A Red-billed teal lay dead amongst the vegetation in the murky water and was being eaten by a small group of turtles!

The sunbirds were forgotten for the moment as I stood and watched in amazement as the turtles gathered, sometimes as many as five appearing to feed at the same time, pushing at the teal so that it twisted and turned in the water, sometimes presenting as just a pile of feathers, at other times its full duck-shape being obvious. In the gloom of the dirty water the turtles could only be seen when they were near the surface and there could have been more nudging the teal from below.

I watched several of the turtles swim away from the teal, only either to return after a short interval or to be replaced by others. It wasn’t therefore possible to see just how many turtles were taking advantage of this bonanza, but the most that were clearly in view simultaneously, either at the teal itself or swimming nearby, was seven.

I watched the activity for some time before I went back to trying to photograph the uncooperative Dusky sunbirds, but returned to the same spot the following morning to find no trace whatsoever of either the teal or the turtles. The teal could have been out of sight deep beneath the surface of the water, but there wasn’t so much as a feather to be seen.

I should imagine that the turtles were not instrumental in the death of the teal, as, although omnivorous turtles are known to feed on carrion, duck eggs, and even to take young ducklings, this had looked like an adult teal. I did, however come across this rather amazing video clip on You Tube of a turtle taking a pigeon, so who knows what is possible?

Take a look …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhGZ5XUW27E&feature=player_embedded

 

In fact there are loads of myths and legends around dragonflies, perhaps because of their light, mystical and magical qualities.  Stories and poems abound about them as well and they are even used in tales for eulogies and grief counselling.  They certainly seem to elicit an enormous amount of attention for such small insects.

On a happier note, we’ve been camping twice in January (aren’t we lucky!) and have been privileged to see many beautiful dragonflies around our campsites and at the dams.  They aren’t always easy to photograph so it’s especially rewarding when you manage to get a half decent shot of one.

They are worse than birds when it comes to staying still long enough to photograph them and this is because they have these enormous compound eyes with about 30 000 lenses that cover a 360 degree area.  They actually sense more than they see so if you approach them they fly off.  Sometimes you get lucky though!

I’m not even going to try and write about all the interesting facts and myths surrounding dragonflies as there is THE most amazing website covering absolutely everything you’d ever want to know about them – the Dragonfly Site.  Do pay it a visit and prepare to be enchanted learning all about these beautiful little creatures.

We placed some left-over burger meat on the ground, Rob set his camera up on a tripod and we waited for our dinner guest.  It took about an hour for the mongoose to arrive.  It was very nervous and detoured through the flower bed to grab a piece of meat before disappearing back under the garden wall.  Having obviously enjoyed the tasty morsel, it followed this procedure until the food was gone.  Rob, in the meantime, had been clicking away and getting some magnificent shots.

On day two cold chicken was on the menu and sure enough, right on cue, our little mongoose arrived.  We could see by its size that it was a juvenile.  Still nervous, the meal took more than an hour to eat as the mongoose kept running off with each piece of meat.  There was great excitement when halfway through the meal a Slender mongoose arrived on the scene.

They are quite different in colouring – being darker and having a black tip on their tail as opposed to the white tip on the tail of the Yellow mongoose.  The Slender mongoose also has a very different face with a pink nose.

By day three we’d almost run out of meat so used cat pellets to supplement the meal.  We were delighted when our Yellow mongoose (note how possessive we had now become!) brought a friend along to eat.  They weren’t too nervous and stayed eating at the dish, all the while ‘talking’ to each other with little cooing noises.  When alarmed by something, they made a completely different warning sound as they ran off.  At one stage our cat went outside and one of the little mongooses bushed out its tail and rushed at him in a threatening manner.  I was somewhat alarmed by this as I wouldn’t want any harm to come to our beloved cat.

On the fourth day no less than six mongooses arrived.  Our little garden was completely overrun by these animals and we decided that we’d taken enough photos and would stop the feeding/photography project.  It’s amazing how quickly the word spreads when there is food to be had.  One or two still come nosing around during the day looking for food and it’s very difficult not to feel sorry for them and throw a few cat pellets their way.

If you’d like to read more about the variety of mongooses that we’ve seen, click on The Heroic Mongoose and Namibia’s Largest Endemic Carnivore.

