Shot of the Month – May 2009

This image captures a life-and-death struggle – at least for the frog.  I almost missed this epic battle – we originally stopped the vehicle to observe the spectacle of a hawk plucking and dining on a bird it had recently caught.  After watching the hawk for a few minutes I started to scan the horizon – I have learned over the years that any time you stop, always take the opportunity to take in the 360° around you.  You never know what you might find.

As I looked behind the vehicle, off in the distance I saw a group of Southern Ground Hornbills approaching.  These large birds, about the size of turkeys, travel in groups of 2 to 7 and spend much of their time walking along looking to eat any small reptile, insect, or mammal they might scare up.  The ground hornbill stumbled upon this frog and prepared to have lunch.

But the frog was not going down without a fight.  If you look closely you will see that the frog has inflated himself.  In this state the bird cannot swallow him – the frog is too big.  Undeterred, the hornbill threw the frog to the ground and pecked at him a few times.  He was trying to poke a hole in the frog’s skin so the “frog balloon” could not fill with air!

He picked the frog up.  The frog puffed himself up again.  No luck.

Try again.  Peck.  Peck.  Peck.  Pick up the frog.  Inflate.

Peck.  Peck.  Peck.  Inflate.  Peck.  Peck.  Peck.  Inflate.

This marathon battle lasted a good 5 to 7 minutes.  Alas, at last, all the pecking had taken its toll on the frog and he could no longer inflate himself.  Ironically, just as this happened, one of the other ground hornbills in the group walked over, snatched up the frog off the ground, tossed him in the air, and swallowed him whole.  Gulp.

The interloper had snatched defeat (or in this case, “defrog”) from the jaws of victory.

(moan)  🙂

Shot of the Month – April 2009

Ever had friends come over to the house and they just wouldn’t leave?  You just wanted to go to bed but they just keep chatting away, having a grand ol’ time.  The look on the hippo’s face reminds me of that exasperated feeling.

“Shhh, don’t look, but are they gone yet?”

So, what is going on here?  Why is this hippo out on land?  Why by himself?  And why covered in, uh, birds?

I came upon this hippopotamus near the Luangwa River in South Luangwa National Park, Zambia.  This gigantic male is lying on a sandy flood plain above the water surface – in the rainy season he would actually be underwater, but at this time, during the dry season, the river has descended into its deepest channel and is a good 20 feet below where he is resting.

Why is he out on land?  Turns out it is not as uncommon as most postcard images would have us think.  Every evening hippos emerge from the water and walk up to five miles to graze on short grass across the countryside.  Hippos will also bask in the sun during the day for short periods (gotta break up all that napping somehow).

Why is he by himself?  Although the classic African scene is that of a group of hippos, a “pod” for those of you keeping track, lounging along the river’s edge, it turns out that hippos are not social animals.  They do not develop social bonds with the other members of the pod and scientists don’t really know why they huddle together.  Perhaps, they are just following the old adage of “safety in numbers.”

And why is he covered with birds?  These are Red-billed Oxpeckers.  Despite the somewhat annoyed look on the hippo’s face, he actually welcomes their presence as they provide a valuable service.  Oxpeckers pick off ticks and other annoying insects that can’t be reached otherwise.

But there is more to this story.  Hippos are very aggressive and males often fight each other for dominance.  If you look closely this huge male is covered in fresh, open wounds.  My hunch is that he was in a vicious brawl the night before and didn’t fare too well.  Exhausted, bloodied, and bruised he took refuge up on the raised bank of the river to rest and heal in peace.  The oxpeckers, looking for a free meal, will continually check the wounds for insects and help keep them pest-free.  Everybody wins, right?

Well, some scientists now believe that the oxpeckers, in fact, may also peck at the wounds to keep them open so they can drink the blood directly, thereby delaying the healing process.  So, depending on the situation, the hippo-ox pecker relationship may be “symbiotic” and in other situations “parasitic.”

Or in less zoological terms, sometimes oxpeckers act like Florence Nightingales (get it?) and other times they act like feathered vampires.  At this point, no one knows for sure where the truth lies.

Life is complicated……

Shot of the Month – March 2009

You gotta respect the attitude of this colorful fellow.  It’s as if he is glancing over at us and cooling asking “And what, exactly, are you doing on my rock?”  This would be attitude a la Agama – agama lizard to be precise.

Unlike many creatures on my website, agama lizards are far from being endangered.  I have seen them in Gabon in West Africa, in Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa, and in most places in between.  There are 31 species of agama lizard spread out across Africa.

In my first visit to Africa, as a Peace Corps volunteer, we called them the “push-up lizards.”  Why?  Well, the males, that would be the colorful ones, have this habit of running hither and thither, stopping abruptly,  and for what seemed to be for no apparent reason would start to do push-ups.  Of course, we all know now that this is all about boys being boys – the males were trying to show off to the lady lizards and/or scare off rival males.  By bobbing up and down they were trying to appear larger than they really are.

