The Waiting Game

A tiger, a pool and a herd of chital

On a hot afternoon a tiger walked down to a forest pool, slid in and sank until only its ears and eyes showed above the water. Then the chital came: first two, then a dozen, then the whole herd, grazing along the bank a few yards above a predator they had not noticed.

Nanak Dhingra kept the camera on the pool for the whole of it. The frames show how still a tiger can hold itself, and how close deer will come when they have no idea what is in the water. In the end the deer caught on, the tiger rose and climbed out, and shook itself dry in the grass with nothing to show for the wait. Most hunts end this way.