The 2021 Africa Journals, Chapter 34: In Which We See a Wake

 

Chapter 34:

In Which We See a Wake

 

Vultures are the most righteous of birds: 

they do not attack even the smallest living creature.
-- Plutarch

 

Two things:   Plutarch, though meaning well, was mistaken, and although one doubts he knew about darkest Africa and the vultures therein, there were plenty of vultures in Greece.

And two, there are some graphic photos in this post.

Postprandial to breakfast in the field,  our driver rushes us to the site of a cheetah kill.   When we arrive, the mum cheetah has just relinquished her suffocating hold on the neck of a pregnant impala.   Her two cubs have joined her.

 

 

The cubs inspect the impala while the mother catches her breath, after which she moves about two hundred feet to the shade of a tree.

 

The lifting of a leg by the cheetah cub can be interpreted two ways:   One, it might an attempt to drag the prey away to a safer spot, or, two, it is attempting to expose the soft underbelly of the animal in preparation to eating.

 

 

 

 

For reasons I can only guess at, cheetahs move their prey away from the site of the kill.  Perhaps it's done for shade, to hide the prey from animals that would steal it, or perhaps to get it away from the smells associated with the prey's death--another attempt at hiding.

Whatever the reasons, at least one cub tries to drag the impala.

 

And tries....

And tries from the other end....

But the second cub was more interested in dining.   Cheetahs prefer only fresh, non-fatty meat.    They will not return to a carcass once it's been deserted and they do not scavenge.

Mum waits in the shade of a tree.   It will take her about a half hour to recover from her exertions.

Then the vultures, the primary part of the clean-up crew, begin to arrive.   We watch and hope no hyenas know of the kill, as they will steal it from the cheetahs.   Cheetahs fight to defend their cubs as much as they can, but the bite of a hyena can crush bones.

Marabou storks fly in, also members of clean-up crews.

Their numbers increase steadily while the cheetahs eat.

 

WARNING:   TWO GRAPHIC IMAGES AHEAD

The mother cheetah removes the impala fetus from the carcass and carries it to the shade.

I debated with myself for several days before deciding to show these two images.   They are upsetting and disturbing, but this is nature.    Besides, I told myself, there are many more impalas than the critically endangered cheetahs.

The storks and vultures hold back while the cheetahs are on the carcass, but as soon as all the cats move away,   they descend.

This photo depicts a "wake" of vultures, the collective noun for a number of vultures eating.

I have often wondered how the storks keep from having a leg bitten off by a vulture when they are deep in a scrum like this.

Then, the birds turn their attention to the cheetahs in the shade that are devouring the fetus.   I found this to be an intimidating sight, all those razor-shape bills approaching the cheetahs.

Cheetahs, always alert to danger, keep an eye on the approaching birds.

One cub ventures out, whether to have some fun or to chase away the birds, I can't say.

Mum cheetah is the only one left at the remaining carcass.

As soon as she walks away, the mob descends.

A Marabou stork scores some bones.

We head back to camp for lunch and a mid-day break while the sun is at its peak and the light is too for photography.

On the way, we see cattle from one of the local herders at the smelly creek.   Naboisho Conservancy is privately held land  herders have the right to graze their herds on it, unless the Maasai Mara.   There is a debate as to whether their herds over-graze to the detriment of wild grazers.    We saw a number of herders with their herds here.

This water has a strong sulfer smell.

Just below camp, three zebra try to find shade under a small tree.

You need a bigger tree.

After lunch, I'm working at my desk, downloading photos onto an external hard drive, when I notice movement outside.   Carefully, slowly, I grab my camera and take a photo through the tent screen.

 

It's a rock hyrax, colloquially known as a dassie.   Weighing only four to 12 pounds, these little creatures are not rodents.   Instead, I present this explanation copied from the Internet:

"Rock hyraxes, also called rock dassies or rock rabbits, are small, stub-tailed, rabbit-like animals native to Africa. Though rock hyraxes resemble rodents, their closest living relatives are actually elephants and manatees."  (My emphasis)

 

 

 

I finally figured there were several dassies living under my tent deck, some shy, some not so shy.   This one waited while I unzipped the tent fly, climbed down the rocks and walked to where it was sitting under a bush. 

