20:45, Thursday, 30 June, 2011

Happy Birthday Mom! I think the world of you and love you so much!

Yesterday morning we came upon a scene similar to the one on the twenty-fourth over at Happy Zebra. Following distant hyena whoops, we came upon Midler, Regina Spektor, Hoobastank, Gin Blossom, and Daisy May gorging on a topi kill. Over half of the Happy Zebra clan was surrounding them, alarm rumbling and groaning, trying to rustle up the courage to get their meal back. This time I’m sure it was the hyenas that made the kill; some of them were bloody. We were all cheering for them to mob together, but I don’t blame them for deciding against it. Thirteen hyenas might have been able to take on two lionesses, but subadults are unpredictable. And Midler and Regina are HUGE.

We chilled with the lions and hyenas for the rest of the morning, so as not to miss any critical incidences. The lions were just plain ridiculous. They gorged on the topi until they were absolutely obese. They all lay around on their sides in a ring around the remaining antelope carcass, their bellies bulging so that they shouldn’t have been able to walk. A couple of times one of them would get up, walk a few steps, and promptly fall back down into the grass as though unable to stand. However, Regina proved that they were still mobile when a hyena ventured too close. She automatically whipped up and chased him giggling away.

I have to throw in here just how fond I am of black-backed jackals. They are courageous little buggers! Both times that I’ve witnessed lions and hyenas in the aftermath of a food battle, there has been a little jackal in the mix. Jackals will sneak in and grab some of the carrion any chance they get. Still, they don’t look like they weigh even a tenth of a hyena, let alone a lion. What admirable characters.

Back at camp, Lia and I decided it was time to do some exploring. We set out up the forested hill beyond the choo. There were vines hanging from the trees, and I half expected Baloo (sp) to hop out from behind one of those trees and start singing the Bare Necessities. We discovered some hanging pots and were puzzled. Then we saw Koi’s head in one of them. It looked like something out of a hyena horror film. Koi was the alpha female of the Happy Zebra clan, but died at the hands of lions. After necropsy, hyena heads are placed in these pots until the flesh rots off or is eaten by bugs. Then the skull is kept for analysis.

Further up we found a path. Presumably it was that of an elephant judging by the poop. Past the poop, a beautifully constructed termite castle forced us off the path. We could see we were almost at the top of the hill, and the bravery of one ratcheted that of the other until we made it there. A topi behind the bushes announced that we had reached the savanna. What a vulnerable feeling being on foot here! It’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before, quite indescribable. When the topi became aware of our presence, it began to snort in our direction, until its cohorts and the hartebeest beyond were alerted as well. I knew it was time to go when I peered behind the last row of bushes and saw a cape buffalo a ways off. We certainly didn’t need him discovering us!

What a jolly old time feeding mongooses, listening to music and working on our projects with Dave that afternoon. I am putting all of my data into a massive spreadsheet. The organization makes me feel much more on top of things, but it has slowed down the individual identification. I only have one more lion named as of now. It is the male that I thought was a female, and his name is Murdoch. I talked to a lion researcher from the Serengeti named Alley who was over visiting her balloon pilot boyfriend (who looks EXACTLY like Bill Murray), and she told me that Murdoch might actually be a hermaphrodite!!! I guess only about three of them have ever been recorded in the twenty years of the Serengeti project.

Alley and Jason (Bill Murray) came on night obs with us. We found two more lionesses. One got up and started rubbing her head under that of the other, and they cuddled together for a while as soon as I put down my camera.

There were bat-eared foxes everywhere last night! If you want to see something cute, google bat-eared fox. Then picture one of them folding its ears flat back and scowling at you. It just made me love them even more, contrary to the effect they were hoping for I’m sure. A pack of banded mongooses badumping along tickled me further. All of them ran to the top of a termite hill at once, basically tripping over one another in the process. After a brief pause they all continued down the other side. They were like a mass of little parts that together formed one big mongoose being.

At the South Den there were hyenas EVERYWHERE. It was chaotic. Badger and Taj were fatter than I have ever seen a hyena. They were waddling along like pigs. Taj was covered in mud as well, adding to the attractiveness of her belly scraping the ground. I met Martin, a fine-looking hyena with an exceptionally large head. She played around with one of the cubs who was not her own; Dave said that both of her cubs had died. I witnessed more phallus-sniffing greetings, in which hyenas stand next to one another, head to butt. (In case you weren’t aware, female hyenas also have a phallus, one of the things that makes the species so unique). The subordinate hyena usually lifts its leg first, and then each individual sniffs the other. I also observed a coalition between a cub and an adult. They walked bristle-tailed together at another hyena until it backed off. It seemed unprovoked to me, but who knows?

Bedtime came, and with it thunder that literally shook my bed. But not even that could keep me awake, even when coupled with the age-old lion-hyena rivalry being voiced in the distance.

This morning we couldn’t go out on obs because of the rain. The day passed quietly and pleasantly. I set out water for the mongooses, and spread crumbs evenly beside the tent so that even the shy ones could get their fill. There is one particularly bold fellow that growls others off of his food. Cutest bully I’ve ever seen.

The Skinners stopped by briefly this afternoon. It was good to see them. Sarah asked me if she could use our “loo.” :) She is going to come on obs with us tomorrow.

We found four more lions tonight, but didn’t get close enough for me to recognize them. I am anxious to look at the pictures and figure out whether they are new. Other than that, it was a pretty quite night. But would you know, jackals sound EXACTLY like dogs. For some reason a bunch of them were barking as the last light of day slipped away. A warthog was also being particularly talkative, sounding somehow like a radio in the background the way it was screaming and carrying on. Odd for sure.

The stars! Oh my goodness, the stars! I don’t think I have ever seen them like they are tonight. They are probably twinkling so brightly and numerously because it is such a special person’s birthday. And the crickets are chirping-no rain yet! Pray it stays that way. Word has it the wildebeest are finally on their way.

Oh, and I forgot: hyenas yawn repeatedly when they poop. One of the most hilarious things I’ve ever seen.