Robin with a Leopard

Welcome back. Most of us as human beings, nature lovers, hunters and avid fishermen love the company of our dogs. Dogs, on the other hand, act as pure human when it comes to enjoying the nature and going with the spirit of excitement in hooking a fish and reeling it to the shore...they also love to express their sportive growl on the all--fisherman- lies...the one that got away was the big one. Sometimes I think, a fisherman who does not brag about his catch and does not lie about the fish that broke the line ...ain't much of a fisherman at all. Our dear canine companions seem to put up well with that...
Let's talk about Robin now. He was a little Spaniel puppy when Corbett got him home and fed him full stomach for the first time in Robin's life (Please don't ask me how Corbett figured that out, let's leave that for nut-heads.). But from that time till the end of his life Robin was his most loved companion whenever he went fishing or hunting. The most memorable incident with Robin that Corbett could recall about Robin was his encounter with a leopard. Traditionally, dogs are a leopard's most favorite kill. Almost every dog knows that with its instinct. But Robin had seen and experienced a lot of Corbett and had less fear for any other animal. And it was a day of awakening for him.

It was a good morning and Corbett was out in the forest trying to track a tiger down. The cattle population was taking a heavy toll due to the tiger and Corbett wanted that stripped sucker real bad. Robin was leading the hunt by sniffing and tracking the tiger while a bunch of Langoors (Black-faced Indian Monkeys) crossed the track. I don't know what is really wrong with dogs as a species, but whenever they see monkeys they chase after them like mad men.  Before even any body else could do anything about it (and simply disregarding Corbett's signals) Robin dashed out chasing those monkeys. Well, it was not Robin's day that particular day. The next second, Corbett saw him his ears down, tail down running for his life... and behind him...a big o' leopard. Corbett started shouting and some other passerby people also joined him in the shout to distract or scare the leopard off. Since the tiger was assumed to be nearby Corbett did not want to use a bullet from his rifle for the leopard unless the shot was absolutely necessary since it would  have warned the tiger. After a quite good chase and with all the hauling of the people the leopard decided to give up and left the chase. And Robin returned to Corbett after running for another half a mile. It was a really good lesson for Robin which he never forgot in his life. And Corbett came to an agreement with Robin not to disclose the whole thing for a long time.

When I was growing up as a kid and used to go on fishing trips we always cared to have our dogs with us and they were such a big part of our trip. And even at this date the memory of that excitement has never come any close to even not remembering it. I am sure all of you will agree with what I really mean to say. When we used to catch a big fish our dogs were the most excited ones, whirling around the fish and nipping at it and growling to let everyone know what a big success we have had in our day's trip. Most of the time we forgot that they were not human...but felt almost as if they were...
Lots to share about our dear canines ...will come back on this later.