APRIL 2018
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| At the trig beacon on the summit of Mount Anderson at sunset and moon rise. Photo by Sue Harwood |
April was a cool, wet month where we received 137mm rainfall! Fortunately the weekends' weather was pleasant enough because it was a busy month with many members and their families visiting. The highlights were the discovery of two leopard kills in two days, and a very successful FULL MOON HIKE! Below, browse through a gallery illustrating these highlights:
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| While Grant Mackenzie and his friend were cycling towards Haartebeesvlakte early one Saturday morning, they interrupted a mother leopard with two full grown youngsters enjoying a zebra meal. I also stumbled upon the carcass, with my visitors, just an hour or two later but, alas, did not get a sighting of the leopards. |
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When I first saw the carcass, I assumed that it was a road kill even though that would be unlikely high up there on the Komatiland Forest road. Then, as we approached, I could see that the carcass had been scavenged (I didn't yet know that Grant had seen leopards there a little earlier). On closer inspection, though, it was clear, by the teeth marks, that the zebra was actually brought down by the mother leopard herself. What a feat! Zebras are not only very big and strong, they also put up more of a fight than the average antelope. James Mackenzie, Grant's son, came up a little later and placed two Camera Traps at the scene but got no images of the leopards. This indicates that the leopards in question are extremely nervous of humans and did not return to the kill after being bothered by them.
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| The very next day, my group and I decided to hike the Rock Kestrel trail. My friend and his dog, leading the group, got a brief sighting of a little cub leopard. As we topped the rise, we found the carcass of a young eland stashed under a Currant tree. This is exciting because, only a fortnight prior to this, I stumbled upon a Reedbuck kill only 400 meters away on the same path. I got a great view of the mother leopard as she lay on a ledge 70 meters away, watching me. I also got a brief view of her cub that day. This means she is using the trail as her hunting ground, ambushing prey that commute on it! |
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| After swapping stories with the Mackenzies, James decided to fetch his cameras on the zebra kill and bring them to the eland kill. While approaching the sight, him and his dad got a view of the cub lying by the carcass! The leopards returned in the early evening and devoured the entire carcass in that one night! The images James Mackenzie has provided here were taken the following morning after the leopards had bumped the cameras and moved them. What a beauty! |
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| The blurring of the images are a result of the copious amounts of dew that was deposited the previous night. |
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| Here the mother leopard lies against the pole supporting the camera while she prepares to suckle the cub. This, and the fact that the cub ate very little of the carcass, suggests the cub is less than 3 months old. |
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| Don and his guests, The Slettevoldt's from Pebble Creek, The Harwoods from Bulldozer Creek and I enjoyed a hike with a twist this last long weekend. We started on the Rock Kestrel trail at 15h00 and after getting up there we left the trail and summited Mount Anderson at 17h30, just in time to enjoy a sundowner as the moon rose. Here's the group on the summit at sundown. Photo by Sue Harwood |
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| We began our decent only after the sun had set. The moon had just risen over the summit. The trig beacon can still be seen behind the group.... We did not descend back down to South Valley but rejoined the Rock Kestrel trail and hiked it's full length and arrived back at the office area by 21h00. |
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| We used a spotlight to view game on the return hike. We spotted this Jameson's Red Rock Rabbit which we managed to approach. We also saw Mountain Reedbuck, Grey Rhebok, Eland and a Fiery-necked Nightjar. |
So the hike was a six hour, 12 kilometer hike, half in the day time and the other half in the moon light. Yes, it was great and we will definitely offer them again on future full moons!
That's it for now. We hope to see you all here soon.