 

 

 

Caracals are nocturnal animals that, in the wild, live on a diet of birds, rats, squirrels and larger prey like monkeys and small buck.  They are excellent hunters and are skillful at catching birds (pigeons and guinea fowl) as they take to flight.  They also often prey on domestic livestock, which makes them a nuisance to farmers.  For this reason many are killed, or trapped and injured and sent to rehabilitation centres.  We had the privilege of seeing the beautiful specimens in these photos at the Harnas Wildlife Foundation in eastern Namibia and Hammerstein Lodge in the Naukluft Park region.

Caracals are distinguishable by the dark tufts on their long ears, which are black on the back.  They are named after this feature as Caracal is derived from the Turkish word ‘karakulak’ which means black ear.  In Afrikaans it is called a ‘Rooikat’ (red cat).  It looks rather like a domestic cat on steroids with its thickset body and shortish tail (measuring about one-third of its length).  The Caracals found in Namibia are the sub-species called the C.c. damarensis and because they live in desert-like conditions they are able to go for long periods of time without water, getting most of their liquid requirements from their prey.

The females are highly territorial, especially against other females, but are not monogamous and mate with up to three males during their estrous cycle of two weeks.  During this time they spray urine to invite attention from males.  They mate throughout the year, but mostly when they are assured of an abundance of prey.  Litters in the wild consist of three kittens, born after a gestation period of between eight and eleven weeks.  They have larger litters (up to six kittens) if bred in captivity where food is plentiful.  Young Caracals remain with their mothers until they are about a year old.  The life expectancy of Caracals depends on their habitat – in the wild they live up to twelve years and in captivity they live about seven years longer.

They are not an endangered species and are also found in large parts of Africa and Asia.

Twig snakes are rather beautiful with their distinctive markings, but they are not to be messed with as their venom is dangerous.  Being haemotoxic, the venom can cause life-threatening symptoms (internal bleeding) for which there is no known antivenom and some fatalities have been recorded.  Fortunately our host at Shamvura was an expert on snakes and was thus able to show us the snake in a safe manner.  He explained that these snakes are usually quite timid unless disturbed, but they will inflate their necks and stiffen when they feel threatened.

There are two species of this snake in southern Africa – the Southern Vine snake that is found all the way from Kwazulu Natal in South Africa to northern Namibia and Botswana;  and the Eastern Vine snake that mainly occurs in Mozambique and some areas north of the sub-region.  The Eastern variety is different from its Southern counterpart in that it has a plain green head with speckled markings on its crown.

Vine snakes grow to a length of approximately 1.2 meters.  Females lay clutches of up to eighteen eggs.  Their diet consists mainly of lizards, chameleons, frogs and small mammals, snakes and birds.  They are well camouflaged and are not easily detected as they remain motionless in trees or shrubs for long periods whilst waiting for prey.

We were pleased that we were given the opportunity to see one of these beautiful snakes up close, without having come upon one in more dangerous circumstances.

Be that as it may, they are interesting animals to observe.  Chacma baboons move around in troops of fifty or more, lead by both an alpha male and female.  The large alpha male, weighing in at about 32 kgs, does most of the mating in the troop and his existence revolves around maintaining his dominance.  Fights break out when young males try to mate with females or usurp the alpha male’s position.  They have a strict behavioural and dominance code, even when it comes to troop movements.

The lifespan of a baboon is between eighteen to thirty years.  They mate throughout the year and females give birth to a single offspring after a gestation period of six months.  Young babies cling to the underside of their mothers initially and as they grow older, they move onto her back where they are supported by her tail.

The weaning period is between six and eight months.  Although there is a very close bond between mother and baby, all babies are protected by the other females in the group.  Females have babies every two years.

Their diet consists of fruit, roots, bulbs, insects and sometimes very young buck.  They can be domesticated, (see our story on Bobby the baboon at Namibgrens, who thinks he is a goat), but it should be remembered that they are wild animals and can be extremely aggressive towards humans, especially if there is food around or mothers feel that their babies are threatened.

In their troops they are very sociable and spend hours grooming and playing with each other.

The Latin name for the Chacma baboon is Papio cynocephalus ursinus.

The hardy Camel Thorn (Kameeldoring as it is known in Afrikaans – and which actually translates to Giraffe Thorn) is an acacia, easily recognized by its amazingly gnarled bark, small leaves and the little grey velvety comma-shaped seed pods that it produces.  It also sports rather nasty thorns, typical of the acacia family.  When in bloom, small round yellow flowers adorn the trees.

