The 2022 Africa Journals, Chapter 31: Zoom ! Zoom! Zoom!, Part One

 Chapter 31:

Zoom! Zoom! Zoom!

Part One

If you're in Maasai Mara National Park in Kenya, if you're in Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, you don't get out of your vehicle and go walking around amid the lions and the leopards. You stay in your Land Rover. You stay in your safari van, and you look out the windows or you look out the pop top at these animals. I know by experience how badly that can work out if you violate those guidelines.

-David Quammen

 

Our Ferrari Safari is turbo-charged this morning as we head to the Mara North Conservancy.   I don't know yet why we are in such a rush, but Virginia and I hang on as Francis transports us through the murk before dawn.

I understand immediately when we arrive!   On the ground next to a large tree, partially surrounded by a crescent of safari vehicles with big camera lens poking out their sides, are the leopard Nalang'u and her son.    Not only on the ground in plain sight, but playing with each other!

We are in the perfect place at the perfect time.   Other vehicles are in front of us in a semi-circle and I think their view isn't as great as ours.   Last evening we saw a little of the two leopards with a gazelle she had caught.

Slowly the sun casts a warmer light on the duo and as we watch.

A short break to check out the newcomers.

Back in the shade again.

And then, up the tree they go for naps.

More vehicles arrive and we have to leave the area for a while as there are regulations regarding how many vehicles can be at a sighting.

We park in a place where we can see the tree where the leopards nap.   Suddenly Nalang'u climbs down and heads our way.   She is heading uphill where she spotted a warthog family.    

Francis hurries us uphill from her and parks so we can see the possible hunt.

Nalang'u is almost hidden by the tall grass but the warthogs spot her and run.

Suddenly, she changes direction and speeds our way.   One of the piglets was separated from the others and is beside us the grass.

She's too fast for me!

I see signs of a tussle and the leopard zoom soon emerges with the piglet.

She hides in the brush to consume it.

Meanwhile, Francis sees that there are fewer vehicles at the tree where the young leopard is and he takes us there.   Shortly, Junior starts down the tree with what's left of the gazelle carcass.

Leopards, with their strong jaws and forequarters, can climb a tree with a killed prey three times their weight.   Though the smallest of Africa's big cats, they are the strongest.

"I wonder why there aren't any vultures around, " I say.

"No way, " says Francis.  "The leopard would have them for dessert."

Oh.

Taking a breather.

There isn't much left, but he isn't  going anywhere without it.

After all, a gazelle in the jaws is worth two in the savannah.

***

Is. that enough excitement for one post?

Just wait.   It's only 7:30 in the morning and the safari day has just begun.

Fawn-colored lark.

Yellow-throated longclaw

Gray-headed kingfisher

Silver bird

The 2022 Africa Journals, Chapter 30: Those Impossible Hyenas and a Photo Dump (PT. 3 of A Great Day)

 (Note: to see photos in a larger format, click on one to open a film strip at the bottom, then scroll through it.)

    Chapter 30:

Those Impossible Hyenas plus a Photo Dump

Part Three of a Great Day for Everything.

Integrity's a neutral value. Hyenas have integrity too.   They're pure hyena.

-Jonathan Franzen

"It's a male," I say in reference to a hyena cub we're photographing.

"How do you know?" asks my driver /guide.    I show him the photograph.   

"I can neither confirm nor deny," he says cryptically and reaches for his canvas-covered mammal book on the Land Cruiser's dashboard.

He hands the book to me and points to a specific paragraph. He gives me a few moments to read it.   Then he says, "I can neither confirm nor deny."

And I sit there utterly astonished--mouth open, jaw dropped, eyes wife open.

Recently, I posted the photo and the above conversation on Facebook, but noted that I would probably go to Facebook jail for a lifetime  for "violating their community standards" if I repeated the information in the following link.

I don't fear Facebook here, but nonetheless I'd rather not copy and paste  it.   I will simply furnish the link and you can read if you, too, want to be educated and astonished as to why it's darned near impossible to sex hyenas.

The link is complete with explanation, photos, and diagrams.   And what a diagram!!!

https://wholeeartheducation.com/hermaphrodite-hyenas/?fbclid=IwAR0KofsLhL9dDQkQ_A_5iVThtdt6TdJovdhKaOiO0ChP4gY0fl8gmUKK8n0

As for  hyenas, sometimes they're cute, most times they aren't.

Hyenas with with what's left of a wildebeest head.

Hyenas are a necessary part of the African ecosystem, often cleaning up carcasses left by larger predators or stealing carcasses themselves from whatever animal brought it down.   They are also quite capable of taking down antelope and wildebeest themselves.

There are three kinds hyenas--the spotted, which is the most prevalent, the brown, and the striped.   The Maasai Mara is over-run with spotted hyenas, in my opinion.

Standing three feet or less at the shoulder, the sloping back of the hyena gives it a sneaky appearance but its short compact frame can reach speeds of 40mph.   They also have the unpleasant habit of drooling.

With a biting force of a bone-crunching 1100psi, there are not many animals willing to chance a broken leg by challenging a hyena.

Hyena spa.   They can often be found relaxing in cooling water or mud.

Hyena and cub.

Peeking out of an underground den.

The black blob on the right side is a much younger cub.   They are all black when born.

From Safari Africana: Hyenas are witty, courageous, and smart animals, and have no apologies to make. They are also incredibly caring and nurture their cubs better than many other animals. Many people assume that they are closely related to dogs, but in the real sense, hyenas are more alike to cats than they are to dogs.

Hyenas sleeping on the road.   The dirt is often warmer and dryer than the surrounding grasslands.

From National Geographic:  Although hyenas appear similar to dogs, they are actually more closely related to cats.

My disdain for these animals would be substantially less if they didn't steal food from cheetahs or kill the cubs of the endangered cheetahs.   Or lion and leopard cubs, too.  But then, those cats also kill hyena cubs.

There are two hyena dens close to camp and we visited them several times.

***

Now it's time for a photo dump, those photos that didn't get posted yet because there were too many to fit in a different post.

A yellow winged bat sleeping in a tree next to my tent.   These bats have wingspans of  12 inches!

Here;s an image of the bat that I borrowed from Pinterest:

NOT MY PHOTO

Gray-headed kingfisher.

Rufous-naped lark.

Slender mongoose.   These cute little mongoose are 12 to 15 inches long plus a tail that's 9 to 13 inches long.

White-crowned shrike.

This is a bushbaby nest in a tree next to SHelly'stent.

And this is the best shot I could get of the small animals.   The camera wanted to focus on limbs, not eyes and ears.   Bushbabies are primates with large eyes, long rear legs, and furry bodies.

A crop of the photo above to show the little fingers of a bushbaby.   We had a lot of fun watching these little creatures leap from tree to tree at night.

This is a young bushbaby I am holding at a rescue place in Botswana a couple years ago.

The stunning violet-backed starling.   Also called a plum-colored starling.

Water thick-knee.   Note the large eye.

Female gray woodpecker.

The always magnificent gray crowned crane.

Dark blue pansy butterfly

A Thompson's gazelle with a bent horn and flies all over its head.

Warthog sow with a piglet.

At Great Plains Expedition camp.   A kitchen to die for.