Tag Archive for 'mashable'

Burning Rhino Backdrop: Video

Published

on September 21, 2009

. 1 Comment Tags:adventure, africa, animal-kingdom, blogumentary, bush, bush-knowledge, conservation, contolled fire, documentary, ecotraining, education, endangered-species, experience, film, filmmaker, flickr, GLTP, gonarezhou, Great-Limpopo-Transfrontier-Park, hunting, Hyena cubs, hyena den, IUCN-Red-List, kill, lions, malilangwe, mashable, narrowcasting, Open-Content-Alliance, pamushana, peace-parks, photos, podcasting, polls, predators, teach, wild, wildcasting, wilderness, wildlife, wildlife-documentary, zimbabwe

Yellow to red, filled with blue and white a fire flickers through the colour spectrum. It’s that time of the year that ecologists recommend burning certain areas of the bush veld. This would normally be a natural phenomenon, but has to be calculated and self-acted in our controlled environments.

It’s amazing how the animals are not really perturbed by the blaze and carry on as normal, just keeping out of its way. The fire swept past the hyena den but was stopped short by the trampled, there was no sign of any panic at the den, they just go underground and let the smoke pass over. I surprised the cubs at the Manuchi crossing yesterday and they were quite glad to see me tagging along.

The mothers were doing their usual “Jack-in the Box” type neck stretches eyeballing me out, but just making sure the cubs were alright. The cubs then scurried back to the den, which gave me an opportunity to follow the females on a little hunting excursion in the cool drizzle. Temperatures soared at around 40 degrees during the week and then dropped to 20 degrees on the week-end. The drizzle brings a little relief from the harsh rays of the sun, allowing the hyenas to move around during the day. They eventually came nose to nose with a herd of zebra, but nothing came of it. This is the first time I’ve been able to follow them with my vehicle and they were quite relaxed about it. So a small staring session and everyone went their own way. The hyenas headed in-between the hills and I was left stumped.

I met up with Sjambok earlier in the week, he was looking like a true king. He had eaten far too much, was over weight and lazy. He’s in charge, so I guess he can do what he likes.
One interesting thing I spotted was a White-tailed Mongoose.

This light footed creature is a little larger than a Spotted Genet and shows a lot of intelligence by hanging low and sitting on its white tail while I was scanning for it using the spotlight. Kim and I swapped blogging days while I head off to my sisters wedding for the week, so until next week – over and out.

Dove Mania: Video

Published

Wildcaster

on September 14, 2009

in videopost

. 6 Comments Tags:adventure, africa, animal-kingdom, blog, blogumentary, bush, bush-knowledge, bushveld, cites, conservation, documentary, dove, ecotraining, education, endangered-species, experience, film, filmmaker, flickr, GLTP, gonarezhou, Great-Limpopo-Transfrontier-Park, IUCN-Red-List, kill, laughing, malilangwe, mania, mashable, narrowcasting, Open-Content-Alliance, pamushana, peace-parks, photo, photos, podcasting, predators, teach, video, waterhole, wild, wild dogs, wildcasting, wilderness, wildlife, wildlife-documentary, youtube, zimbabwe

The puppies of course are growing and their colours coming through nice and strong now. And unfortunately for me they’re still in the same den.

Having got back from a successful hunt yesterday and fed the pups, 4 of the adults headed back in the direction they came from, but just at a stroll. The pups followed across the valley and up the next hill. Somewhere along the way they got separated and half the pups headed home. Chevvy took the others up the hill and rested up at a cave. The pups checked it out but didn’t go in.

I thought the adults were possibly taking the pups back to their kill, but then having got to the cave, it seemed like they were trying to get them to move den. But that didn’t last and soon the adults were ushering the pups back to their old den.

It seems to have been a quiet week with the dogs. All doing their normal thing and hunting successfully.

Thankfully no more visits from lions and actually no sign of them in the area. A hyaena did pitch up near the den today but it didn’t even have time to smell the roses and the dogs sent it packing.

I’ve been flying my microlight again to help with some work on the reserve. Not having flown for 4months, my first flight ended up with engine failure. Thankfully I was near the airstrip and managed to glide in safely. With a complete carburettor overhaul the machine is purring again and I’ll be taking to the skies again tomorrow in search of some sable antelope.

Rhino Pick Up Lines: Video

Published

Wildcaster

on September 10, 2009

in videopost

. 4 Comments Tags:adventure, africa, animal-kingdom, blogumentary, buffalo, bush, bush tails, bush-knowledge, conservation, dagga boy, documentary, ecotraining, education, elephants, endangered-species, experience, film, filmmaker, flickr, GLTP, gonarezhou, Great-Limpopo-Transfrontier-Park, hunting, hyena, IUCN-Red-List, kill, lions, malilangwe, mashable, narrowcasting, Open-Content-Alliance, pamushana, peace-parks, photos, podcasting, polls, predators, story, teach, video, waterhole, wild, wild dogs, wildcasting, wilderness, wildlife, wildlife-documentary, youtube, zebra, zimbabwe

She put her head down and built up the courage to move over to the crouched figure on the ground. The sun had already set and the sky was a fiery red – the colour of blood. There’s something that switches over in the mind of a hyena when night falls and this hyena mum wanted desperately to give me the once over, or just a friendly sniff.

Whichever one it was, I wasn’t about to find out and blocked her determined approaches as the cubs came to lie on the ground completely chilled out. They are so relaxed that I think mum wants a little attention or lies down next to me to keep an eye on me. The saga at the den continues as I widen my terrain, finding males at Manuchi pan drinking at night and then I’m hoping to get them feeding on an old dagga boy that has died down at Malilangwe Dam.

