Ratel- The Unsung Honey Badger

Little is known about this extremely interesting creature, to the fact that nine out of ten Wild Life Conservators have never heard of it. I came to know about this animal during my quest for the Pangolin, in the jungle of Abu, from a Bhil tribal who, having only a vague idea, had mentioned having seen at night what he called Kabar Biju- A Grave Digger, reputed to exhume corpses of children buried in shallow graves and eat the remains.

At this time, one night my hen house was raided by a nocturnal animal. Only the stability of the pen saved my birds from slaughter. Now I decided to trap the animal. The hen house had two compartments partitioned by sturdy wire meshing. The next evening I shifted the birds to one section and left ajar the door of the other. Around early morning the animal once again struck and tried to get to the birds through the mesh. It was bedlam as the birds shrieked while the animal undauntedly attacked the meshing. I reached well in time to latch the door with the creature safely inside. At daybreak after letting the hens out from the other side I had a peek at the interloper. It was really a mini bear sporting a black and silvery fur coat that accorded me a defiant look. He seemed clearly a persistent poultry predator. Bewildered, I let the animal alone but later sought the help of the book "Jungle in Sunlight and Shadow". According to the author, F.W. Champion, the intriguing animal was a Ratel, referred to as a Biju by the tribals and described ecstatically by him at length, as the 'Hero of the Jungle'.

The India Ratel, many a time called the Honey Badger is very much at home in the Indian plains but being evasive, is rarely seen or noticed and is by no means uncommon. Ratels are more like small bears in gait and appearance with peculiar coloring of silver grey & black, stirring out of their burrows mostly at night and are omnivorous, eating rodents, birds,insects, honey and almost every thing that is edible. For Honey, the Badger has a connection with a little brown bird who with its vigorous chirping and fluttering from bush to bush leads the floundering animal to a hive of wild bees. On reaching the hive, the Badger rushes in and protected by fur coat against the furious bees, makes an excellent meal of the luscious honey. The Honey Guide's share of the feast consists of grubs that are scattered all around during the gluttonous onslaught. This is indeed a marvelous compatibility of the bird and the beast for mutual benefit.

Now my curiosity more than sated, I released the magnificent specimen from captivity.