One-eye is the latest rabies victim.
Back with the wild dog pack in the afternoon, all were happily resting except for One-eye who was restless rolling around in the grass. Then on several occasions he would run after one of the pups and torment them. He never hassled Whisky.
These signs were already beginning to look like rabies.
Before sunset the dogs were off at pace, being led by Whisky. They truly looked like a perfect pack all in tune with each other.
We lost them on the chase but found them feeding on an adult male impala. At this time of year these adult males are worn out from the rut and so are easy targets for the dogs.
The pack fed till after dark. A single hyaena waltzed in and thought it could just take over. But the Mupanigawa pack were having none of it and One-eye managed to get a good bite to its backside. The hyaena left in a hurry. Hopefully with a bite from One-eye it too doesn’t go down with rabies.
The pack finished off the kill and all left with huge stomachs except for One-eye. He hardly fed and was battling to swallow, although I did notice he was getting some food down.
Early in the morning the pack moved north east and rested up at the den the Alpha female had dug a few days before her death. They were obviously looking for her and Whisky kept calling. It’s just so sad to see them miss their friends like this.
One-eye was now show definite signs of rabies. He was extremely restless biting at branches and hassling the other dogs on an on going basis.
Unfortunately we’ll probably have to put him down too before he infects any more dogs.
Heartbreaking. Are there any other healthy packs that should be inoculated, so that they are not so badly affected. With the way the dogs interact, it will be a miracle if any of them survive.
How many of the dogs did you manage to get inoculated? Are any of them still alive? It is so sad to see Whiskey crying. I sure hope some members will survive.
I think the Hunyugwe pack are also being plagued by Rabies. They are not as habituated as the Mupanigawa pack and also do not have a radio collared dog in the pack. So they’re hard to find. But all signs show they were probably affected before our dogs.
We inoculated all the dogs about a week ago and are now inoculating all of them again as suggested by a number of vets. So all the 9 dogs still alive have been vaccinated but we don’t know if it was done early enough.
Let’s keep our fingers crossed. It sounds a bit promising that no one new started showing signs today.
I am clueless. Is Rabies a natural phenom, or is it yet another mess we humans have visited upon our fellow beings?
yes it’s another one of those human tragedies!