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Other things we're trying include include blood collected from a local abattoir, honey, fish and peanut butter. I'm also going to be spending the occasional night out in the bush playing distress calls to see if that will entice some animals in.
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| Setting out some bait outside an aardvark burrow. Loads of different animals utilise them, so they're good places to try and catch pictures of a huge variety of animals. |
A few hours after collecting my maggots we heard a Kudu barking just outside camp. So Tara and I drove out to see if we could find out what was going on. The barking continued, but we just couldn't see the Kudu (or a Leopard). Along we drove when suddenly behind a bush we found a very distressed looking Kudu, so we simply followed where it was looking and sure enough, sitting calm as you like in the middle of the road, was my favourite Leopard, the "Little Cub". We shot a cool little video of the Leopard and the Kudu barking at it which I will eventually put onto Youtube. Eventually he moved on as it was clear he wasn't going to have much luck with these Kudu. So we followed down the road a little, before he moved just a few meters into the long grass at the side of the road out of view. We knew he stayed just a few meters away because we could see the grass moving but he remained frustratingly out-of-sight, so we left him to resume his search for dinner.
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| Completely busted by the Kudu standing just 15 meters away from him, he was utterly unfazed by us almost driving into him as he was sitting right on a blind corner. |
Towards the end of that week I did a first aid course (which I passed!!). On the first day of the course I was wondering to my tent in the early afternoon. It wasn't until I was about 5m away that I noticed there was quite a large snake sunning itself right in-front of my porch. It noticed me at pretty much the same moment and whipped around and dove under my tent, so just its head was poking out underneath. I should mention at this point that the guy teaching me first aid, Neels, is also a herpetologist. Now, I have ALWAYS loved snakes, and had been terrified at the thought of not seeing one in the wild while I was out here. I had previously caught a glimpse of a gorgeous spotted-bush snake in our office, but this was a proper sighting!! I'd like to say I remained calm, but instead I just stood in awe and shouted "Ssssnake.....SNAKE, UNDER MY TENT THERE'S A SNAKE!!!!" Neels ran out and took one look and said: "Aaahhh, amazing a Mozambique Spitting Cobra." Awesome!! We do have a resident spitter living under our office who is very "tame" for a snake, but there's also one up at Black Leopard Camp (the lodge on our reserve) which is really aggressive and has spat a lot at some of the staff up there, so it's always a bit of an unknown as to what to expect. Neel's got his snake kit and extracted the snake from under my tent so we could have a look at it. It took him three goes to get a decent grip, but not once did the snake rear at him or even come close to spitting (they can spit accurately at up to a 2-3m, and they always aim for the eyes). Snakes will always try and avoid aggressive confrontations; there is no point in them wasting venom on something they cannot eat, so they won't strike at a person unless it's the last possible option to them. After we'd had a quick, impromptu lesson on snakes, including how to sex them (this was a female), we relocated the snake to just outside camp and went back to work. This was hands down one of the best things I've ever seen; to be able to see a wild spitting cobra this close was incredible, and another unforgettable experience and something I will definitely treasure for a long time to come.
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| Although snakes do need to bask in the sun in order to get their body temperature up so they can hunt or digest their food, it is unusual to see them out in the middle of the day in such searing heat. Apparently they will often move at this time of day when a storm is coming, and sure enough the following morning a huge storm hit Thabo Tholo. Incredible, incredible creatures!!
Later in the following week we had a group of 4x4'ers stay in camp. They were awesome to have around and it was a brilliant few days, highlighted by another INCREDIBLE sighting of the "Little Cub". This time we saw him not because of animal alarm calling, but because of giraffe and their beautifully inquisitive ways. If they see a predator they will stare non-stop in their direction, and even sometimes move towards them!! We eventually spotted the Leopard, and he was in full-on stalk-mode (though not after the giraffe). There was an enormous male warthog calmly munching away; this would be a huge test for such an experienced leopard, let alone one just beginning to fend for itself. Again I've got a video of the hunt which I will put on Youtube eventually. It was fascinating watching a hunt from such an early stage at such a perfect angle. We watched with baited breath as he crept closer and closer to the huge pig, which was still seemingly oblivious to his presence. Luckily for the Warthog, his natural feeding line was taking him away from the Leopard, so the gap was widening. There was a brilliant moment where the Leopard did a little jump on one foot onto a rock to get a better view of where the Warthog, but that may have been the moment a Kudu spotted him and began barking at him. Busted again, his luck really was out at the moment!!
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I've been cut short in writing because we've got to rush to buy some gas to power our fridge before the shop closes, so until the next time I hope all is well back in the UK or wherever you may be reading this.
