Tag Archive for 'hyaena den'

The sun rises creating a dark silhouette that makes it feel I’m driving straight into a colour saturated abyss. A dark form launches from the tree tops and spreads its wings as it glides effortlessly away from my moving vehicle. My mind flicks through the pages of the bird guide as its name springs to the tip of my tongue and I mumble it to myself, “African Harrier-hawk,” or formally known as the Gymnogene. Some poor bird probably just got robbed of its young or was saved by my passing through.

One gets a sense of achievement from being able to identify birds and animals without searching through a field guide. I’ve ditched the tree book for a while and I’m back on the birds. Even as the suns light is cast on the tree tops running past Manuchi Pan I pick out a Racket-tailed Roller perched on a branch – it’s a gem of a bird to spot. Manuchi has been a great area lately drawing plenty of game to what little water remains on its muddy bottom.

I’m spending most mornings and afternoons at the hyena den and the abundance of game in the area is confirmed by the pack horse like bellies of the hyenas bulging like balloons, even in the front view of the animal. The cubs still abandon everything to greet my arrival and inspect the lump of steel with tasty wheels.

One interesting happening was a male hyena bringing what was left of an impala kill back to the den. The cubs were scoffing at the skin to pick off what scraps remained. I’ve been seeing the cubs regurgitating hairballs for the last few weeks now so it must be a fairly common occurrence.

I waited patiently for the two new cubs to come the other night and was rewarded for my efforts. I’m so pleased that the mother has warmed to my presence, I’ve been seeing a lot of natural behaviour from the clan lately. The sports at the den will no doubt continue.