THE CALOTES

Since  childhood i have been so obsessed  with animals, wildlife and reptiles. The calote was one of the first reptiles i got to know of and click. Most of my school vacations were spend in the nearby parks, running around plants, trees and bushes to catch grasshoppers, lady bugs, caterpillars, butterflies and calotes. Indian parents always taught us to stay away from these and the only reason they could give us was that these creatures have poison in them and if they bite, we die. I still find it funny how afraid i was even to pick up a lady bug. I used to watch Bear Grills from man vs. wild on discovery channel and learned how to catch calotes. I used to make calotes run here and there so that they get tired and stop running and defending themselves then with a stick hold its head down and grab it by the neck. A 12 year old kid , with a calote in his hand and scaring other children would be the only memory my friends would be having of me. I don't regret of what i was doing because it helped me overcome my fear and click some really amazing pictures of these undervalued creatures. People still don't know how important these reptiles are for our nature and how they keep the insect counts down. If they don't exist , our houses would flood with crawling and jumping bugs.