The Endless Plains, Chapter 8: A Second Chance.

Wednesday Afternoon 17th September

We had spent most of the day with a family of Leopards. (Click here if you missed it)

It's not often that you can say that.

It had been an amazing experience, we felt totally content with our day. 

It's not often that you can say that either.

It was time to return to base and perchance to see whatever we happened by on the way.

We drove passed that Kopje where we had spotted the Caracal, just in case we were crazy lucky.

Surprise surprise!

We were crazy lucky.

This was incredible. She was not only there again waiting for us, but she stayed in the open, with us chasing her around for over an hour!

Soooo much opportunity to take numerous photos to bore you with.

So, why does this animal attract us so?

If it is not obvious from the photos, here are a few facts about this amazing feline:

They are fast. The fastest of the cats of this size. Up to 80kmh (50mph). This is perhaps one reason why they can be so difficult to find and photograph.

They are excellent climbers and, above all, their ability to jump is phenomenal. They can jump over three meters!! This is how they so effectively catch their main source of food: birds. 

Sadly, this miraculous feat was not on display today.

They don't just hunt birds. They are notable in that they won't hesitate at catching prey larger than themselves such as small antelopes and monkeys.

Sadly, that wasn't on display either.

They, like most cats, live a solitary life, and only get together for shopping watching tv going to the pub, erm well, you get the general idea.

The name 'Caracal' is thought to come from the Turkish name ‘Karrah-kulak’, which means ‘cat with black ears’.

There you go, you learn something new every day. 

And if you want to expand your language knowledge further, the Swahili word for caracal is 'simba mangu' which, as I'm sure you all know, means 'secretive lion'. 

That's for sure.

As I've mentioned, caracals can rotate their ears. This is thanks to having evolved twenty muscles per ear as opposed to our meagre six. 

If you want to rotate your ears, you are going to have to evolve further.

They do not tend to compete with that other cat of similar size found around here; the serval. More of them later.

Their latin name is caracal caracal, so good they named it twice.

Females raise their young without the help of males.

Sounds like a good plan to me.

One so-called fact is this: The caracal is the origin of the expression ‘put the cat among the pigeons’. In ancient India and Iran, trained caracals were released into arenas containing a flock of pigeons. Wagers were then placed on how many birds the cat would take down in a leap.

I'm not sure I believe that one...

Their foot pads are covered with stiff hair, making them able to walk absolutely silently whilst hunting.

Caracals can mate all year round. All they have to do is find a mate. I guess they must be better at finding them than we are.

 Who could resist this face?

So there we are, at the end of a most unbelievable day. 

Let's finish it off with a lion sunset...

Erm, and a lioness too of course....

Next, Chapter 9: Cats & Dogs