Rikki Tikki Tavi

I have heard that as you get older you can remember your childhood very clearly but not necessarily what you did yesterday.  What I do remember is reading the books of Rudyard Kipling.

Rikki Tikki Tavi is a mongoose.  To be exact he is a Grey Mongoose Herpestes edwardsii.  Who can forget his valiant battles with the venomous King Cobra ?

Recent sorties in India brought me face to face with Rikki for the first time.  He was quite approachable showing no fear of our jeep or the occupants.  His beligerence was such that you could imagine him taking us all on if he felt threatened.  He was so unconcerned that at one stage he just sat down and groomed himself in full view of my camera.

I guess those early Kipling books and Jim Corbett's stories always excited me about India.  It seems daft that I have left it unil the last 12 months to visit that amazing country.