Apparently I’m not the only one who loves them.  It must be the tree most favoured by animals and birds, not only for its food, but the deep shade that it offers in intensely hot areas like the game reserves.  Cattle, camels and small herbivores also enjoy eating the seed pods that drop onto the ground below.

The tree gets its name from giraffes that like to feed on the succulent leaves.  Their leathery tongues and lips pay no heed to the thorns as they feast on the foliage on the uppermost branches.

There’s no telling what you will see in a Camel Thorn tree.  We’ve been lucky enough to see it decorated by birds of every description, raptors with snakes, enormous communal socialable weavers nests, and even a leopard …

and a beautiful Caracul having a comfortable snooze!

The most famous Camel Thorn trees in Namibia have to be the ones found at Dead Vlei, the dry white pan surrounded by magnificent red dunes in the Sossusvlei area.  These dead trees, purported to be hundreds of years old, are a photographers delight and are featured in just about every book on Namibia.

In Namibia most campsites are situated under Camel Thorns trees and as an added bonus, their wood is excellent for braais (barbeques).  No wonder I love them so much.  Oh, and by the way, please don’t let on about my secret fetish!

Horned Adders are not that big as snakes go, being between 250 and 400 mm in length.  Our latest find was a very young snake, we could hardly discern its little horns.

The venom of Horned Adders is mildly cytotoxic, causing necrosis, pain and swelling.  Their fangs are situated in the front of their mouths and are quite large.  Interestingly enough, small snakes are purported to be more poisonous than large snakes of their own species, the reason being that small venomous snakes inject all their poison at once when biting a victim, as opposed to adult snakes that limit the venom delivered with each bite so that they can strike more than once.  So it’s not the potency of the venom that counts here, but the amount of venom delivered in each bite that causes the damage.

Their skin colours and patterns vary according to their geographical situation.  We’ve noticed differences in snakes found in various locations in Namibia.  The specimens found here are much lighter than those found in the central Cape, which are greyer and a dark olive brown colour.

We were worried that this snake would be run over by a passing car, so Rob tried to coax it of the road with a stick.  It immediately coiled up and faced him, hissing loudly.  Eventually he managed to persuade it to move off and it slid away – looking very much like a side-winder the way it shuffled away.

These snakes eat small rodents, birds, lizards and frogs.  They breed in summer and normally have up to eight young ones (and sometimes a lot more).  They’re easy to recognize as their heads are triangular with a single horn over each eye.

Acknowledgements :  A Guide to the Reptiles of Southern Africa – Graham Alexander & Johan Marais

 

 

 

Last weekend we went hiking and camping at Ameib Ranch in the Erongo Mountains in Namibia and we were delighted and fascinated to see a zedonk – a cross between a zebra and a donkey.  Actually we had seen this remarkable animal once before on a trip to this game ranch, but it was just as thrilling to see it again – this time a much bigger version as it had had a couple of years to grow up.

The zedonk is a Zebroid – which is the generic name for all zebra hybrids.  This interbreeding, although interesting, is not ideal in nature because donkeys and wild equids don’t have equal numbers of chromosomes and this results in the offspring of such a mating being either poorly fertile in the case of females or sterile in the case of males.  In most of these interbreedings, the sire is the zebra and the female is the donkey or the horse.

Our zedonk was happily hanging out with both horses and donkeys on the ranch – we didn’t see any signs of zebras in the vicinity and don’t know whether this zebroid was the result of  ‘animal attraction’ between two species or an experiment on the part of the farmer.

Here in Namibia, the rock rabbits have grey fur.  Their fur colour is determined by their environment – if they live in dry, desert-like conditions with limited foliage, their fur is grey, whereas dassies found in wetter regions, like the Cape in South Africa, have thick brown fur.

They are sociable animals and can be seen in large numbers (herds of over fifty dassies are not uncommon), but we mostly see them in small family groups.  They are extremely agile and can run up and down sheer rock faces without any difficulty.  They’re equally at home perched on thin tree branches.

Rock rabbits don’t move far from their refuges when looking for leaves, grass and insects to eat, and they are able to go for many days without water.  Predators include leopards, snakes and eagles.  We often see snake eagles and Verreaux’s eagles hunting in the Erongo Mountains.

Families are protected by a dominant male, who marks his territory to prevent disputes.  Dassies give birth to two or three babies after a 6-7 month gestation period.  It takes the young three years to reach their adult size, although they are mating before they are eighteen months old (typical teenagers!!)  Their lifespan is about ten years.

It is interesting  to note that the enormous elephant is the closest living relative to the rock hyrax.