Plucking Leopard: Video

Eventually it all came together.

My afternoon started off badly with more technology problems just when Khayeni was hunting at dusk.
Several hours later we were back on her trail hunting to the north-east of Noro pan. This is pretty cool country for us to hunt in as the bush opens up somewhat.
She was headed for a big herd of wildebeest but then changed tack and set her beady eyes on some impala. But they blew her cover and she retraced her steps back to Nhoro pan where she had a Scrub Hare racing for its life. And successful it was.

Khayeni took a break resting up in the thickets south of Nhoro pan till around 2am when she again headed north.
This time a rather unsuspecting Sharpe’s Grysbok was plucked from the bush and hoisted up a nearby Sterculia tree safely away from the hyaenas. Here Khayeni proceeded to pluck her prize for about 20 minutes before feeding.

Well fed she lay around close by and at dawn was stalking an impala ram that had ventured into the vicinity. She was serious about it too, even though she still had 80% of a Grysbok in the tree. But the impala was too sharp busting her cover. She retreated out of sight hoping the impala would stop alarming the rest of the world of her presence.

It was home time for us. Well so I thought until we found Stephen had a branch pierce straight through his radiator. He wasn’t going anywhere. We removed the radiator in the field and hope to have it repaired to be back on Khayeni’s trail again this evening.
At this time of year one of the only plants flowering is the Impala Lilly. These stunning flowers look delicious too and my dad would love telling people how yummy and sweet the nectar was and having them try it.

There is nothing yummy about it. The nectar instantly dries out your mouth and leaves a horrible bitter taste!