Zimbabwe Wild Dogs

Category: Uncategorized, Wild Dogs, zimbabwe | Date: Jan 20 2009 | By: zimbabwewilddogs

Hi folks,

We’ve just come back from a long day out looking for the dogs – goodness these packs travel a long way at the moment!  Rueben had found the Bedford pack yesterday, about a 20 minute drive from the house.  We went out at 6:00 this morning, but despite climbing a monster of a hill close to where they were last seen, there was no signal… had they been anywhere within a 10km radius we would have picked them up from that hill.  But no luck, so we continued going, stopping regularly and climbing every hill we could we find looking for a signal from the Bedford pack, but also from the missing Maera pack.

Eventually, just when I was beginning to wonder if the equipment was working properly, we picked up a reassuring beep….beep….beep from one of the collars.   The Maera pack!!  The missing, elusive, vanished, impossible-to-find Maera pack.  So we got as close as we could in a vehicle then traipsed off through knee high, wet green grass until we got to where the dogs were resting.  Unfortunately they must have seen us or smelt us before we saw them, so we simply got barked at and then caught a glimpse of a whole bunch of white-tipped tails disappearing through the thick vegetation.  Mmmph. So much for that.  We followed them after a while, but again saw not much else aside from lots of ears and tails heading away from us. 

Given the importance of seeing this pack well (to see if the snared pup is still with them), we tried one last time, this time in the vehicle as the dogs had moved a long way and were (we thought) maybe near another small road.  So we eventually got back to the car (soaked through with sweat – the humidity here is incredible at the moment) and set off after them again.  We skidded and slipped and slid along the track that was by now so covered with tall, green grass that it was hard to see where it went.  And even harder to see the really boggy patches….

After a while of fairly precarious driving, we were rewarded by a sighting of the dogs, good enough to count at least 10 of them and identify some of those.  Unfortunately we didn’t see whether or not the snared pup was there.  I didn’t see him, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t there…  After a while of peering through green leaves at dogs sleeping, we decided to leave them in peace for today, and head home.  I had the bright idea to continue along our small track to join up with the main road a bit further on (instead of retracing our steps and going back the way we knew was dry enough to pass), and promptly sunk axle-deep into thick, wet, clay.  Unfortunately, by the time I thought of it, I was too covered in mud to get out my camera, because it would have made an amusing sight:  Rueben and myself up to our knees in mud, slipping around like drunkards trying in vain to get the car out.  An hour or so later, after jacking up all the wheels and shoving logs underneath, we got out.  Hooray!! And wisely turned around to go back the way we had come…

We eventually made it home, considerably hotter, dirtier and more sunburnt than when we set out, but nonetheless pleased to have at least located the missing Maera pack.  We’ll go back tomorrow to try to find them again and get a better look at who’s there.  Mind you, storm clouds are brewing and there are ominous rumbles of thunder in the distance so it could be an interesting day…!

Back soon (hopefully!),

Rosemary