy.

We hove it onto the bonnet of the jeep and drove back to camp in triumph. There were congratulations for Ivor on his trophy. Kadisara stroked the animal in admiration. After a bath there were more celebrations. Garuwa and Wasthua were given a double dose of their “cup that cheers”.

(To be continued next week)

(Excerpted from Jungle Journeys in Sri Lanka edited by CG Uragoda)