![]() But, as providence would have it, the snakes got an unusual fighter for their freedom: Head constable Varinder Singh, who is nicknamed "Sonu Cool" in snake study groups. ![]() They had been illegally stuffed in a wicker basket padded with saffron cloth by snake charmers at a fair in Talwara (Hoshiarpur). But for these two rat snakes, saffron was the colour of a suffocating, imperilling imprisonment. Saffron literally glows when the National Flag unfurls on Independence Day. Athreya questions: If so many man-eating leopards have been shot, why have human deaths not stopped in Uttarakhand? Athreya quotes studies from Junnar, Maharashtra, where leopards live peacefully with humans in a landscape which has no wild prey, and big cats survive on domestic animals. Leopards wounded by poachers can target humans, as also cubs left behind by a mother killed by poachers or a mother that sees her cubs being shot. ![]() Shooting leopards encourages younger leopards to occupy vacated territory, and being inexperienced these new leopards can turn to killing humans. Uttarakhand and Himachal are close to Nepal (a destination for illegal wildlife articles) and poaching of leopards in these states is the maximum. However, scientific research by wildlife biologist Vidya Athreya indicates that poaching of leopards may be causing increasing attacks on humans. The common opinion on the cause of this conflict is that forests are invaded by humans, and poachers finish the leopard's prey base. One such hunter is LS Rawat (see photo), who claims to have shot "43 man-eating leopards". As many as 550 leopards have been killed in the last 10 years in Uttarakhand. Though leopard-man conflict is high in Himachal, it is Uttarakhand where maximum humans die in leopard attacks and the highest number of leopards are hunted down as "man-eaters". The shooting of an innocent leopard in Himachal Pradesh's Thunag region under the guise of tackling a man-eater by Nawab Shafath Ali Khan of Hyderabad on August 11 has stirred controversy. Lizards are wall hounds, chasing down and eating anything that moves within their sight. Males constantly have stand-offs and fights. Martin says lizards carefully observed can be more entertaining than TV shows! Larger males try and occupy as much space as possible and allow females and the young to stay within these spaces. It is because householders are prejudiced by a lizard's "ugly" appearance that their fascinating behaviour escapes notice. Lizards actually help households as bio-agents, feeding on insects, mosquitoes, cockroaches etc. ![]() A gecko that falls in milk simply gets cooked and the milk isn't really vegetarian anymore!" says Martin. "Geckos (lizards) can't be harmful in any toxic way. Lizards bite only if caught otherwise they scuttle away. Reptile expert Gerry Martin says lizards can bite humans but most often they can't even break the skin. Housewives, too, live in dread of these ceiling spooks falling into boiling milk and ensuring the family some early visas to heaven! However, these perceptions are unscientific. Is there more to this story? We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about.Most people can recall headlines about Indian Wall lizards "poisoning" school mid-day meals. Certainly worth seeing for its Vancouver debut, as they aren’t likely to be in a room that size again any time soon. In the same way that the Struts’ glam game seems equal parts marketing strategy and songwriting by committee, there is something about this No. The baggy-era dance rock in Honey Sweet, will paste a knowing grin on the face of any Charlatans fans. With elements of such clean pop acts as James to various teen boy bands and contemporaries like The 1975, there is a good bit of looking back here. This Manchester-area quintet are fast-rising in their homeland and now breaking out into North America with singles such as the hooky Charlemagne or Getaway. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Manage Print Subscription / Tax Receipt.Westcoast Homes & Design Previous Issues.Vancouver Sun Run: Sign up & event info.
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