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....

The Endless Plains, Chapter 7: A Day in the Life of a Leopard Family part 2

Wednesday Early Afternoon 17th September

We had no idea that just above the leopard, further into the branches, there was a kill. 

In the time it took me to go to the Thomas Crapper, she had chased down a gazelle, killed it, and dragged it high into a tree.

Fresh food! À table!

Now that she had recovered with a well deserved siesta, she climbed up to her kill and started munching. Cats always start at the bottom. Bear that in mind the next time you cuddle your cat.

After several minutes gnashing and ripping, she stopped, looked around as if she seemed to realise that something was missing.

Her cubs!

She searched. 

She called.

She found!

Once rediscovered, the two cubs ran alongside their mother.

Dinner was ready. A little undercooked, but ready nevertheless.

Unfortunately, in her absence, someone else had discovered a free meal.

This tawny eagle decided to leave rapidly stage right. Fighting over food with a leopard is not a good gamble.

The cubs arrived.

Climbing this large tree was not the easiest of tasks.

Gotta get there.

Two for lunch?

Nope. Three.

Post-gorging siesta.

Whilst these two were dormant, the other cub was feeding. And like all kids, they were not too careful about keeping their food on the plate.

The carcass tumbled down to earth. Mum was not happy. But, she did her duty and carried their dinner up on high once more.

Don't you just love 'em?

The cubs finally disappeared off. We spent a while looking for them but, no luck. We decided to head back to the camp.

After a few meters, Ian stopped. What was the problem? Ian looked around then got out of the truck. He lifted the bonnet. Two wild young cubs leapt out to safety.

You just never know, do you?

 

The Endless Plains, Chapter 6: A Day in the Life of a Leopard Family part 1

Wednesday Morning 17th Sept

The previous day we had spotted a female leopard hanging around in a tree. We also saw two cubs in a bush (worth at least one in the hand) but they were not giving us the time of day. 

We had other cats in mind  at that time, and we had, beyond our wildest dreams, succeeded. So we were now free to chase after more mundane things. 

Like leopards. 

How mundane is that?

With the added bonus that chasing after a cat in a tree is actually pretty straightforward. 

When we got there, before eight in the morning, she was no longer in the same tree. Instead, to our absolute delight, the two cubs were out in the play yard!

How amazing was that? If only they would climb that tree stump next to them I thought;

My wish came true.

And the other cub?

Only room for one.

We stayed with these cubs for more than half an hour without any sign of their mother.

The fact that they were playing openly in front of us inferred that their protecting mother was nearby, well hidden, ready to pounce. 

They were jumping up and down trees.

Up being significantly easier than down. 

Where is the fire brigade when you need them?

We searched the area for their mother, finding her not far away in the undergrowth.

Sleeping.

Not exactly ready to pounce. 

It was not long, however, before she decided to get up and out of there.

She was hunting. 

We tried to follow but she went to the other side of the gully we were next to . We had to drive far to get around this gully (at least half an hour), not crossable even with our all-terrain truck. All-terrain except gullies apparently.

Instead, we did discover a very rare thing hardly ever found in the Serengeti.

A toilet. (Sorry, restroom to you guys across the pond.)

This first few days in the Serengeti, my digestive system was not being very cooperative, and had decided by itself that movement was ever imminent. Thus, finding this WC was like an oasis in the dessert. With added plumbing.

Once finding literal relief, we went back to the other side of the gully, only to find the leopard mother had returned into the trees.

Wait! Movement!

To a lower, more comfortable, branch.

Sleep.

Perchance to dream.

However, what we hadn't realised was that there was something else in that tree. 

Just above her.

A cliffhanger