The african rock python and its prey!

We had an amazing experience one day in Kruger. We were heading to the dam to do some birding and its kinda out of the way a little. So we were a little surprised to see a few cars parked by the road about 800m before the lake. Wondering what was happening when we could not see much of anything we looked around a bit and lo and behold there was drama unfolding.

A giant African rock python had caught an impala and was constricting it in the tall grass. WOW! An impala is a mid size antelope and weighs about 40kg so it would need to be a fairly big snake that could overpower that impala. Now constrictors are themselves vulnerable when they are constricting their prey especially out in the open like this and they don’t move very fast either so a group of hyena or a few lions could make short work of a large python. I have seen a video where a honey badger killed a 15 foot python. So the snake was very aware of his/her surroundings and came up once in a while to suss out the surroundings for threats to itself.

We watched for a while and when it all seemed to be quiet we left. We returned a couple of hours later just in time to find the snake dragging the impala into the bushes so he/she could swallow it in peace. You can imagine the strength it would take a snake, an animal with no limbs for traction to drag a 40kg animal through the tall grass. They are really powerful. A python is pretty much all muscle. They would eat a meal like this and digest it for about a month or so in a thicket and this is actually when they are really vulnerable cuz they cannot move at all virtually and have no ability to constrict anything in defense. So they find a deep dark place to hide and stay there till they are all set for the next round. COME ON SAFARI WITh US AND HAVE YOUR OWN AMAZING STORIES TO TELL - www.dreadlionsafaris.com

One angry female cheetah!

One afternoon in the Kgalagadi driving down the Nossob road just past Grootbardskolk we saw a cheetah approaching the road from the west. Barely 50 yards ahead of us she kept looking back and walked rather angrily it seemed. When we came up to her, I got a couple of photos and sure, she was obviously pretty upset. We watched her for a while and then drove on slowly past the dune she had just come over and found the reason she was so mad.

A huge brown hyena and a few jackals were on a kill and it was clear what had happened. A brown hyena outweighs a cheetah and cheetahs cant afford to sustain any injury because they have to be at peak physical condition to hunt. A small injury which takes 10% off their peak could be a fatal injury and death due to starvation of injured cheetahs is not uncommon.

So this female just relinquished the kill and came away furious, while the usurpers shared the bounty of her hard work. We watched the thieves enjoy themselves thoroughly and I was actually surprised the brown hyena let the jackals in so close cuz as you can see he is more than double their size. Stealing from cheetahs is nothing new. It happens all too often in the bush and its just the way things work. COME ON SAFARI WITh US AND HAVE YOUR OWN AMAZING STORIES TO TELL - www.dreadlionsafaris.com

The eland herd and the waterhole.

One hot Kgalagadi morning we saw an amazing sight. A large eland herd was walking along the Auob riverbed. This is a rare sight and eland are not the easiest of antelope to watch, they tend to be skittish and like to watch us from far away.

This herd how ever was obviously heading for the waterhole up ahead. We watched for a while and then drive straight to the waterhole about 1 km ahead to wait for them to come and drink. Or at least that is what we thought would happen. But the Kgalagadi is famous for surprises. What did we find there but the king and his current flame coming for water from the other side and drinking.

They had no idea the herd was coming and were obviously intent on continuing their romantic interlude. They drank and then went a lay down among some trees in the shade.

Its just amazing how animals get a feeling of something wrong, or they are just extra careful especially when getting to an open space where there are trees close by and they are going to be drinking with heads down. The herd never arrived. About 300 meters before the waterhole they drew up and within seconds were over the dunes and gone. The lions had noticed them, but the wonderful part is that they had noticed the lions.

Tan colors, one on top of the other, in the shade, we could hardly see them properly, and we knew exactly where they were. But those eland had picked them out as well and the ones in front led the thirsty troop off and out of harms way. He who does not drink and walks away, lives to drink another day. COME ON SAFARI WITh US AND HAVE YOUR OWN AMAZING STORIES TO TELL - www.dreadlionsafaris.com

Thieving hyenas!

Cheetahs are delicately built creatures and have literally no defence sytem at all except to run away. Especially when faced by animals like leopards lions or hyenas who could do them serious harm or death retreat is the first and only option. This puts a lot of stress on cheetah moms who have to hunt daily to feed their brood. A cheetah kill is often a spectacular sight. A high speed adrenaline charged chase across the savannah that can attract a lot of attention from far away even. So when this mom and her 2 surviving cubs were eating a group of 3 hyenas barreled right in and took over the carcass. It was my first time to see this takeover attempt and I was amazed at how fearlessly the hyenas just barged in with no regard for anything and just took over the kill. The poor cheetahs had no option what so ever to resist.

There is a reason they cant resist and that’s because even a scratch or a bite from a hyena can take their performance down by 10% or 15% for a few days. The margin between predator and prey especially for cheetah is very narrow, its prey has a 100meter head start and runs very fast as well. So if the cheetah is not performing at optimum then its likely she will miss much more and that could be life or starvation for cheetah mom and her cubs. She just walked away and gamely started scouting for her next hunt. The hyenas were the victors on the battlefield once again.

COME ON SAFARI WITh US AND HAVE YOUR OWN AMAZING STORIES TO TELL - www.dreadlionsafaris.com

The huntress and the Go-away bird.

One bright winter morning in Kruger we driving along the Sabie river and saw some movement down the slope to the bank from the road. I had a good feeling about this and stopped to check it out and sure enough….. leopard!

She was sneaking around the bushes tail down and that got my attention right away. A leopard walking and doing the rounds of his or her territory walks along with tail curved over the back. Tail down means one thing… the huntress was stalking! Sure enough there were 5 young warthogs on their knees grazing about 50 m away in a small clearing. the huntress had her eye on those andd it looked very possible. Good cover till pretty close to them and they were intent on eating, so she got going.

There is a kind of solidarity in the bush among prey in that they are always ready to warn others and one of these warnings is given by the grey lourie or the Go-away bird. Alas one of these guys was on watch and luck not with our girl. When a Go away bird spotted the stealthy approach and gave a “Go away” call the warthogs bolted, and fortunately for them, away from her line of approach. The huntress tried valiantly, but it was no go with the warthog moving fast through the bushes in good cover. They live to eat another day. This happens to leopards more often than you might think. They succeed 3 out of ten tries.

Any way the huntress was not pleased at all, sat down by the river bank and plotted murder of the wretched Go-away bird that deprived her of her meal. So ‘you wins some and you loses some’ as the sage said, and in the Kruger it is certainly true.

COME ON SAFARI WITh US AND HAVE YOUR OWN AMAZING STORIES TO TELL - www.dreadlionsafaris.com