Bihar floods

Environmental awareness camp, sasaram

Gidar / Siyar killings ..why ?

We are driving down the Ara-Vikramganj road. Its been raining.. a lot. Looks like the area has been receiving a lot of rainfall.

The fields look flooded... water level almost kissing the embankment.

We cross what looks like a road kill.. dead dog…looks like a dead dog.

But I know it aint…just know.


We stop & reverse.


It’s a wild jackal or “siyar” (Canis aureus)

The poor thing had been killed somewhere else and thrown on the highway. Its hind legs had been tied, a tell tale patch of skin is amiss from his left chest.. and a deep gash underneath it ..I had some of these medicinal kills as a young boy in munger.

That was.. like ages ago.

Shit.

So this fckuing practice of killing these wild jackals to cure eczema is still alive.

I feel like puking.

This poor creature must have been trapped and killed.

Killed cause of the folklore that thrusting ur eczema infected hand in the chest of a juvenile jackal is going to cure it.



That’s just one of the causes that folks around kill a jackal ..

They are also killed to get what folks call " siyar singhi" "Siyar" (Jackal) does not have horns. But a small bunch of hair with horn emerges from its forehead when it hoots facing downwards. This is called "Siyar Singhi".If "Siyar Singhi" is kept in the house, it is said to ward off evil spirits, bestow good luck and wealth, help overcome enemies, and achieve success in law suits. It is always kept in vermillion (Sindoor) in a silver box in the pooja room. Its hair grows automatically. ..a part of the animal that is supposed to increase the inflow of wealth into one dwelling.

That " siyar singhi" is supposedly present only on alpha males of the pack.
But to sell fake " siyar singhi" you have to have a jackals carcass and some halfcooked hard seller to sell.

Do not but any of these sickening stuff please.

Tell them to shove it up.

Will help the cause immensely.

Rajgir

The Cobra; Naja naja

Bloodsucker portrait

Bloodsucker portrait, originally uploaded by scorius.

Indian Garden Lizard, locally known as "Girgit"
Photographed at Boring Road, Patna

Butterfly

Transformation from a small larva to a
large butterfly..

• Timeline 21 days
• No of subjects :8
• Hatched :one,

Giant Swallowtail butterfly(Papilio
cresphontes)

In its early stages, the larva looks like
a bird dropping. to evade its predators..

..after its first molting. it turns into a better looking caterpillar..having huge false eyes on its upper side to evade predators. its real eyes are much below..near its mouth.It sticks out its antennae when threatened,and its a pretty uncommon sight...but my caterpillar showed its red feelers to me..and I captured them..

This changes into a large caterpillar..this creature has grown over 3000 times its initial size....


The mature caterpillar transforms into a pupae..

..and finally emerges our as a beautiful butterfly..

Seven more pupae will mature by this weekend..hopefully I can photograph them all :)

Spring bloom..

Resurgent Bihar-NRB meet.

'Gauravshali Bihar'

ग़ौरवशाली बिहार

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