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Things are really hotting up.
Today temperatures took off hitting 100 degrees F. Not too bad for here and with it being really dry this sort of heat is just bearable.
The wild dogs sure looked like they were taking strain and moved down to Manyuchi pan in the afternoon to drink and cool off. But only the adults. The pups had probably passed out in the shade in the hills not wanting to go anywhere.
The adults made a half-hearted attempt to go hunting after sunset. But they really looked hot and lazy and soon headed back to the hills.
I spent the heat of the day in a hide at Matsanga pan where the herds of impala just kept coming and coming.
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Hyaenas love to play in water. The carcass gave them more reason to enjoy it.
Who killed what?
That’s a bit of a mystery this morning.
The dogs hunted to the west again and we were hot on their heels but not hot enough. As they took off across country we followed but couldn’t keep up. When we did find them no less than 10 minutes later, they had already consumed whatever it was and were just crunching the last couple of bones.
As they raced back east towards the den we took the high road and got to Manyuchi pan before them, and found 2 other wild dogs from the pack hassling 2 hyaenas on an impala kill. It seemed like the dogs had killed it and the hyaenas took it over. The alpha pups were on the scene too but weren’t of any help. Any slight advance by a hyaena and they would scatter.
Then the rest of the dog party arrived and what an ordeal. They took on the 2 hyaenas which had no option but to settle in for the fight. Backsides together and facing in opposite directions they were bombarded by the dog attack. But the dogs weren’t really interested in them, they just wanted the carcass which they easily retrieved.
All the commotion brought in reinforcements and 6 hyaenas then took on the dogs. The dogs braced up to them briefly but with no more food to fight over they headed home.
Then a hyaena arrived with the horns from a fresh bushbuck kill. Where did that come from? AND just up the way lying in the road was the skin of a freshly killed porcupine.
Manyuchi sure seemed like a war zone today.
Not satisfied with enough action I headed east to find a lioness chasing zebra in a foiled attempt before she headed into the hills.
AND then at Bandama pan the crowds arrived too. Herds of zebra, eland, a number o giraffe, warthog, impala and about 30 elephants having great fun in the mud.
This cow approached my vehicle not concerned at all, stretched her trunk to sniff the bull bar and moved on. The camera and I were both in the vehicle.
Be sure to stay tuned to see all these video sequences. I’ll broadcast them at a later date when I’m next away.
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It seemed like the alpha pups had seen water for the first time today. Even with the adults drinking they still weren’t prepared to test it out.
At dawn when on the search for the dogs I came across this female leopard. She was lying next to the road and was very chilled out with me being there.
Then all the dogs arrived at Manyuchi and the pups really didn’t know what to make of the water. Even having the adults lying in the water and drinking, they still didn’t want to go closer. They’re obviously getting enough moisture from their meals. While they were lying around at the waterhole this giraffe came wandering in and then wondered what all the dogs were doing there.
But the dogs didn’t hang around for long and the animals came to drink freely.
Down on Malilangwe dam this afternoon I came across this huge crocodile skull. Who knows how huge this monster was in its day.
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All the animals are taking advantage of the bumper seed crop the Acacias have had this year.
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The dogs evaded us this morning but I did get a glimpse of them racing back towards the den obviously from a successful hunt. The alpha pups were with them.
BB came out of the hills shortly afterwards back tracking the other dogs. She had obviously stayed back to look after her pups and was now hungry. But she soon gave up and went back into the hills.
Down on the Chiredzi River the Acacias are heavy in seed with a bumper crop this year. Many animals are taking advantage of this highly nutritious food source.
See video.
We had such a great morning with the dogs, the whole pack was out hunting.
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