JOIN USEncounters of a large kind
Motorists in Munnar generally agree that nothing is scarier than running into a belligerent wild elephant on a deserted road at night – a recurring nightmare that has spawned countless hair-raising tales, some as tall as the pachyderms themselves!
Some inexperienced drivers are petrified into inaction. They stay put and risk being booted out of the way unceremoniously – with all the attendant consequences. Most, however, reverse hastily to a safe distance, meekly acknowledging the jumbo’s ‘right of passage’. This, too, is fraught with risk.
One panicky driver reversed frantically, keeping an anxious eye alternately on the advancing elephant and the road behind, fervently praying that he didn’t end up in an unseen ditch. However, that’s precisely what happened – and saved him in the bargain. In the desperation of the moment, his car slid into a ravine well out of the jumbo’s reach, and he escaped unscathed with only minor abrasions.
Another weary driver who parked his truck on a roadside one night to catch forty winks, woke up suddenly to find a tusker mopping the condensation off his windscreen with its trunk – perhaps to get a better view of the cabin’s occupant! Terrified, he cowered under the dashboard until the jumbo went away.
Some elephants obstinately refuse to budge, holding up traffic for hours on arterial roads. I once witnessed such a hold-up near Munnar with a traffic build-up on both sides of the stubborn jumbo. After about an hour it condescendingly moved to a side to allow vehicles to pass but – unnerved by its truly menacing tusks – none dared to. When it did finally lumber away after about two hours, motorists found that it had been gorging on bananas kept for sale in a wayside stall!
Two major irritants for wild elephants are firecrackers and dogs often used to drive them away from local vegetable gardens. The canines, in particular, anger the jumbos by repeatedly snapping at them, and so they turn their ire on the first human unfortunate enough to cross their path.
A small bonfire is an effective deterrent to keep away elephants or any wild animal for that matter. Once while camping overnight with friends outside Munnar, we found a few wild elephants in the vicinity. Unperturbed, our elderly tribal guide promptly lit a fire around which we hit the sack. The jumbos never bothered us that night – though the guides sonorous snoring did!