Oh them dogs!
I was with them before first light. Well almost with them. They were in the dense mopanie so I waited for them to get moving out of there. They headed west and I just never caught up with them. I’d be very close but not getting a visual and then they’d change direction.
What I think actually happened is dad ran off, killed a baby impala and then ran back to the others. And this of course sent me on the goose chase.
I did eventually pick up the pack south of the Gananda river heading south. It was already getting hot but they were happily on the move back into mopanie country.
When they came out the other side the chase was on. Impala scattered everywhere and the dogs came up empty handed. The impala are all now is such good shape it’s hard work for the dogs, so they’re now targeting the youngsters.
But the bush is now so thick too that unless the dogs stay up close to their prey they soon lose sight of them and that’s the end of the chase.
Eventually in the Acacia woodlands Puzzles killed a baby impala. She ate most of it before calling the pups. They were left to chew on bones and a little skin.
A pan close by became their refuge for the day.
I spent some time with them here resting, just wanting to put in hours with them to habituate them totally to my vehicle and slowly slowly to me too.
Then it was back home to work on my vehicle again. I got most of it done but it’s now worse than before. Yes I blew something, but just can’t work out what it is. Hopefully the workshop can help me out on the morrow.
In the late afternoon I limped back to the dogs and was able to follow in fits and starts. My poor car. She’s 20 years old, 350,000kms of off-road driving, and getting tired.
The dogs weren’t having much joy hunting in the late afternoon as the grass in the area is already 3ft high, which hugely lessens their visibility. And when they do get to chase the animals are soon out of sight, and that means the end of the chase for the dogs.
They did bump into a black rhino but the bad tempered dude took off and I lost the dogs heading into the Nyamasikana River in that tall vegetation.
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