It’s a pig’s life: Video

The dogs have shaken me off again, but not completely.
We had eventually managed to catch this poor hyaena in a trap. The poachers wire snare around his neck had cut deep, about half an inch, and the steel wire was still there cutting deeper all the time.
We managed to remove it without difficulty, cleaned him, gave him a good dose of long acting antibiotic and sent him on his way. There was no point stitching the wound and amazingly it was really clean. It looked like it had been there some time.

I’m always amazed how hyaenas can survive a poacher’s snare like this. Very few animals can. But the hyaena’s extremely strong necks obviously save them. (This snare was probably picked up on the neighbouring reserve.)
While we were sorting out the hyaena, we heard a wild dog call to the north. It only called once. I went and searched the area without success. Then I took to the air. It was hot and very bumpy but I was desperate to find the dogs. I failed!
I did find 3 lions lying up at the dried up Joli dam. This is a little concerning with the wild dog pups on the loose as they will be prime targets for the lions. Lets hope they’re savvy enough to get out the way.

Back on the ground it was too hot for any sane animal to be doing anything but going to water, and I did the same spending the heat of the day at Sosigi dam.
And the animals kept coming. Giraffe, zebra, impala, eland, duiker, wildebeest and several warthog families. The warthog come to drink and wallow and would spend all day there if they could but with their not so effective digestive systems they have to get back to grazing. On hot days like today, they will graze close by and come to wallow several times in the day.

The Egyptian Geese paraded their little ones all over the dam while the Hammerkop hovered over the water catching frogs coming to the surface. And the Yellow-billed Stork hunting by feel alone, had his bill well immersed in the water catching frogs on the muddy floor. When 2 other storks arrived, the first guy aggressively chased them off. This was his hunting domain.

With the sun setting and the air cooling slightly I again patrolled the area for the dogs. They probably weren’t going to move until it chilled off much more, although I was hoping they would find their way to water to cool off. Again they didn’t adhere to my plans.