Rabies is taking its hold on the pack.
In the afternoon the Alpha female was very restless walking and walking around the sleeping dogs. Her body is looking a lot more wasted now and she’s not stable on her back legs anymore.
The other dogs are aware there is something wrong with her and don’t follow her anymore. Even Whiskey has given up on her. He doesn’t shadow her every move.
Once on the move it was Skrik who was now showing the same symptoms the Alpha female had 3 days ago. She’s hyper active, biting at branches and tormenting the other dogs. There’s no doubt she is sadly on her way out.
I remember the first time I saw Skrik as a tiny white puppy sticking her really ugly face out the den. It was no wonder my daughter named her Skrik, which is Afrikaans for “Fright”.
But Skrik has grown into the most beautiful dog. She was the one who as a pup used to help BB’s pups, carrying them back to the den when the other pups had been tormenting them. She always had wonderful motherly tendencies.
But now she is dying and probably only has 3 to 4 days left. We might help her out of her misery, as hard as it is.
Hunting at dusk the dogs seemed to have lucked out and gathered on an old airstrip. Suddenly they all took off to the east where another dog had killed an adult male impala on it’s own. This should have been a great feast for all. But the Alpha female, Skrik and Hook didn’t feed. They were at the kill but either didn’t have any interest or couldn’t feed ‘cos of the way the virus attacks the brain and they can’t swallow. Hook nibbled at the carcass but it was nothing more than that.
So sadly we currently have 3 dogs showing the obvious symptoms.
We left the dogs for the night but I was back with them at dawn near Joli dam. They eventually rested up here.
The Alpha female is now looking really wasted. She’s limping and her back legs are very wobbly. She kept pacing around the small dam several times before lying up.
Skrik’s behaviour has become more accentuated and chewing frantically at branches.
Hook is still not showing many signs but has occasionally bitten another pup.
I haven’t been able to get a good count on the pack again, but it would appear we have lost more dogs.
While lying up at Joli dam a number of hyaenas came by almost walking into the sleeping dogs. When they did see them they took off at speed knowing that if they didn’t they’d have their backsides bitten.
Earlier in the morning I had 3 hyaenas walking down the road towards me. I got out the car. The 2 youngsters ran off a bit while the adult kept coming. I was lying on my back. The hyaena, still carrying the hoof of an impala in it’s mouth came to a couple of meters from me then stood there proudly with its trophy while I took a bunch of pictures before it moved on.
Daily Archive for May 12th, 2007
These parallel dots cover a large part of the rock face. Here they look more like elephant tracks. Maybe the artist wanted to show hunters tracking the elephants.
12th May 2000
The strong icy winds blew until midnight and finding Tjololo he too was trying to take refuge from them huddle up in a tight ball in some long grass.
When the winds had subsided he headed south towards the Tjellahanga river and soon we had to abandon him as the seeps in that area are still pumping, and we did get stuck after having left him.
We tried to pick him up further south without any joy and even by dawn there was still no sign of him. He possibly headed into Kruger.
Things looking better?
It’s hard to imagine that things could look better when the pack are dying of rabies.
This afternoon the pack left Nhoro pan and headed out hunting at dusk. They looked like any normal pack. The Alpha female was a little restless but this could be put down to her heavily pregnant state.
Then I saw her rolling in something. On closer investigation, it was dark, bloody and sinewy. Was she aborting?
Soon after dark after an unsuccessful hunt the pack rested up near Chimbira for the night.
We were back with the pack before dawn and already they had killed, fed and were on the move. We found them with bloodstained faces.
This meant they were hunting with less than half a moon. Wild dogs have been known to hunt around full moon but only a few days either side. But the Mupanigawa pack seem to hunt when they wish. There was a time last year where they hunted with no moon at all.
There were a couple of hyaenas in the area of the dogs too, but it doesn’t look like they got much, if anything of the wild dog kill.
This morning the pack look great! They were on the move east and stopped at the den they had used last year at Chimbira. Here they ran around playing while one of the pups dug away at the den.
It was then that I noticed the Alpha female. She wasn’t pregnant any more. She must have aborted her pups last night. And now she was into playing with the other pack members, albeit with a slight bit of aggression. Which could also be interpreted as disciplining the pack.
The pack moved on east at a serious pace, as healthy as ever. Well so it all seemed. Time will tell.
At Piccannini James dam the pack called it a day and chilled out. All resting, including the Alpha female.
Presumably having lost her pups she was now a lot more comfortable and not so irritable.
But with rabies things change so fast and we’ll keep a close eye on the pack.
It was then our turn to head to town to get our Rabies inoculations. Just a safety precaution.
This wall is a mass of drawings many now obscured by weathering. But still visible is the man possibly running with his bow and arrow. And faintly just above him is a sable antelope.
Then there are those rows of parallel dots. Do these maybe show the tracks of elephants across the terrain?
11th May 2000
We always do some aerial photography of the area we’re working in as this helps to give one a better perspective of where the film is being made. A few years ago I got my microlight license for this very purpose as we find this medium provides for great aerials, not to mention the complete freedom of flying in this small open craft.
Mooreeus flew in in the afternoon and I went up with him for a couple of hours flying all around Tjololo’s territory. What a magic flight. Conditions were great and calm and the light was excellent. The adrenalin rush flying with wheels skimming the tops of the reeds in the river is just awesome and provides for some great images. Not only were the scenics great, but we saw a number of elephant, a rhino, some lions lazying around on the river bed and then a wonderful sighting of a leopard patrolling its territory. For some 10 minutes it ambled along hardly concerned with this strange shaped bird flying overhead.
We touched down soon after sunset feeling totally exhilarated.
Having been up all day we headed back to camp to at least get some sleep, bumping into some lions on the way.
At dawn we were in the air again taking off into the mist. The experiences just get better. Then!! Right in the southern part of the reserve while doing a take low over the river the engine coughed. NOT something one wants or needs when flying at those levels with nowhere to land except the sandbanks in the river. Luckily that was all, but not taking any chances we headed to Skukuza airstrip in the Kruger National Park. Landed there, changed spark plugs, checked the fuel and off again. All seemed fine again.
The weather was changing and getting a bit bumpy up there. Then I accidently knocked the eyepiece off my camera, which was a bit of a blow but not a crisis.
Richard went up after me to get some video footage. Shortly after he landed and Mooreeus was about to leave the wind suddenly picked up to gail force and the microlight nearly took off on its own. We waited hoping for the wind to die down so Mooreeus could leave. But it just carried on.
Holding on to the tip of the wing so the plane didn’t tip from the gusty winds, I ran the first few metres with Mooreeus and within 10 metres he was airborne, because of the strong winds. On the ground he was very vulnerable, but once in the air he was away and fine although having a rather bumpy flight back home.
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