Agama lizards live in a very hierarchical world.  In a given space the most colorful agama will be the dominant male or “cock.”  Subordinate males adopt a dull brown color.  A dominant male can have up to six females in his territory for breeding.  We’ve all seen lizards splayed on rocks basking in the sun–even this has its rules in Agama land.  You will find the dominant male at the highest position on the rock, followed next by the sub-males, and lowest on this literal totem pole you will find the females.

Male agama lizards will fight each other to hold or take over a territory.  A challenger will present himself in full splendid Technicolor  – a visual cue that he is here to rumble.  It is a scene many of us can recall from high school dances or from often repeated scenes at the local bar.  First, the two rival males make eye contact – brows furrow.  Soon there is a lot of huffing and puffing at a safe distance.  Then the head bobbing thing.  Then full body push-ups.  If the challenger has not fled away or returned back to monochromatic servitude then the dominant male will charge closer to within a few inches.  More bobbing.  Finally the two charge each other, and then, well, and then they flip around in opposite directions.  Have they lost their nerve?  No, facing away from each other, tail to tail, allows the sword, uh, tail fighting to begin.  They lash at each other until one is sufficiently pummeled and flees.  Apparently, some biting can also occur, but that seems rather unmanly to me.

So there you have it, the glorious, albeit ridiculous, agama lizard – the life form that high school jocks come back as in their next life.  (For those who believe in reincarnation)

Until next month… 🙂

Shot of the Month – February 2009

This month I offer a scene emblematic of the primary holiday of the season (sorry to disappoint all you Ground Hog Day fans) – Valentine’s Day.

In this romantic scene, we have the male Kori Bustard courting a female.  As part of the courtship, he provided her with a steady stream of grasshoppers.  He seemed quite adept at this as I saw him give her 3 tasty morsels in just a few minutes.  Apparently, some males offer snakes as large as 2.5 feet in length as gifts!

Kori Bustards have dramatic courtship rituals where the male will stand straight as an arrow on the top of a small hill and inflate his esophagus to create a brilliant white plume around his neck, as shown on the left.

Shot of the Month – January 2009

If you look at this photo and go “Whoa! This guy is scary!” then I have succeeded.

I chose this shot because I feel that it best captures the seething danger embodied by the Cape Buffalo (CB).

Let me repeat,

C-a-p-e   B-u-f-f-a-l-o.

Not water buffalo.

While these animals may look similar, they are two very different creatures.  The water buffalo lives in Asia, not Africa, is slightly larger, and has been domesticated.  Only about 4,000 wild water buffalo exist in the world and they are declining fast.  There are however about 140,000,000 domesticated water buffalo gently wandering around India (over half live there), Nepal, Pakistan, Bhutan, and Thailand.  These animals have been domesticated for over 5,000 years and are used by farmers to toil fields and provide essential meat and milk to humans.  Their dung can be used as fertilizer and fuel when dried.

Cape buffalos live only in Africa, have never been domesticated, and many consider them to be one of the most dangerous animals in the world.  CBs have the honor of being one of the “Big Five” – a phrase used by big game hunters to describe the most difficult and dangerous animals to hunt on foot.  Many hunters consider the CB to be the most dangerous of this illustrious group.  The reason why?  Well, let’s imagine that you are a hunter who shoots a Cape buffalo but the injury is not fatal.  Most wounded animals would do their best to hide in the bush or slink away and recover.  Not the Cape buffalo.  Well, he will sneak away into the bush – not to hide, but to begin his assault on you.  He will stalk you.  He will follow you.  He may circle back on the trail and ambush you from a different direction.  He won’t stop until he has gored you or stomped you to death.  The hunter becomes the hunted.

So, uh, avoid ticking off a Cape buffalo.

Counter to what you might think, if you were walking through the bush and stumbled upon a herd of buffalo you would most likely be safe.  Cape buffalo feel safe and confident when in a herd so they do not feel the need to charge unless seriously provoked.  It is the lone buffalo that you need to worry about.  Male buffalo get irritable as they get old (like many of their human counterparts) and typically will leave the herd and live a solitary life.  If you find a buffalo on his own he may be injured, sick, or in the case of old males, just plain cranky.  Regardless of the cause, a lone buffalo will feel insecure and threatened when encountered and will often lash out.  Stay very, very clear of a lone buffalo.

Cape buffalo are fierce fighters and when attacked often respond as a unified force.  There are many reports of herds of buffalo fighting off hunting lions.  One such scene has been caught in a now-famous YouTube video.  Click here to see the luckiest Cape buffalo calf in the world:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8DDYz68kM

Bonus:  A reward for those of you who stuck it out to the end of this missive.  Here is the list of the “Big Five” (I know it has been driving you crazy).  In no particular order:

1. Lion
2. Leopard
3. Rhino
4. Elephant
5. Cape Buffalo

Happy New Year!