James Hendry presenting
with Bryan
Joubert on camera
Brent Leo-Smith presenting
with Jeandré
Gerding on camera.
James, ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
So
we saw J-twins Jan and Ary at the vehicle first sniffing tires and greeting
James November soon joins them. Lying down to the left is Ribbon a young clan male, that is all I know
about him other then he is a frequent den visitor. In the back is a December
twin and the sub-adult is Feb twin #2. (The sub-adult Oh its Feb. twin#2 Long
time no see. That would be the female cub or the set of twins born in Feb
2015.) Madam walks through from left to right with her hugely round basketball
belly. The whole time there is cubs all over very hard to say which cubs was
where because the little buggers move all the time so just know that November,
December 1 (white toe), December 2, Jan (J-twin #1) and Ary (J-twins #2) are
all there. Madam walks away this time
right to left and leaves the area. After awhile Feb twin #2 lies down and three
of the cubs come to sniff her a bit, November staying the longest. Not long
after a sound startles them and they all stand at attention for a second except
the J-twins who didn't even flinch this time.
While
James re-positions the vehicle we go to Brent.
Brent, ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Brent
is all bundled up today its 17 degrees Celsius so today he remembered to add
layers to keep warm. He is looking at Karula's tracks in the sand.
James, ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Back
to James with two hyena cubs at the den hole, We hear some low moaning hyena calls as ribbon
goes up to the hole and greets the cubs. Three of the cubs go to the vehicle to
investigate and cause trouble.
After
awhile of just general hyena den cuteness and goings on, we hear a hyena
calling off in the distance to the south
Ribbon
lays in a hole right next to the vehicle no more than two feet away, one of the
J-twins decided to jump on him and either that or something else spooks him to
jump up fast. He then plays a bit with the cub. But soon the cubs all go back
to sniff the vehicle and try to find things to chew off it.
Corky
comes in from the back with blood on her face ribbon goes back to greet her. She
comes forward towards the vehicle sniffs the to the den hole hill and sniffs
then wanders around the back.
James
moves the vehicle to the other side of the mound and down the trail a bit to
find the hyenas now at another mound not far away at all. Corky and Ribbon are sniffing the air, the
cubs are walking about and then Ribbon anal pastes a bit, Corky is the adult
near him.
Brent, ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Brent
is still tracking leopards but he no longer thinks it Karula he thinks it a
male. He notices at tree full of vultures and is going to investigate. A
white-backed vulture silhouetted in the sunrise.
Brent
comes upon a Giraffe and cow that seem to be getting ready to mate. We spend a
bit of time with them waiting but apparently they don't want to perform live.
James, ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
We
come to James's vehicle who is investigating the vulture party Brent told him
about and he shows us how many trees full of them these are. One tree has at least nine white-backed
vultures in it that I counted the next tree has two hooded vultures that are
almost black and 3 White-Backed vultures in it, and the last I counted 16 and also there is one on a log close to the
ground. Sp James is going to investigate the area to see why they gathered
here.
As
James is looking listening to the vultures Bryan tells him a knob or something
on the camera won't work so we go to Brent.
Brent, ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Brent
is with a Wildebeest bull
We
see the giraffe bull that hasn’t gotten lucky yet
Talks
about crows
Finds
a giant millipede gets it on his hand to show us.
While
Brent continues to track Karula
James, ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
James
had a bunch of plum colored starlings starting to mass in preparation to
migrate. A fork-tailed drongo is in the tree too.
Brent, ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
We
crash cut to Brent and what do we see A TINY LEOPARD CUB OMG KARULA HAS BROUGHT
HER CUBS TO DJUMA!! Yes I meant all caps! Brent is so excited he is speechless Yes BRENT
IS SPEECHLESS!!
We
see the cubs for a minute or two on and off as they follow Karula though the
bush. The moment we have been waiting for since Feb 2nd when they were born.
After a minute Karula lies down and the cubs are off where we don’t see them
playing a tree we see her chuffing to call them to her but we don’t actually
see them at the moment. She stands up and as she chuffs walks into a thick bush
area out of Brent's sight. He has to keep a good distance to be safe for the
cubs. Brent thinks she could be bringing them to a kill or about to leave them
so she can go hunt. Either way we will only view the cubs when she is around
James, ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
A
sky view
He
plans to look around the area for whatever was killed.
We
see some vultures in a tree again and some flying on a thermal
James
comes across the giraffe couple who doesn’t want to do their business on camera
but we try to watch as voyeurs do. The female giraffe is trying to mount the
male maybe to demonstrate to him how it is supposed to be done.
Brent, ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Brent
did not find Karula again but the cubs are here on Djuma we will see them
again!
James, ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
We
go back to James with the un-mating giraffe.
Brent, ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
A
flying vulture
Vervet
monkeys
A
tiny week old giraffe but its still or already almost Brent's height but for a
giraffe its tiny calf baby.
Goodbye
for the afternoon from Brent.
James, ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
Next
drive one vehicle will be on Cheetah plains for the first time and the other will
most likely be trying to find Karula and her tiny bundles of adorable fluff.
James
says goodbye for the afternoon and all the thank yous to all the WildEarth and
Safari Live crew.
End of Drive
© 2016 Chell Taft
All rights reserved. None of this written material
may be copied, published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed by media of
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