Tag Archive for 'hunt'

Pups beg and search: Video


I was happy to see the dogs again this morning being anxious that they might have crossed out the fence last night.
I had just picked them up, followed them on a quick chase and as they got back to the track, down went 2 of my tyres! Thankfully the one was going down slowly and I managed to limp to the workshop before it finally died on me.

Mopanie patrol
45mins later I was back with the dogs. They’d already killed, fed and moved on. How did I know this? Several members had bloodstained faces.
The weather was cool with a very fine drizzle coming and going which probably kept the dogs active a little longer than usual before chilling at a dried out wallow.

Pass out pan
I’d hoped for some big rain to film the dogs in but the useless drizzle continued and definitely wasn’t visible.
Later in the afternoon some seriously threatening weather came tumbling in. The cloud was dark and low. Surely this was the big one I wanted. But as fast as it tumbled in, it tumbled out.

Threatening!
Being nice and cool still, the dogs tumbled out of bed early too. Puzzles took them west on the hunt. But impala seemed scarce until they got to Khayeni and dogs scattered in all directions after their prey.
I eventually caught up with Jiggy and Puzzles having killed a young impala. They fed well and then called the pups. But no one came. Eventually Chevvy came running in screaming with excitement and begging for food. Puzzles regurgitated when a couple more pups arrived.

Puzzles trophy
With that little snack to get them going, the frantic search was on to find the remains of the carcass. In the long grass going was tough and the dogs have to jump their way around. I battled too just trying to find them in my viewfinder. I didn’t have any problem finding the grass!
Nearly an hour later the other pups turned up, one with the head of a young impala. So they too had been successful.
And finally my only success was catching the sunset.

Sunset 03/16
I did have some fun on the way home. It was almost dark and I came across 6 hyaenas strolling down the road towards me. It was too tempting and I got out the car, sat on the road and waited for them to approach. Of course it was the 2 youngsters who were the most curious. They just had to check out this thing. With bodies tense, ready to jump back at any moment they came to within a meter, but just wouldn’t push it that bit further. An adult joined them coming slightly closer, but it too wasn’t about to push it.
I left them all in the road sniffing my scent, wondering what this thing was that had interrupted their patrol.

Not hunting for real: Video


The dogs started their day thinking they were going to get lucky like last night, and were on the airstrip at sunrise. The main herd of impala were a ways to the west and a few scattered souls to the east.

Sunrise 03/14
But the dogs just couldn’t make up their minds how to approach this situation, some heading west and others east. Finally they pooled a little brain power and all headed east for the closest impala. But their minds weren’t really in it and the chase didn’t have the ooomfff that yesterdays chase had.

Dogs on the airstrip
Then Chevvy targeted a lone impala on the airstrip that kept coming closer to investigate. Chevvy was after it and I tailed him. And just when I thought he was going full taps, he suddenly went into overdrive. WOW!!! That is something to see, and I clocked him at 60kms/hour in the vehicle. Thankfully I had a smooth airstrip to speed down.
But even at that speed Chevvy wasn’t successful. I think, just not hungry enough.

Black and white
The pack left their hunting grounds heading north on a dirt track. I was ahead of them and stayed there as they followed me for over a kilometre. It’s a great position to be in – when the dogs walk towards you and you back off, it gives them such huge confidence. They feel they are in control of you and that you’re not intending to harm them. It works so well for building up their confidence of having me around all the time.
But once they got to the hills I was snookered. My only option was to follow on foot, which I did. Amazing stuff walking with all these dogs. They were a little unsure of me initially but soon calmed down and I ended up sleeping in the hills with them for most of the day.

Dogs on the rocks
Towards sunset we were on the move again heading north, even deeper into the hills.
Chevvy discovered this tortoise and wasn’t too sure how to handle it, so he left.

DANGER!!!
The sun was setting and I was now a long way from my car, so reluctantly I left the dogs and headed for home.

A Real Wild Dog Hunt: Video


I’m always happy when the dogs hunt on the open areas of Banyini. Just makes following them so much easier.

Sunrise 03/13
They spent about an hour this morning moving around the open savannah but were unable to locate any prey and ended up resting at a pan in the mopanie woodland to the east. The last time they were on Banyini when the grass was shorter, the place was a seething mass of animals and the dogs just couldn’t believe their luck. That was when Puzzles killed an adult male impala and then the rains poured down on us!

Chilling
Later this morning I went to check on reports of Ground Hornbills nesting in baobab down south. It was an interestingly shaped baobab and a good sized specimen. And of course there was no ways I was going to be able to climb it to check on the nest. The birds weren’t there as they mainly feed the youngster at dawn and dusk. Best bet I think is going to be to fly over the tree and see what goes on.

Affection
The dogs headed north early this afternoon coming out on the western end of the airstrip. On their arrival there they were greeted to a multitude of impala about half way along the strip. A few giraffe too were standing around.
It was too far for the dogs to start their advance but some of the pups were into mode and stalking but gave up when they realised mom and dad weren’t interested.

Hunting
The impala were still unaware of the lurking danger and happily grazing.
After standing around in the open for 20minutes, the dogs started their advance, now about 500m from the impala. With ears flattened Puzzles led the way and the rest of the pack fell into place behind her, then Jiggy took over the advance. With 300m to go they moved from single file and advanced abreast with each other. All with ears back and head held low they walked with purpose. It was impressive to watch this infantry brigade in action.
And still the impala seemed unaware of them.

Many necks
At about 200m the dogs broke into a trot still advancing in a front. At less than a 100m the impala were suddenly alerted and bolted. This was the cue for the dogs to attack. At incredible speed they were out of the starting blocks scattering their prey. Somehow they singled out the weaker ones and chased those with purpose deep into the bush.
I eventually found Jiggy on his kill. He was later joined by a pup. They fed well and then called the others but nobody came. They must have made another kill elsewhere. Eventually others did arrive, some already bloodstained. A good hunt after all.
Having seen all of this and filmed it on the airstrip, I begin to realise the ease of filming on the open plains of the Serengeti. Maybe one day when I’m big I’ll get to film up there!

Puzzles caught with her pants down: Video


How can I complain? Well actually I’m not. Life is just brilliant and the bush here at Malilangwe is some of the very best I’ve ever been in. So what more could I want?

Fuji
…..some better tyres would help. Just blew another one today. That’s 3 in 3wks. Whereas on my old conventional road tyres (not these fancy ‘off-road’ tyres), I had 4 blow outs in 20yrs! ………Going back to my old tyres ☺
The dogs continue to hunt in the north which at times can be really good, but the past few days they’ve been keeping to the Grewia thickets which make travel and visibility really tough most of the time.
The dogs were hunting at dawn and had many impala to chase with only Jiggy being successful. On returning the pups were frantic trying to get him to regurgitate, but today there was no free lunch and the pups had to find the remains of his kill.

Pack kill
In the evening they were again in good impala country but the pups instead ended up chasing several buffalo that took off. And the faster they ran the faster the pups ran after them. Even Puzzles and Jiggy joined them.
I don’t know what happened in the end, as I wasn’t able to keep up, and then found the pack resting at this pan on the old airstrip.

Sundowner
For the last few days my cameras have hardly rolled, with really only just enough to do the 3mins of Wildcast every day. But I know if I keep at it something lucky WILL come along.
Roll on Luck!