Category Archives: Nature Stories

Beautiful Cape Winter Days

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We have had the most beautiful warm sunny days in the midst of a wet winter. Since I will soon be departing on an exciting safari I’m fitting-in as many walks with my furry Belgian friends as possible before my not-so-furry Belgian friends (especially Jan) drag me off on safari.

Dogs

 

This time of year heralds the start of the flowering season in The Cape (although there are ALWAYS beautiful flowers out here). One of the first flowers to appear is Chasmanthe floribunda, the Cobra Lily or Pimpiempie.

In my first year living in The Cape I was struck by these beautiful audacious flowers and ever since then I am thrilled by their annual emergence. They appear suddenly before any of the other bulbs/corms and demand immediate attention. These brazen members of the Lily family are pollinated by sunbirds.

Chasmanthe

 

Musth Elephant in Okavango

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I recently returned from yet another wonderful safari in Botswana with a special couple. On one of our drives we came around a bend in the road in the midst of a beautiful mopane forest and encountered this bull elephant in musth.

Musth

 

Musth is a hormonal condition exhibited by male elephants once a year after they have reached sexual maturity. It is associated with increased sexual activity and is recognised by three visual cues. A bull elephant in musth has a copious (strong smelling) secretion from his temporal gland, his penis dribbles continuously and he walks with an arrogant swagger. During this period the elephant has increased levels of testosterone circulating in his body.Normally cow elephants are more dangerous than bulls but when in musth, bull elephants are considered POTENTIALLY more dangerous. Indeed they are more aggressive toward other bull elephants, who generally move out of their way. And while they can be aggressive this is not always the case, but they are always supremely arrogant and confident. In this picture you can see that I am carefully backing up as he swaggers toward me. He is not being aggressive but he is being assertive. He convinced me to give way and then arrogantly continued on his way, satisfied that he was in charge.

 

Lion Passion

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The safari season is upon us again and that makes me shiver with excitement.

As an introduction to the season I dug up my favourite photo from last year.

Lion Passion

Last year while on a safari deep in the central Kalahari we came across a pair of mating lions. When the female is sexually receptive lions will mate every 20 to 40 minutes for several days. They do not hunt or eat during this time and do not move very far. They were close to our camp and as a result we had  sightings of them every day and great photographic opportunities. On the last morning that we were there, they had moved almost into our camp and we saw them just after the sun had risen, providing the perfect light for this photograph that also captures something very interesting about lion (and other cat) reproduction.

People watching mating lions are struck by the contrast between the amorous gentle encouragement that the lioness gives prior to mating and the vicious anger after mating. The reason for this is that all male cats have backward-pointing spines on their penis and as they withdraw after mating, these spines rake the vaginal walls of the lioness. It is believed that this is required to stimulate ovulation in the lioness but it is also very painful for her – as is apparent in the photograph.

I’m about to leave on safari and am excited about all the surprises that await me on this adventure.

 

Into the Big Blue

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I promised not to post any more about Great White Sharks, but I didn’t say anything about Mako Sharks. Earlier this week I was privileged to do another ocean trip with my friends Chris & Monique Fallows, and it turned-out to be an absolutely incredible experience.

It’s impossible to decide what was the highlight of the trip. How does one choose between seeing albatrosses, Shearwaters, Storm Petrels, Common Dolphins or diving with Bottlenose Dolphins,  False Killer Whales, Mako Shark or Blue Shark?

Since I didn’t have my camera with me, Chris kindly provided the pictures that you see below, and that has decided the subject matter of this post. Diving with a Mako Shark was nothing short of incredible.

Diving with Mako

Sunlight on Mako

Mako Sharks are open water sharks that reach a length of more than 3 metres and there are records of weights of 500 Kg. They are perfectly adapted to their role as predators with a hydro-dynamically efficient bullet-shape powered by a powerful caudal fin that allows them to reach burst speeds of almost 80km/hr and all backed-up with a mouthful of formidable teeth.

Open Ocean Hunter

Open Ocean Hunter

Like the Great White Shark, the Makos are able to behaviorally increase their body temperature, thereby giving themselves and additional advantage over their prey.