This old buffalo survived a lion attack by the skin of its teeth as it tore down the park managers fence and in coming to see what all the commotion was about, scared off the lions. This whole event must have put too much stress on the poor animal and drove the last nail in his coffin as he lay at the dam to die.

I’ve also been going far and wide during the week to pick up a few extra shots. Nduna dam is still pumping with wild life. I spotted a leopard on the banks of the Chiredzi River and it looks like Sjambok is still with the Lioness from the Nduna pride. Cheetah have been spotted all over the Banyini area and one still with five cubs. Things are happening and the temperatures are rising well into the upper thirties. This is bringing in Elephant and Rhino to drink at mid-morning to suppress the heat – Come on summer, come on!

Bon ‘up-a-Tree’: Video

Published

Wildcaster

on September 7, 2009

in videopost

. 9 Comments Tags:adventure, africa, animal-kingdom, blog, blogumentary, bush, bush-knowledge, bushveld, cites, conservation, documentary, ecotraining, education, elephants, endangered-species, experience, feed, film, filmmaker, flickr, flowers, giraffe, GLTP, Great-Limpopo-Transfrontier-Park, hunting, IUCN-Red-List, malilangwe, mashable, narrowcasting, Open-Content-Alliance, pamushana, peace-parks, photo, photos, podcasting, predators, spring, teach, tongue, video, wild, wild dogs, wildcasting, wilderness, wildlife, wildlife-documentary, youtube, zimbabwe

The wild dogs are still at the same den, which continues to frustrate me as the area is covered in long grass and the entrance to the den is obscured by bush. AND of course there’s hardly any sun reaching the area either.

And to add to that I can’t drive to the den. Which of course makes things not so easy for me as I have to carry everything up there, but I also really need the pups to get used to the vehicle.

The pups are now 10 weeks old and the brown/yellow colours are really coming out on them. One pup seems to have the beauty of her mother. She’s the one I named Domino.

The adults/yearlings are still hunting like demons and more than coping with feeding the pack. And Puzzles is enjoying the easy life staying at home most of the time. She very seldom goes hunting. But then I suppose somebody has to babysit.

Yesterday the pups followed the adults hunting for the first time. They ventured a good half a kilometre from the den with the adults repeatedly trying to send them back home, but they were all psyched up for an adventure. Eventually Puzzles came trotting past me to the pups, gave a whine and then trotted back past me to the den with all 11 little ones following hot on her heals.

It wasn’t 5mins and the little guys were back down the hill, this time on their own. Half way down they seemed a little, sort of ‘lost’, I suppose. For 15mins they milled around and then thought better of it and ran back home.
Even with all going on the frustrations grow, as I haven’t had the camera out the box all week! Bleak!
The only predictable shooting we’ve been doing is me in front of the camera for a change. Mark has been shooting me for material needed for the wild dog film. The beauty of this is, I’m getting around the reserve again. And always happy to bump into a bunch of elephant bulls!

Hyena Sports: Video

Published

Wildcaster

on September 3, 2009

in videopost

. 11 Comments Tags:adventure, africa, animal-kingdom, blogumentary, bush, bush-knowledge, conservation, documentary, ecotraining, education, endangered-species, experience, film, flickr, GLTP, gonarezhou, Great-Limpopo-Transfrontier-Park, hunting, hyaena den, hyena, Hyena cubs, IUCN-Red-List, kill, malilangwe, mashable, narrowcasting, Open-Content-Alliance, pamushana, peace-parks, photos, podcasting, polls, predators, teach, video, waterhole, wild, wild dogs, wildcasting, wilderness, wildlife, wildlife-documentary, zimbabwe

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.

Splash Master: Video

Published

Wildcaster

on August 31, 2009

in videopost

. 7 Comments Tags:adventure, africa, animal-kingdom, blod, blogumentary, bush, bush-knowledge, bushveld, cites, conservation, documentary, ecotraining, education, elephants, endangered-species, experience, film, filmmaker, flickr, fun, game, GLTP, gonarezhou, Great-Limpopo-Transfrontier-Park, hunting, IUCN-Red-List, malilangwe, mashable, mud, narrowcasting, Open-Content-Alliance, pamushana, peace-parks, photo, photos, poacher, podcasting, predators, snare, teach, trunk, video, wild, wild dogs, wildcasting, wilderness, wildlife, wildlife-documentary, youtube, zimbabwe

The wild dog puppies are now 9weeks old!

All the dogs are still going strong. 8 adults and 11 puppies.

They’ve moved den twice in the last week and will probably be moving more often now as the pups become more adventurous and are moving further and further a field. They’re still too young to follow the adults on the hunt but in a few weeks they’ll probably be out there.

Puzzles is still suckling her pups but only a couple of times a day as her milk is now drying up.

The puppies are now true meat eaters and continue to walk around with oversized tummies from the successful hunting adventures of the rest of the pack.

It’s only about 1 in 10 days that puppies don’t get fed, but they sure make up for it on the other 9 days as their tummies are permanently swollen.

I can’t wait for the dogs to leave the hills and start their nomadic lives again. I feel I’ve been couped in up their for too long now.

The pups colours are now really beginning to change with the browns coming out of the blacks. And then it’s time to try and find ID features so I can name them all. Already we have a Domino, Dice and Delta. I’m still not sure of sexes of all the pups.

Thankfully the lions have stayed away from the dens although I have seen their tracks again on the track near the den.

All is well in the wild dog world and Puzzles continues to be single. Neither Chevvy nor Kodak are showing any signs of flirting with their mother. No doubt when she comes into oestrus next year things will change.

Cheers

Kim

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Tag Archive for 'mashable'

Burning Rhino Backdrop: Video

Dove Mania: Video

Rhino Pick Up Lines: Video

Bon ‘up-a-Tree’: Video

Hyena Sports: Video

Splash Master: Video

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