Got ‘em!

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Mar 23 2008 | By: admin

Howzit guys,

Can you believe it? A ZWD blog that isn’t about failure, hoping to find the dogs next week, unsuitable weather conditions, or other feeble excuses.

Yes, we have actually found dogs… for three days in a row! Ok, it’s all the same pack, but it’s the one we’ve been looking for for weeks. We had been patrolling their area for ages but we just couldn’t find spoor. As we were just about to stop using that route, we found some. Then came the rain, which didn’t help, but a few days later we picked them up again. The first time, they were lying up in tyre-and-paintwork-punishing mopane scrub and we couldn’t get to them in the car. We tried to get close on foot but they always saw us before we saw them.

Yesterday, we found them resting in the shade, on a bank of the Mokore River. They were on the opposite side of the river, but this gave us a better view of them. The coat patterns matched those from older photos, which confirms this as the Jacana Pack.

A day at the beach.

Bath time.

This morning, I received a radio call telling me that they had just been seen around the same area. With Reuben and Misheck searching for packs elsewhere, I set out on my own, hoping the dogs hadn’t gone too far as I doubted an attempt at tracking would be successful. By luck, they were visible from the road, lying around a pan. The area was open and so I could drive closer to them. I kept my distance at first, to let them get used to the vehicle, before creeping closer in a wide zig-zag (a direct approach normally unnerves them).
My reward was to spend a couple of hours relaxing in their company, listening to the birds and watching the dogs as they dozed. God, it’s Hell in Africa!

How many dogs in this picture?

Only two days left to vote before a name is decided for the new pack. It looks like ‘Humani’ is winning hands down so far. Sorry for that, Reuben!

Sarai zvakanaka,

Mike

Tags: 1121, 1122, 189, 46, 698

8 Responses to “Got ‘em!”

sheryl, washington dc, on 23 Mar 2008

Lookit all the dogs! Nice work. I had to giggle when you used the word “spoor,” ’cause when I clean up after my dog, Mina, it’s just “poop,” and that’s what we call it a the zoo, no matter what species dropped it.
s.

Mike, on 23 Mar 2008

Hi Sheryl,
‘Spoor’ used here is the Afrikaans word for a track. When sign is on trees or long grass it is called aerial spoor. Lucky I didn’t use that phrase, or you’d really be wondering what the dogs get up to!
Mike

Theresa Siskind St Petersburg FL, on 23 Mar 2008

Gosh Mike, just look at em, they are beautiful! And no snares, right?

sheryl, washington dc, on 23 Mar 2008

Interesting, thanks for the explanation. Speaking of snares, any sign of the dog with a snare on her neck?

Paula, on 23 Mar 2008

hi Mike, I vote 15 dogs?

Daimon Walker, on 23 Mar 2008

Question for you Mike. If we hit ‘Donate’, where does the money go? Does it go directly to you guys?

Dai

Egil, on 25 Mar 2008

Hi Mike,

Looks like the dogs had a good meal in the morning. Very full belly’s!

Mike, on 26 Mar 2008

Hi guys,
Just some quick answers to your questions.
No snares on this pack thankfully.
I haven’t heard anymore from the snared female. I don’t think that’s good news.
As far as I understand it, any money donated to us from this blog goes directly to us.
Mike

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