 

 When that fun was over, I ate some more of the Hallowe'en candy Laura had brought for all of us.

 

 

Next:    Giraffes, baboons, and birds.

 

The 2021 Africa Journals, Chapter 33: In Which We See Spots and More Spots, and Save a Few

 

Chapter 33:

In Which We See Spots and More Spots, and Save a Few

 

Baby cheetahs are born with the most epic Mohawk on their backs. In the wild, it protects the babies by camouflaging them to look like a cutthroat carnivore called a honey badger. 

Let's get this out of the way first:   I love cheetahs.   I love their stealth, their grace, their speed.    I love their furry cubs.   I love their narrow, stream-lined bodies.

Where lions are tanks and leopards are Mack trucks, cheetahs are the  Lamborghinis of the grassland savannahs.

I wish the best for cheetahs, but the odds are against them.  Only about five percent of cheetah cubs make it to independence--when the mother leaves her cubs so they can strike out on their own.

So many things can go horribly wrong.   Cheetahs are killed by lions, leopards, hyenas, and so on, even other cheetahs.  Cubs hidden in tall grasses while the mother hunts for food are especially vulnerable.

So, keep at that in mind while I describe what happened today.

The guides locate a cheetah with three cubs resting in the shade of a tree in Naboisho Conservancy.    We watch them for a long while, watch one cub climb a tree and look out at us through a crook in the trunk.

 

 

 

 

Then it decides to descend. This can be difficult for cheetahs  as their claws are only semi-retractable.   You will often see cheetahs part way up reclining branches tree trunks but not as high as leopards.  So, seeing a cub this high in a tree was unusual.

Eyes closed?   Is it regretting its climb?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Safely down and back into the shade goes the little cub.

 

We turn around and go back a short distance where we see another cheetah with two ten-month-old cubs.    THIS is most unusual--seeing two cheetah families so close together.   Female cheetahs tend to be solitary, whereas males will often combine with other males to form a coalition.   A few years ago, five males combined to form a spectacular coalition called the Tano Bora.   Two of those males are now deceased, leaving the three males to hunt together.

This female cheetah strolls casually past a herd of wildebeest.   She is heading towards the cheetah with three young cubs.   That could mean trouble.

 

 

 

 

 

Her two cubs are more interested in playing.

 

 

Eventually, they decide to join their mother and saunter past the wildebeest.

 

 

 

Back at the cheetah with the younger cubs,  the safari vehicles park in such a way as to block sight of them from the approaching cats.   Our driver joins the line up.

Mother cheetah knows what's coming.   Even though the other adult is her sister, this one knows her cubs are in danger and watches warily.

She turns and slinks away, followed by her cubs.

 

 

 

We follow until they are at a safe distance, watch for a while, and then head back to camp, satisfied that our guides saved these cubs,   It's a good feeling.

 

Maybe considering another tree climb?

I have a notebook that I take into the field with me, mainly to jot down names of unfamiliar birds and also special events.   Sometimes I make notes while we  are traveling in the Land Cruisers and the results can be illegible.

The top note reads 2 lions H2O, meaning lions at the watering hole.   Then, cheetah with two 10-month old cubs, and passing the gnus (wildebeest).   The next two?   I still haven't deciphered them, even after referring to the photos that are in chronological order.

Such is life on safari. 

"UFO" refers to an unknown bird--unidentified flying object.

For more about the fantastic five-cheetah coalition, this is a link to an article by Dr. Elena V. Chelysheva and her assistant, Jeffrey Wu   Dr. Chelysheva has been studing cheetahs in the Maasai Mara for a number of years.   I have had the privilege of hearing her presentations a couple times on my visits to the Mara.

/https://africageographic.com/stories/the-power-of-unity-cheetah-coalition-in-maasai-mara/

 

Next:   I don't know yet.