Evolutionary poetry

Evolutionary poetry

Diving with this beautiful animal with half a kilometre of water below me and thousands of kilometres of sea around me was an awesome experience. It reminded me so much of being on safari. This shark was very inquisitive and kept circling and returning to check on us. It was never aggressive at all but came to within half a metre of us on several occasions.

If you would like the best possible shark experience or open ocean experience when you are next in Cape Town, please let me know and I’ll arrange an Ocean Safari for you with Chris and Monique.

 

Dental Floss for Great White Sharks

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Normally I try to avoid posting two consecutive posts about the same subject, but Pat Verbraecken sent me this incredible photograph that he took on our recent trip with Chris Fallows and I couldn’t resist but show it to everyone. I’ve seen some wonderful photos of Great White Sharks and I’ve even taken some pretty mediocre photos of them myself, but I’ve never seen a picture like this. Great White Sharks amaze some people and they instill fear in others but no-one is neutral about them. The sentiments all revolve around their TEETH and this photo captures those teeth incredibly.

 

Up close & personal

Up close & personal

The teeth of Great Whites are one of the reasons for their incredible success. They have several rows of these teeth and can have as many as 300 teeth in their mouth at any one time. Besides being incredibly sharp these teeth are serrated, so by just taking a bite and shaking their heads these sharks can bite off huge chunks of flesh. They don’t have to be concerned with damage to their teeth because their teeth are replaced if they fall out!

I guess that is why (as you can see above) they don’t bother with flossing !!!

An Epitaph

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I lost a friend a week ago. He was only 24 years old and full of passion and joy. I spent a long day on the mountain looking for him before his body was discovered and during that time it struck me just how fragile our lives are and how we have to

seize every moment that is given to us. I think Robbie lived like that. I believe that he crammed more into his short 24 years than many people manage in three times more years.

I am already twice the age that Robbie was and I have been blessed with a life full of experiences and special people, but his untimely passing brought back into sharp focus the fact that only I am responsible for the way I choose to live my life and what I extract from it.

This year has already been an incredible year for busy wonderful experiences in my life – hence the serious shortage of newsletters and blogs. What is more I still have adventures piled-high between now and the end of the year.

So as I seize the opportunities that life offers in abundance I offer this message in sadness and celebration as a tribute to a special young man. Much of this contribution features flowers and I think that is a perfect metaphor for Robbie’s life – brilliant, beautiful, inspirational and too brief.

The mountain was moody and beautiful today.

Although we are past the peak flowering season we were indulged with a display of exquisite flowers. Since this is a tribute and not a treatise I simply offer you the images without any commentary or any identification. As you enjoy these images I ask you to join me in celebrating a short life that touched so many, and simultaneously critically assess your own life and ask whether you take and give as much as you possibly can.

Once were Crimsonbreasted Shrikes

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The Central Kalahari was exquisite and we saw so much that was special but before I even begin this blog I must get something of my (not-crimson) chest . . .

I am sick of these bird name changes! It was bad enough that southern Africans had to

adopt most of the East African names but the changes of common names just seem to continue. I am beginning to wonder whether the conspiracy theorists aren’t correct and it is all just a ploy to increase sales of bird guide books!

So if you call this a Crimson Boubou, tough luck because (a) it doesn’t care, (b) it remains Laniarius atroccineus and (c) I still consider it a Crimson Breasted Shrike!

What is infinitely more interesting is that these dashing birds are one of the brood hosts to the Black Cuckoo. This means that instead of building their own nests, Black Cukoos lay their eggs in the nests of Crimson Breasted Shrikes (or Boubou Shrikes) for the host parents to incubate and rear. The Cuckoo lays a single egg in each parasitized Shrike nest and will sometimes eat one of the Shrike’s eggs.

While this may seem like a lazy and easy strategy on the part of the Cuckoo, it is in fact a very challenging approach to reproduction. The Shrikes are extremely alert and will reject the Cuckoo egg or even abandon the entire nest if they detect a strange egg. In addition it takes great perseverance and cunning for the Cuckoos to infiltrate and successfully lay an egg in the Shrike’s nest. So the strategy of brood parasitism is very energy expensive and risky.

