By M Ramith

Craigmore (Tamil Nadu): Since we caught our first fleeting glimpse of a Nilgiri marten (Martes gwatkinsii) several months ago, a colleague and I have revisited the evergreen patch in Craigmore numerous times to photo-capture this extremely elusive endemic mustelid as evidence of their presence here. Yesterday, our perseverance paid off as I was able to capture a pair through my lenses.

The search was a part of the Craigmore Biodiversity Assessment Project being undertaken by the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) to assess the biodiversity of the Craigmore Plantations, a tea estate that supports a wide variety of fauna within patches of preserved evergreen forests.

Early morning yesterday, when I entered the forest, a wild thought crossed my mind that I would see a marten with a brood of young ones, frolicking in the trees. Perhaps this wild thought was with me during most of my trips to the forest; and all of these had ended in disappointment. However, it was not to be the case yesterday.

As I walked, a sudden rustle of leaves on a tree jerked me awake from my dreams of seeing the marten. I looked up to the source of the sound and noticed a small black animal rushing upwards along this tall lean tree. Could it be true? Was it a marten? On closer inspection, I observed that there were two of them! And they were the Nilgiri martens! Two of these elusive and rarely-sighted small carnivores, sighted again.

I stayed still to not disturb them. On their way up, one had to bend a little to navigate a branch, allowing me an opportunity to note its yellowish orange neck. From the top of the tree, they strolled across to an adjacent tree through the connected canopy. After walking around a bit in the canopy, one of them changed directions and headed for a dove. I was so excited at the prospect of witnessing the animal on the hunt that I had forgotten about my camera. Only when the dove flew away with its life, did I become aware of the camera dangling from my neck.

The martens were about 30 metres away from me. I managed to shoot a few photographs to facilitate clear identification, but just about that. After its failed predation attempt, the marten walked back and found a hole in the tree, where it inserted its head as if searching for something. A minute or two later, it moved on to another branch. Meanwhile, the other individual approached the first, and both headed to another tree. They just walked through the connected branches of adjacent trees and reached a fairly large tree which was inclined almost parallel to the ground. And then they started playing, rolling on each other. As I moved to get a better view, I stepped on some dry leaves, and they immediately stopped and stared at my direction. I recalled an old image of a marten staring straight at the photographer.

I am not sure if they sensed my presence then, or just ignored a human who could not climb up and reach where they were, but they began their game again. I tried pushing my luck to get better photographs, but the animals moved to another tree and then vanished from my sight.

The sighting lasted 20 minutes and then it was over. As I walked back, I wondered if they were a courting couple. And then I started dreaming again. Of seeing the marten with its young frolicking about it.