Wildcast

On our way out to the wild dog den in the dark we encountered a different pack of dogs that are denning in the Sandstone hills. I’ve seen them around, a pack of 7 adults, but had never seen the pups. This morning we saw at least 3 little guys about 8 weeks old. They were obviously on their way out hunting.

Of course the warm weather didn’t last, it is after all still winter. Not that it was that cold this morning but a very miserable soft drizzle set in putting a dampener on things and the vultures weren’t impressed either, although it didn’t seem to affect the dogs still being their boisterous selves.

By the afternoon the clouds were clearing and at least the drizzle had stopped. But the cold front was now upon us and by sunset the chill had set in.

While BB stayed at the den with her little ones, the others all went hunting, including the alpha pups. Of course they like to believe they are big time hunters too but really it was an exercise teaching them about their surroundings, the way the pack operates and where they stand in this wild dog world.

The adults seemed quite happy to have the pups along and went about their hunt preparations as usual.

The Alpha female will mark several times as they move on their way. And each time the Alpha male has to mark/urinate on the same spot. You would think doing it once would be fine, but no he has to mark on the same spot several times each time checking whether he’s hit the mark. It’s hard to imagine what the alpha pups must think of this. When they want to urinate they just let it all out at once, none of this dancing on the spot having to nip it each time. Maybe that’s what all the dancing is about, having to nip it each time. At least we can cross our legs when we’re desperate.

They all continued west, then followed the power lines north. Just before the northern boundary fence they continued on west about 100m to a spot that was probably the site of their last kill. Here 3 adults pulled on a fresh piece of impala skin while the pups found scattered bones to chew on.

The pups were all over it and didn’t see the adults leave or just weren’t interested in the adults leaving. They continued searching for pieces of bone to chew. It was now almost dark.

Then one pup took the initiative and all followed as they headed back to the den following the exact same route they had come in on. It was clear all the way that they were using the scent they had left earlier to help them retrace their steps back to the den. Is this possibly why wild dogs have such a strong scent and are always rolling in smelly things?