Brent Leo-Smith presenting with
Wium Dornbrack on camera.
Jamie Paterson presenting
with Dave Eastaugh on camera.
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Brent,
Baboon
track
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Jamie,
at Karula's kill and it looks like she hasn’t
been there to eat.
Nyala
female
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Brent,
Wium
spots the leopard as Brent drives right past him.
Tingana!!
````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
A super
huge thank you to Crystal Safari for taking notes for me this drive. I had a
dentist appointment. Here are her notes.
Jamie, ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
16:33 -Buffalo
in a pan.
16:37 -Karula
tracks meandering up and down the road. She's going back and forth between her
den site located south of our boundary on a property called 'Little Gowrie'.
Brent, ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
- Back
to a flat Tingana. He rolled over once.
- Brent
discusses leopard dynamics.
Jamie, ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
16:42 -
To Karula who is stalking something around Treehouse Dam! Go girl! We can't see
what she is stalking though. Jamie had felt that the tracks were fresh, and boy
were they!
-
Karula stops stalking and lies down in a bush. We move in for a closer look at
her Queenship.
- We
pull up next to Karula, and a herd of bachelor impala move along behind her!
Now we know what she was stalking! They continue to move behind her, unaware of
her presence. She looks quite full, and
she doesn't seem all that interested, so maybe she has given up the hunt. After
all, an adult male impala for a female leopard is a wee bit big, but most
definitely not impossible. Plus, she still has half of her baby nyala kill
tucked into a tree in the Mlowathi drainage line.
16:49
suicidal francolin running next to Karula on the road. VIDEO
-
Karula gets up and moves, ignoring the impala. It looks like she's heading back
to her nyala kill. Of course, we follow
along behind her. She passes Treehouse Dam on her way, not stopping for a
drink. Good thinking, as the buffalo in the pan may not be too terribly
thrilled with her.
-
Karula walks along the dam wall, almost being dive-bombed by blacksmith
lapwings, but they thought better of diving on a leopard. Smart birdies.
Brent, ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
16:54 -
Back to Tingana who is up and grooming himself. It doesn't last long though,
and he flops back to the ground but he's still grooming. Maybe he'll get moving
soon?
- Brent
discusses leopard sizes and dominance.
- We
move around to the other side and get a much better view of the gorgeous man's
face. It does look like he's getting ready to pop up and get moving, but who
knows.
- Nope!
The big guy gets up, but only to re-position and flop back down flat. Sleepy Tingana.
Jamie, ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
17:17 -
Back to Karula who is lying down peacefully on the bank of the drainage line by
her Nyala kill, and nowhere near as flat as Tingana. She is still lying with
her head up, on the alert. She is panting heavily and looks quite tired, but
Jamie says she moved quite quickly to her kill, which is about a kilometer
(over 1/2 mile) from where we found her. She covered that distance in about 10
minutes at a fast walk. No wonder she's panting.
- After
a while, Karula flops out flat as well, only flicking her tail from time to
time.
Brent, ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
17:34 -
Back to Brent and a sleepy Tingana. He's rolled over a few times and is now on
his belly with his nose shoved into the ground. Silly boy. It is starting to
cool down though, so hopefully he'll be up and off soon. He's looking hungry as
well, so maybe a hunt is on the cards? One can hope!
Jamie, ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
17:38 -
Back to Jamie who has a moving Karula!! Or... not. Jamie said she got up and
moved toward the kill with great purpose... only to flop down a little ways
away from where she was. She then began to groom herself.
- And
she's up! She's moving to the tree with her kill, and... she stops for a
scratch...
- Jamie
repositions for a better view before she climbs up the tree.
- No
tree climbing just yet! Karula decides not to climb up after staring up into
the branches for a bit. Instead, she moves up to the top of the drainage line
and sniffs around, investigating something. Satisfied, she then finally decides
to ascend the tree, but only to grab her kill and pull it down to a more
comfortable spot to feed on. At least she stayed in sight.
Brent, ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
- We go
back to Brent so Jamie can re-position and let another vehicle in the sighting
get a view of her Queenship.
17:46 -
Tinga-nana is still a flat cat. Well, until we decide to go look at the sunset,
which he then decides is the perfect time to get up. Probably because Brent's
jack got caught on a gwarri bush and made a loud noise, waking him up.
Apparently he figured it was a good time to get up anyway, as he began to groom
himself before getting up to test the air.
(17:53ish
) - Tinga-nana let loose his sawing call to proclaim his dominance before
grooming some more and getting up to eat some grass. Such an amazing sound!!
Jamie, ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
17:58 -
Back to Karula while Tingana is busy gazing. Karula is also busy eating, but on
her nyala carcass. She got up to move a few feet away and flop down right
behind some bushes... Jamie tries to move and get a better view, but it's not
too terribly much better and it's the best we're going to get for now. We watch
her feed as the sun sets and the night time chorus begins.
Brent, ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
18:11 -
Back to Tingana who is up and about! About time silly man! He's heading down
the road and deeper into Djuma, exactly where we wanted him to go. He looks like
he's on a mission, but perhaps he's just on a territorial patrol, as he is
scent marking as he goes. I hope he calls again, I do so love that sound!
- He
meanders down the roads, and a few times directly into the gorgeous setting
sun. It seems he is heading towards the Djuma camp at the moment.
- Tingana
suddenly veers off the road with his nose in the air, but after a moment of
sniffing, he decides it's nothing and heads back to the road, coming less than
a foot from the vehicle.
- More
scent marking, but no calling yet. It seems he's getting closer to Karula as
well. Will he steal her kill tonight?
18:33- Oh
my gosh! We loop around Tingana and come across a genet!! It's sitting so
nicely! What a cute lil' guy!! Ahhh! We get a quick glance before Brent flicks
the light off and it runs off. We definitely don't want Tingana getting a hold
of this lil' cutie! -- It has a black tipped tail. One genet species has a
white tip, the other a black. One is a lesser spotted and one a greater
spotted. Brent asks us to guess which one this is! Do you know?
-
Speaking of, Tingana comes around the corner a moment later.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Tingana
is still on the move patrolling his territory. Brent said that he is now moving
away from Karula and her kill, so she should stay fat and happy tonight
thankfully.
Good night Brent & Wium, Jamie & Dave!! We leave Tingana to
vanish into the bush, but we'll be back in the morning to see if he's still
around! I surely hope so!
End of Drive
© 2016 Chell Taft
All rights reserved. None of this material
may be copied, published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed by media of
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