The pack hadn’t moved from where I’d left them last night. So no moon hunting. Of course the cloudy skies might have had something to do with it, making it too dark for them to hunt.
My arrival woke them and soon they were heading south in the dark, but soon the blacks were turning to grey on the horizon.
They kept to the mopanie, which at times can be wonderful, pretty open country, but most of the time it’s choked with Grewia, bringing visibility down to a few meters.
So why do the dogs like to hunt in these conditions? There are plenty of open areas with huge herds of impala but for some reason they just don’t seem to hang out there much. I would have expected them to be more suited to hunting in the open, but they really don’t seem to favour it. And of course this hunting technique doesn’t favour me either, which is really what it’s all about.
I was still managing to keep up with them when I blew a tyre on a sharp tree stump! By the time I was on their trail again, probably only about 5mins later, they have moved a longs ways west and on finding them they were just moving off from a kill. They sure don’t waste time eating these days. But then it probably was only a baby impala.
They headed back north and again keeping to the mopanie. Again I lost them on the chase only to arrive when they’d almost finished their second kill.
I’m beginning to wonder if I’m ever going to get it right following these guys on the hunt. I can only hope that at times they’ll venture into the open and then I might just get lucky.
As has become customary the dogs spent their day at a pan in the mopanie. These little pans are drying up fast with still no rain. But they’re a great place for the dogs to spend the day as they lie up in the cool moist soil. And of course are always good for a swim.
Joining them back in the afternoon they were on the move a lot earlier than normal, heading south again. They’re like a yo-yo the way the move up and down like this.
The pups were running up front and soon the adults found themselves alone. Now it was their time to catch up to the pups. Frantically they took their trail eventually finding the little guys just doing their thing.
I left them in the dark milling around and probably about to rest for the night.
Looks like they have the life. Lazily swimming, eating. Dog days of summer indeed.
A stand alone ‘offshoot’ of the dog family but familar in action to my German Shepherds……Fabulous :o)