This morning the hyaena den produced a new hyaena but no sign of the others. This youngster, about 18months old strolled up to the back of my car and proceeded to chew on it. Not on the rubber tyres but on the metal handle! They sure love eating cars. Wanting to get some better photos of the youngster I got out the car. He ran off but was immediately back to investigate. Instinct told him to run but he just couldn’t resist coming to check me out. He would come up close, scare himself, run off and then come right back again. This went on for about half an hour. Eventually we both got bored of each other and he moved off. He was walking away in the dense mopanie when I suddenly saw he take off like lightening. What could be chasing him, a lion? No, it was a mother warthog with her 2 little piglets. And so the game started. The hyaena would saunter back towards the warthog and the mother would chase him off. This must have gone on at least 20 minutes. I could only just see glimpses through the mopanie and was frustrated as it was pointless me even trying to film anything. When the hyaena finally gave up on the warthogs, I left. Walking up to the wild dog den, crunching every leaf I could find, I got there with no sign of the adults or pups. I was standing close to the den when the adults suddenly barked. They must have smelt me. It was then only that I saw the pups. They were on top of the den and came careering round the front only to find me a few meters away. It didn’t stop them as they bolted underground. But 2 of them battled to squeeze through the hole. It’s actually quite worrying ‘cos the pups are quite big now and getting in and out the den is a problem. And even more of a problem getting out. I just hope they don’t get stuck in there. No doubt they’ll soon move again. At least I got to see the little guys. They seemed well. I wasn’t able to get a head count but there seemed to be enough of them. With both those bases covered, wild dogs and hyaenas, I went drifting around the reserve for a few hours before heading back to camp to work on my vehicle. It’s been taking quite a bashing and I haven’t worked on it for ages. It’s probably going to keep me busy a few days yet. Banyini was pretty active this afternoon with lots of plains game scattered around. And then at sunset I took my chance on the elephants. There was a small family herd drinking at Simbiri dam. This time I caught them just as the sun set. Still not the best time but at least I was able to film something!
