10
votes
Accepted
What's the difference between defined Forest areas and laws with respect to hiking/camping through them in India?
Disclaimer:
I am no expert in this field, and I must admit that I had to go through various documents (PDFs) that I had archived over a period of time, but was too lazy to understand them fully. I ...
- 31.7k
9
votes
Accepted
What must be causing a decrease in sparrows and an increase in pigeons in my town?
Common Sparrows, which are the State Bird of Delhi, and also of Bihar, have indeed been on a massive decline in India in recent years. What you're seeing is not a fluke. It's happening in many urban ...
9
votes
Accepted
What species of bird is this?
Asian Koel (wikipedia), specifically a female.
CC-BY-SA 3.0 Wikipedia user Dougjj
It's a member of the cuckoo family, and like other cuckoos it's a brood parasite. This species is found across much ...
- 25.9k
8
votes
Accepted
How can an adult be bitten by a snake without feeling it?
Yes, the bite of a common krait (Bungarus caeruleus) can be painless. It is a venomous snake found on the subcontinent of India and is also known as the Indian krait. Kraits are nocturnal, therefore ...
- 2,750
8
votes
Accepted
Trekking Har ki doon (India): Permits and Guides
Yes, for Har-ki-doon trek you need a local forest permit.
Hiring a guide is not a mandatory thing, but recommended. The guide will take care of campsites and arranging food at a fair bargain.
First ...
- 31.7k
8
votes
Accepted
How to get rid of illegal artificial paints on historical monuments?
When I've had to clean spray paint from remote destinations, we've used chemical paint removers in spray bottles and scrub brushes.
Do not do this on a historic site without permission from whoever ...
- 4,219
7
votes
Accepted
Camping and Monkeys
I love this question and thus I've researched a little bit. Just as you've wished I don't talk about the encounter with a monkey or something. I just show off the different races and their ability to ...
- 23.5k
6
votes
Accepted
Which dangerous wild animals are most likely to be encountered in Western Ghats, India
I've hiked the Ghats in Maharashtra, Tamilnadu and Kerala without issues, but did take sensible precautions. The most dangerous animals are gaur (wild relatives of cattle), boar, snakes, and elephants....
- 501
5
votes
Accepted
Possible resources to identify birds while outdoors (preferably in the Indian subcontinent)?
I highly recommend the Pocket Naturalist Guides from Waterford Press. I have no affiliation with the company, and I don't purchase directly from their website. I'm recommending them because we use ...
5
votes
Possible resources to identify birds while outdoors (preferably in the Indian subcontinent)?
There several apps for phones that would help a person,
eBird by Cornell Lab (This one is supposed to be worldwide)
Birds of India Specifically for birds in India
The Audubon Bird Guide App (Limited ...
- 69.2k
4
votes
What must be causing a decrease in sparrows and an increase in pigeons in my town?
At a guess? A change in architecture.
Pigeons favor cliff ledges as nesting sites; they'll happily build nests on window ledges as a substitute for natural cliffs. Sparrows favor cavities: tree ...
- 2,930
4
votes
Accepted
What type of cuckoo bird is this? From South India, Asia
You need to be careful here: there are several similarly named species in English, so it's probably better to use the scientific name.
Fork-tailed drongo (Dicrurus adsimilis, e.g. this shot on ebird) ...
- 25.9k
4
votes
Do I have to have a guide for the Milam Glacier trek in India?
Milam glacier falls under the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve limits. In case you want to enter a national park limits, you will need a permit from the forest department. Additionally, since parts of ...
- 7,815
3
votes
Accepted
RIMO III (elevation: 7,233 m, coordinates, 35°22′31″N 77°21′42″E): first ascent date?
According to the Himalayan Journal, it was July 14th, 1985.
Rimo III
(7233 m -23,730 ft)
Wilkinson and Fotheringham 14 July
NE ridge
From east via
South Rimo
glacier....
- 69.2k
3
votes
Do I have to have a guide for the Milam Glacier trek in India?
I did this trek in 2012 on a guided tour organized by IndiaHikes. There was a large flood in 2013 in Uttarakhand which, from what I've heard, affected the trek significantly and made it harder.
As to ...
1
vote
Identification of a jellyfish-like, shapeless sea-creature from India
It is very hard to tell from the poor photo, but I suspect that it is a member of the Tunicates, a class of marine animals that includes things like sea-squirts.
More specifically I would guess that ...
- 9,514
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible