20:42, Monday, 20 June, 2011

Okay, so we saw the crazy giraffe run. Then we continued into a new type of savanna landscape; it was almost akin to a swamp minus the mush, if that makes any sense at all. There were dead bushes all over, and waterbuck everywhere, with a rising mountain stretch (the type that looks almost like a tree-covered grassy plateau) to my right. I think I had an under appreciation of waterbuck on the study abroad trip. The males have fantastic horns, straight up except for bowing out slightly and coming back towards one another at the top with no branches, black with beautifully ringed ridges. I think that you would think they are great, Dad, because they sort of resemble big fuzzy white tailed deer except for the whole antler bit. The females are especially deer-like. The funny thing is that waterbuck don’t look like they belong on the savanna, but in a much colder climate. I suppose they must be more comfortable than most animals on the chilly nights though.

Further along we came upon a male hyena eating at some bones. I can’t remember what his name was, but he was skittish, which is not the case for most all of the hyenas we watch. At one point, while walking away, he turned towards us with a vertebrae in his mouth. We all cracked up because he looked so silly with his ears perked up, examining us, with the triangular shape of the vertebrae where his nose should be. Just like a curious dog that has heard something interesting and stopped mid-chew, with its ears raised.

We ended our spectacular drive at the North Den, where many cubs were out. Anchorwatt (sp) came up to the car and looked straight up at me again. I think I am falling in love with hyenas; it truly can’t be helped after you spend a bit of time with them. Two of the most ADORABLE little 4-week or so old cubs popped out of the den for a couple of minutes before disappearing back down. They look sort of like kittens with big ears, pointy noses, and a little puppy tail.

All of a sudden, several of the cubs perked up, and began running in one direction. Oh the woes of being a primate; we couldn’t see what was going on in the dark, so we turned on our headlights and followed. The adult female RBC had a carcass: specifically, the head of a warthog. Following was perhaps the most fantastic display of animal behavior I have ever witnessed. RBC ran around giggling and squealing shrilly, running in circles through the scattered, interested cubs. She would stop periodically and eat about two bites before running in a frantic circle again. We had to follow her with our headlights, which became increasingly challenging with cubs everywhere; I was very worried we might hit one. Then we noticed the source of RBC’s discomfort: the female adult named Digs wanted in on the pork roast. The really interesting thing is that RBC is supposed to be the alpha female of the north, but Meg was explaining to me that she didn’t think so; if she were alpha, she would not have to be screaming and running from Digs, because she could just make her back off. After about forty-five minutes of her nonstop running and our doing donuts on the savanna so that Zac could keep recording what was going on into his tape recorder, she finally stopped to eat for more that a few seconds, and her obnoxiously loud giggling ceased for a bit. Digs had backed off. RBC’s cub Typhoon was the only one allowed to share in the meal, and even she was aggressed at periodically by her mother, at which times she would squeal but soon return to eating. If other cubs got near, RBC would tear after them and they would dive into the den. Eventually, with half of the warthog head devoured (she crunched through teeth and everything...most powerful jaw of the animal kingdom), she began tearing around hysterically again. We followed, but it began to rain quite heavily, and we had to return to camp since things were getting slippery. Would you believe that warthogs are stupid enough to share dens with hyenas sometimes? I wonder if the previous owner of the apparently delicious head had been fooled into thinking such a den was a good place to raise a family. Dave says he doesn’t think it so outlandish, because warthogs can be pretty fierce. I don’t know, but either way warthogs have a special place in my heart, because they can always make me laugh.

This morning I went to Happy Zebra and North with Dave. I drove the entire way; Dave refuses to believe that I haven’t driven a stick shift before. I love watching the savanna come to life as the sun rises and the birds wake up; it reminds me of accompanying my Dad hunting in the woods in the morning, and sitting in a tree stand watching as a new day dawns on nature, away from the empty clocks of the human world. The sun was amazing this morning. It was a hazy red ball when it found a gap in the cloud-cover. Nah! Savenya! Mo-mo-chee, chee-Baba! (Please note that I do not really know Zulu, and this rendition of Circle of Life is certainly incorrect, but the way I always interpreted it as a kid.)

We saw some elands on the way to the den!!! Elands are really big, light gray, shy antelope, with huge turkey-waddle type lumps on their chest that bounce when they walk; I can’t fathom why such a hindering apparatus would have evolved. Regardless, I am kind of fond of these guys. The males have backward sloping, relatively straight horns, and they just look cool. I also like that they are shy. It’s endearing.

No hyenas were present at Happy Zebra Den. Instead, strangely, there were two bat-eared foxes on top of it. I can’t get over bat-eared foxes. Absolutely irresistible.

We drove on some very remote tracks for a long time, and gosh, did we ever come up on a GORGEOUS rolling stretch of savanna. It was like a hidden grassland valley, with African-style mountains standing intermittently about. Heaven. I would have stopped and lived in one of those trees in a Rafiki existence if I could have. The weird thing is that there didn’t appear to be many animals, although the tall grass can make it difficult to tell. We did see some elephants on one of the slopes, and there were cape buffalo every so often, with one big herd including calves. I came upon a group of about three females and a calf. Suddenly there were guinea fowl (awesome looking, plush birds with a blue head and neat-looking stripes, that according to Julia Smith look like they would be very tasty) right in front of the car, with a gazillion little chicks following them in a single file line that I didn’t want to hit. I stalled while trying to avoid them. Dave told me I mustn’t worry about guinea fowl with buffalo so close, although he had never known them to charge a car. Granted, we did have the smaller research vehicle, but their manners proved to be perfect as I laboriously restarted the car; the next half a mile or so was a constant struggle not to hit any guinea fowl, who ran in front of me until one finally had the brilliant idea of going off to the side, and the others eventually followed suit.

What a striking thing it was when we came upon an august male lion, sitting in the grass of a slightly lighter color, causing the topi and zebra on the opposite side to go berserk. I seriously think he was enjoying the effect he had on them while just sitting there. Eventually he sauntered across the road in front of us and carelessly walked through them as they nervously snorted and ran, keeping a wide berth. He looked at us briefly, but we were of no more interest than the surrounding ungulates. We got excellent pictures of him; another lion for me to identify!!! Providing he is not Mumford or Jack Johnson, he is going to be named Coltrane, in honor of my brother Joe, who came up with the name while we were talking on the phone tonight :).

Still further along the newly mown grass track, we came upon a mating pair of lions. They were walking right on the road, single file with the female in front, and as I was leaning out my window snapping continuous pictures of them as they came nearer and nearer, I realized I had better pull my camera out of the way. They walked RIGHT BY THE WINDOW. Wow. I could have reached out and touched them. They just ignored me as I snapped more pictures from my safely retreated position. I would never have dreamed I could be so close to a lion. We turned the car around to make sure I got good pictures on both sides of their faces for whisker patterns, at which time we witnessed a copulation. It lasted literally like five seconds, and there was a lot of teeth baring and snarling. Then it was suddenly over, and peace restored. What an incredible experience those lions handed me. I am fairly sure the male is another new one, but I haven’t quite ruled out Jack Johnson due to his lazy refusal to lift his head yesterday. The female looks very similar to Weepie, but she is missing a right eye :(. It could still be Weepie though, because A) in the pictures from yesterday her right eye is closed or turned so I cannot see it, and B) I just read in Estes’ Guide to the Behavior of African Mammals that lion brothers will even sometimes share matings with a single female.

On our way towards north, I spotted something in the track. It was a lone guinea fowl. It stood up, and about seven little brown-striped chicks (about half the size of the previous ones) fell out of her. It was so funny, and more than a little cute.

After passing through Dr. Seuss Ville, we found a few hyenas while driving through North. I had a horrible IDing morning, taking about five to ten complete minutes examining photos, and still guessing the wrong individual at the end. I got two right and two wrong. While I was working on AWP, an adult female, there was a male giraffe about thirty meters from the car, staring at us curiously. I yelled a gentle “Jambo!” at it as we passed it on the way back to the road. Giraffes. So wordless.

It was a really nice day to be in camp. Slight amazing aside...Lia and I just heard a LEOPARD!!! It sounds like a saw cutting wood when it breathes hard. We are going to look for tracks around camp tomorrow!...but yeah, we could see elephants right on the savanna below from the lab tent table today! And unmistakable trill also announced that our mongooses were back, and I sat on the path and fed them for a long time (sorry Mom, you probably didn’t know that some of those granola bars were going to be eaten by mongooses). I love it when they are chewing with their tiny mouths opening wide in what appears to be the satisfaction they were searching for (however, I got reprimanded for chewing like that as a kid). How funny when they chase each other around as well! A mother bat could also be seen feeding her overgrown baby beneath the overarching canvas. I am growing more and more fond of bats.

I had just settled into my hammock back by our tent, intent on reading a bit of A Primate’s Memoir before settling into a nap, when Lia came running over to tell me of a snake. I have never hopped up from an intended nap so quickly! It was a little green guy that blended in almost perfectly with the grass. We were pretty sure it wasn’t poisonous, and took some good pictures. How exciting! The next step will be a venomous one, hopefully at an appreciable distance.

Time to sleep. I am getting worse at staying awake to finish things. Such full and tremendous days wear a body out.