We had camped at the edge of Doditaal which itself abuts dense forest on all sides. The campsite was a nice large meadow with ample fresh flowing water. During season its common to find herds of sheep sharing your space and since our trek was in season, we were met with a large herd already settled there. During the day we had to constantly shoo away the sheep from our camping stuff. These sheep apparently will eat anything. I once had to rush towards a goat that was happily chomping on the guy-rope of my tenet and another time i had mistakenly left the outer flap of my tent unzipped and by the time i realized it, a sheep was practically half inside, eyeing my backpack rather meaningfully.
Actually, sharing your space with a herd is quite a nuisance, with things getting much worse at night. One is kept awake by the constant bleating and snuffling and to top it all the sheepdogs would keep barking and often set a part of the herd on a run just for fun. So my first thought when I reached the campsite and saw the herd was that i wasn't going to be sleeping much that night and i mentally prepared myself for a noisy night.
Surprisingly as i settled into my tent the herd was unusually quiet and i do remember thinking that it was odd thing. It was around 11 at night that the barking began.This herd was being guarded by three sheepdogs and all three seemed to have gone berserk all of a sudden. There was a flurry of movement outside my tent and by the sound of the barking i could figure out that one of the dogs had just ripped past my tent towards the forest behind and was barking furiously. I instantly knew that some wild animal was on the prowl. What could it be i wondered. Given the season it could either be a leopard or a brown bear. I was instantly up and out of my sleeping bag and was keenly following the sound of the barking. The dog behind me was incessantly barking but his tone did not change. On the other hand the other two dogs, who were much further away from my tent were alternatively barking and growling and seemed to be moving about much more than the dog behind my tent. Again from experience I knew whatever was happening was happening closer to those two dogs and for the moment i was OK. So i relaxed a bit but kept a sharp ear on what the dog behind my tent was doing. He kept up his monotonous barking. After a while things settled down, which basically meant that now all three dogs had switched to a monotonous barking. I knew that the wild animal had retreated and the dogs were now merely on alert mode. With the immediate danger of being collateral damage in a night hunt receding, i relaxed completely and thought to myself....yup just another noisy night.
Next day in the morning I was told that a wild cat had made away with a sheep during the night and i felt a thrill of having been so close to a kill and i silently congratulated myself on the reasonable calmness with which i had reacted.
Much later as i was having a cup of tea with my fellow campers I saw a shepherd hold up a baby goat and chase a mama goat. He then sat and made sure the mama goat suckled the baby. Later I was told that the wild cat had made off with this baby's mama during the night. I didn't feel all that thrilled about the kill anymore. And i was glad for the shepherd. Thanks to him, this baby goat will live and be healthy, even though its mama was gone.
Actually, sharing your space with a herd is quite a nuisance, with things getting much worse at night. One is kept awake by the constant bleating and snuffling and to top it all the sheepdogs would keep barking and often set a part of the herd on a run just for fun. So my first thought when I reached the campsite and saw the herd was that i wasn't going to be sleeping much that night and i mentally prepared myself for a noisy night.
Surprisingly as i settled into my tent the herd was unusually quiet and i do remember thinking that it was odd thing. It was around 11 at night that the barking began.This herd was being guarded by three sheepdogs and all three seemed to have gone berserk all of a sudden. There was a flurry of movement outside my tent and by the sound of the barking i could figure out that one of the dogs had just ripped past my tent towards the forest behind and was barking furiously. I instantly knew that some wild animal was on the prowl. What could it be i wondered. Given the season it could either be a leopard or a brown bear. I was instantly up and out of my sleeping bag and was keenly following the sound of the barking. The dog behind me was incessantly barking but his tone did not change. On the other hand the other two dogs, who were much further away from my tent were alternatively barking and growling and seemed to be moving about much more than the dog behind my tent. Again from experience I knew whatever was happening was happening closer to those two dogs and for the moment i was OK. So i relaxed a bit but kept a sharp ear on what the dog behind my tent was doing. He kept up his monotonous barking. After a while things settled down, which basically meant that now all three dogs had switched to a monotonous barking. I knew that the wild animal had retreated and the dogs were now merely on alert mode. With the immediate danger of being collateral damage in a night hunt receding, i relaxed completely and thought to myself....yup just another noisy night.
Next day in the morning I was told that a wild cat had made away with a sheep during the night and i felt a thrill of having been so close to a kill and i silently congratulated myself on the reasonable calmness with which i had reacted.
Much later as i was having a cup of tea with my fellow campers I saw a shepherd hold up a baby goat and chase a mama goat. He then sat and made sure the mama goat suckled the baby. Later I was told that the wild cat had made off with this baby's mama during the night. I didn't feel all that thrilled about the kill anymore. And i was glad for the shepherd. Thanks to him, this baby goat will live and be healthy, even though its mama was gone.
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