More (and more) Meerkats

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Meerkats live in family groups of up to 30 individuals. It is no coincidence that Meerkats are social animals. The desert is a harsh environment and in order to survive Meerkats require the cooperation of the entire colony. So dependent are they o

n cooperation that research suggests that if the number of individuals in a colony drops below the critical threshold of 6 animals, the colony will not survive.

Meerkats are social animals

Meerkats are a diurnal species (ie they are active by day). In the desert most predators are nocturnal – probably in order to avoid the searing summer daytime heat (in a previous blog post I explained some of the strategies that Meerkats use to deal with the heat). This may be one reason why Meerkats have chosen to be active by day. However there are still predators about during the day.

Meerkats dig for their food and therefore literally have their heads buried in the ground for much of the day while they are feeding.

Young Suricate foraging

A young Meerkat digging for food

In order to protect the colony from a surprise attack during foraging, each member takes a turn to be on sentry duty. Their eyesight is incredible and not only are they able to detect animals at a distance of kilometres but they can identify the species at that distance. They possess a complex vocabulary which includes distinct alarm calls for different predators. This allows the rest of the colony to know immediately just how severe any threat is and from where it is approaching (land or air).

A meerkat scans the surroundings

Almost all members of the colony are closely related and this encourages cooperation and altruism which assists the survival of each individual. They all assist with the raising of the young and it is remarkable to watch them confront a threat in unison creating an intimidating united front. I was extremely fortunate to be present one day when one of a colony dug-up a Shield-Nosed Snake. These snakes are from the cobra family. Although they are venomous they also sham death until danger seems too close.

The Meerkat that uncovered this character immediately let out a very informative yelp and several members of the colony came rushing over to help. They warily approached the potential danger, while the snake was clearly shamming death. But when they got too close, the snake would writhe or strike at them and they would leap backwards baring their fangs and then carefully approach again. They kept this up for a while and eventually lost interest and left.

A group of Meerkats assess the danger of a shield nosed snake

I managed to get some video of this interaction. It is really interesting. Have a look at it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IG0WNUXCCXk

If you enjoy this youtube and let me know, I promise to upload more clips from this amazing interaction.

Meanwhile the meerkat says – that’s all folks:

That's all folks

 

Meerkats & the extreme desert temperatures

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Meerkats are really remarkable. They are small mammals that live in an extremely harsh environment. Their small shape means that they lose or gain heat very rapidly and being mammals this means that they must expend energy in maintaining their bod

y temperature and they must find behavioral ways in which to avoid excessive heat gain or heat loss.

They are sociable animals and they live in burrows. At night the temperature in these burrows does not drop as low as on the surface. Also the meerkat family in the burrow huddles together for warmth. During the day, when the temperature becomes too hot to continue foraging, they also return to the burrow for the shade and cool that it offers in the heat.

Meerkats at their burrow entrance

The fur of a meerkat is very thin and this allows for rapid loss of heat but it is not very effective at keeping them warm. So on cold mornings they erect their hair to create a thicker insulation layer and stand with their darker tummies facing the rising sun, in order to warm-up.

Warming-up in the morning

However, when the temperature rises their thin fur is an advantage. Before they have to retreat into their burrow in order to escape the heat, meerkats often find a shady spot or scratch away the surface sand to expose cooler sand and lie there to rapidly dump heat from their bodies. This allows them to remain out foraging for longer.

ooooh that feels so nice & cool

The most effective way for a plant or animal to cool them-self is through evaporative cooling. In mammals this takes the form of sweating or panting and meerkats do use this strategy to a limited extent . . . but they never drink water! In the next post I’ll talk about how meerkats obtain water from the harsh and often dry environment in which they live.

Makgadikgadi Meerkats

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I’m currently on the Makgadikgadi Pans in Botswana. This is a challenging desert environment and all life forms here are adapted to survive under the harsh conditions. The Meerkats (Suricata suricatta) are not only the most endearing spec

ies here but are also a window into the challenges and other species of this area.

Over the next few posts I will share some of the lessons I have learnt from these wonderful animals.