Wildcast

This morning all was well at the den. BB was back with her pups and everybody was back at the den. Well sort of. BB’s pups had taken up residence in an anthill less than 100m from the old den. This is a small anthill with one entrance. But of course new places are always far more exciting to play in.

I’m sure it was a lot cleaner too. Wild dogs often move dens because parasite infestation gets too great and this pack have been at the old den for 4 months now. This is far longer than dogs normally den for. (The reason for this longer occupation of this den is because of BB having her pups so much later than the alpha pups, 7 weeks difference.)

It was a cool overcast day and the dogs headed out hunting early in the afternoon. BB stayed behind with her pups and so did one of the alpha pups, Skrik. (Skrik was the pup who always cared for the BB pups when they were taken out the den in their first weeks and couldn’t look after themselves. Skrik would often pick them up and put them back in the den or even carry them to join the pile of alpha pups sleeping)

The adults and alpha pups headed west again. About half an hour later they were surprised from behind as BB came running in to join the ranks.
I always have faith in the packs hunting success when BB is with them.
Heading west across the Binya road the dogs were again in the burnt area. For the alpha pups this was a new experience trotting in burnt veld. And when they came across the white ash of a burnt out log they jumped around in it enjoying the dust it sent it.

And for us it was close to be pleasurable driving after them as we could now see all the stumps and rocks and the bush had been thinned out somewhat.
The adults suddenly took off chasing something leaving the pups and us standing not knowing what was going. They weren’t sure if they should run or wait or follow.

Then we heard the chattering of dogs and in a donga (ravine) about 400m away the dogs had just pulled down a subadult male impala. By the time we got there it was already dead and more than half eaten.

The pups eventually arrived on the scene but were not sure how to approach the situation. This was the first time they had seen a kill and seen the adults on a kill. Slowly they approached, but when they suddenly realised what it was all about there was no stopping them. They took over! Any adult trying to feed was chased off and the pups ruled the carcass for the next half an hour as dusk was approaching.

The adults lay around watching for any danger. And danger arrived soon enough! Hyaenas! But before the hyaenas could even think of getting a sniff of the carcass the whole pack (adults) had them running for their lives. In the distance we could hear the yeowling of the hyaenas as the dogs had probably cornered them and were nipping their backsides until they had fully decided to get out the area and leave the dogs in peace.

Which they did only returning after dark once the dogs had left. There was not much left for them to chew on. Just a few bones and some skin.
By this time the dogs were probably back at the den feeding BB’s pups and their baby sitter, Skrik.