DUM(B)-DUM(B) FOX The colony of Meerkats were living happily with all the knowledge of superior burrow building skills passed on from previous generations, particularly from the ideas of two brothers, Fig and Plum, about whom we know all too well. The whole colony were like magicians when trying to escape from
predators, the moment danger is spotted the alarm calls go out
and where ever they might be foraging above the ground, in a jiffy they are all
underground safe inside the labyrinth of tunnels , as their burrows very built in such a wonderful manner.
(Children if you need a comparison to think about how good they were, think of them as The Great Egyptians, who built the Pyramids, of the animal world) No predator could survive in their area, as no one could survive on a diet of
starvation. But as a predator they could learn to survive on roots and fruits, but then it takes millions of years of evolution to get used to such things. So it's of no use too; so all the predators did the sensible thing, by moving on to other areas of the forest, where there were not such formidable opponents. The meerkats lived happily ever after. But this story is not over, for I am going to narrate what happened after 'happily ever after'. One fine day, a fox came upon our colony of magician meerkats, seeing the abundance of food and no competition around, decided that he could live happily ever after too, with a nice fat meal roasting on the pit. He could smell the barbeques already.
But the first few weeks proved him wrong. No matter what stealth mode he used, he always ended up with beetroot soup (yuck!) for breakfast, lunch and dinner. “This could not go on for ever. I need to think about something else to do, for now I understand why there is no competition around, as these elusive meals are like a mirage, they disappear the moment you are near�, he thought. 'I can do this,' he said to himself, 'I have to do something different.' He tortured his brain to come up with a novel and innovative trick to play on the meekats. Finally, he remembered an idea his mentor, a clever fox, used to teach. His face brightened up and a smile appeared. Merkats, beware! The very next day (no point in delaying a good idea), the meerkats were startled to hear a loud noise, which drowned even the sound of their alarm calls, but they were quick and agile and in the safety of their burrows in the blink of an eye. This
happened the very next day too and the day after that. Now they became curious as to what this annoying disturbance to their peaceful living could be. The sentries poked their heads above ground to see what this commotion was all about.
"We don't get it,' they reported back, 'it's a fox, that is banging a drum and parading around our colony.' They were all perplexed. They have never known a predator that announced it's presence in such a manner. The sentries reported back daily about this strange behavior of their feared neighborhood predator fox. They all had their own opinions about it's comical behavior. "Maybe it lost it's marbles and has gone ga-ga" opined one. "Maybe it has embraced the new-fangled notion of becoming a Fruitarian, and intends to befriend us" ventured one.
“Maybe it was a circus fox in it's previous birth and his karma is still continuing in this', which bought a hearty laugh from the assembled community. And from this comment on, the fox was no longer a predator to be feared but became an object of ridicule. The mere mention of the feared neighborhood predator fox, lightened their spirits, and a little-one came up with a beautiful name, Dum-Dum fox, for the sound it makes and also for it's dumb behavior.
(We are pretty dumb too, to pronounce the two words alike) But a clever one cautioned, "Until we are sure about the motive of the fox, we
should run for cover, when ever we hear the sound of the drum." The guards in-
charge sounded the alarm as soon as they heard it and not otherwise, as there was no point to be alarmed if you don't hear the sound of the arrival of the friendly neighborhood dumb clown fox.
This was the moment the fox was waiting for, to become a dumb clown from a feared predator, drinking beetroot juice (yuck!, variety is the spice of life, soup one day, juice another) to avoid a diet of starvation, and continued banging his drum, announcing to the whole world what a fool he is.
Then one day he sneaked upon the colony unannounced, without his drum and snatched a few surprised members of the colony and invited them home for dinner. With their belly's full of beetroot soup, for our friendly neighborhood dumb clown fox was a generous host, they did not complain as they enjoyed the warmth of his fire.