The 2021 Africa Journals, Chapter 9: In Which Murphy Deals a Low Blow

 

                                                                      Chapter Nine:

In Which Murphy Deals a Low Blow

Things will get worse before they get better; Who said things would get better?

---Ehrman's Commentary on Ginsberg's Theorem

 

     I was still contemplating the novel idea that those scurrilous creatures called hyenas could be playful, as I witnessed last night.   There was no doubt that the hyena holding a bone in its jaws was trying to get his companions to chase him, like a domesticated canine version of "Trophy."

    I have disliked hyenas since I learned that they killed the cubs of cheetahs, leopards, and lions.   That they prefer to steal food that the big cats have hunted and killed, though once a leopard has carried its prey high into a tree it's pretty hard for the hyenas to get at it.   More often they take prey away from the endangered cheetahs.

    Additionally, their physical structure, with their hindquarters lower than their shoulders, make then look sneaky.   And they have a disgusting habit of drooling.                                                                                                  Eye of hyena

    We came across a small cackle, or clan, of hyenas this morning.   That collective noun "cackle" perfectly describes hyenas when they are trying to steal food from another animals.   It's what gave hyenas the sobriquet "laughing hyenas," a misnomer if I've ever heard one.   It's a distressing noise if you've ever witnessed what they are doing when they make it.

    More pleasant is to lie in your tent and listen to their nocturnal calls that sounds like "whoooooooOOOP."

    When we saw the hyenas, they were splashing around in a creek.  Seeing hyenas in water is not unusual as they will lie in water and mud to cool off.    It took a moment or two to discover that they were bathing or playing in the water.   The sun was just high enough to peek through the surrounding trees and brush and that provided us with some perfect backlighting for photos.

 

 

    Some of the hyenas were curious about our safari vehicle and came over to check us out.

    The others engaged in what can only be called play.   They delighted in stirring up a pair of hamerkops, which happen to be my favorite African bird, and chasing them through the water.

Approaching the two hamerkops.

 

    

    After they tired of the birds, they just splashed through the water, obviously having fun.   It was then when my heart opened just a bit and I thought maybe I should examine my opinion of hyenas.

    When the hyenas finally disappeared into the forest, we went on our way.   In a short time, as the sun was still rising, we came upon some waterbucks and impala on a bend in the river and the waterbuck began to jump across the stream.

    We arrived in the open grasslands along a river and right in our path were two hamerkops.

    Their name means "hammerhead" in Afrikaans and if you look at the bird on the right in the below photo you can see the obvious resemblance to the head of a hammer.

Once thought to be a stork, then thought to maybe be herons,  they are now classified as members of Pelecaniformes and their closest relatives are pelicans and shoebill storks.

    I was in a below-water hide several years ago with other photographers several years ago.   We had an eye-level view of the pond water and a hamerkop came to hunt for small fish and small frogs right in front of the glass.   It shuffled its feet along the window ledge hoping to flush out  breakfast and its silly cry has me holding my hand over my mouth to stifle my laughs.  

 We had to be quiet so we didn't scare off the other birds that were gathering but the hamerkop made silence very difficult.

I think they look prehistoric and there is evidence based in Pilocene deposits in South Africa  that it might be related to an extinct  bird from that era.

    We passed a grassy area and saw this small elegant antelope called a steenbok.    They are grazers, but in dry times will dig out roots and bulbs with their front hooves.   Oddly, they bury their feces in small scraped trenches and a mother will ingest the feces and urine of  her young to obliterate clues to their  hiding place.

    Steenbok average 22 inches high at the shoulder and weight around 30 lbs.   It is said that the steenbok can reach speeds up to 60mph and run seven miles and still be fresh.   That's a distinct advantage in a country where they are hunted by the big cats.

    As usual, there were birds everywhere and I was enjoying the heck out of photographing them.   Until, that is, I noticed that my Nikon 200-500mm zoom lens was not retracting.   At first we thought it was because of the 100 degree temperatures--perhaps the plastic had swollen to limit the lens's zoom.

                                                                                    Red-billed hornbill

Yellow-billed hornbill.

Thick-billed roller

Lilac-breasted roller.

    But then it became apparent that the zoom was stuck fast at 440mm.  It was still usable but at that length only.   This was so far the lowest blow Murphy's law had struck. Lower than a massive water leak in my home heating system the day before my trip started, lower than frying my laptop.  This was near disaster.   My best camera and my best lens were a perfect, calibrated combo.

    I had a backup camera and lens that I could use so I wasn't out of the action, but I was dismayed at how handicapped I now was for photographing in situations that required the longer length of  500mm or the quick retracting down to 200mm.

    Even worse, how on earth was I going to get that elongated lens in my camera bag for travel?    There was no way I was going to put it in my checked baggage!!!

    Next:    We have breakfast with lions.