20 Days of Chill / Ultimate Blog Challenge - Four Paws

Welcome back to 20 Days of Chill. Today's prompt is 

Four Paws

At first I was like "Yeah, yeah, P.J. (the host of this challenge) will use this opportunity to talk about his cute puppy girl Harper, and I'm over here with no pet?!"

However, I figured, animals are similar to plants.

How so?

I don't have a green thumb and / or don't take the time to properly take care of planting, potting, watering, fertilizing, weeding and God knows what else it takes to keep them thriving. So I enjoy other people's houseplants, gardens and the stuff that grow outdoors, you know, in public places.

Same goes for animals. If I feel like walking a dog, I have friends I may join. There are cats all over the neighborhood. I like to go and say hello to the ducks and swans at the lake. And you may have thoughts about the concept of zoos, but I like to visit occasionally as it gives me the opportunity to see animals that I would otherwise never get the chance to meet. 

I had a once - OK, twice - in a lifetime opportunity to travel to South Africa.

I have my husband to thank for. His Dad, while born in Switzerland like us, grew up in Cape Town and lived there until he was in his early 20s. My in-laws always saved up so they could visit his old home every five years or so, and we joined them once. 

Since it was my first time, I didn't only want to explore the Cape area, even though it is absolutely gorgeous, and you can easily spend a week or two without getting bored. I wanted to see the Big Five! So we booked a safari at Kruger National Park. This must have been 2005 or 06. I thought it was magical. The nature, the animals, the Southern Hemisphere's starry sky!

A good ten years later, my FIL passed away, and while he didn't leave instructions, we were pretty sure he'd appreciate it if we took half of his ashes to South Africa, and that's what we did.

In the meantime we were three passengers. Colin was seven years old at the time. He enjoyed everything about the trip. Well, everything but the fact that he had to swallow malaria prophylactics. He hated taking a pill every morning, but he got over it!

Speaking of meds. Our guides were called Hamilton and Doctor! They were super kind and knowledgable.

Usually the first animal to encounter, as they are literally everywhere, are impala, and as such called "money backs" ;-)

 

I was talking about the zoo before. Sure, you have seen giraffes there. Maybe you even climbed up to a platform to be at their eye level. Let me tell you, meeting them just on the sidewalk as you drive by is a whole 'nother experience! They are friendly, too and seem to like to have their picture taken.

Which is not the case for zebras, or "Pyjama Donkeys" as our guides jokingly call them. usually they like to turn their bum at you as soon as they feel observed. Can't blame them. Who likes to be stared at during their meal?

I was talking about the Big Five. Do you know what they are?

Openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. 

You're exactly right. Personality traits.

There's another Big Five though.

It's the five African animals that are said to be most difficult to hunt: 

Lion, leopard, buffalo, elephant and rhino.

Let me tell you, leopard and rhino are also the most difficult to even spot! 

This picture was taken by fellow safari tourist 黄启铭, Kai from Hong Kong. He had a fancy camera, not like the rest of us! So grateful he graciously lets me share his fantastic shot with you guys!

People in the other cars told us that the leopard had hunted an impala that was still lying on the ground. Eventually the leopard climbed down, snacked on it and retired back on his branch. We assumed that the prey was too big for him to drag up to the tree house.

Without our guides, we would not have the privilege to meet these two guys either! No thanks to poachers, they are almost extinct.

Being at the very top of the food chain, lions don't have to worry about that. As long as there's prey, they have a good life and reproduce. Look at these cubs! Six of them. Could they be any cuter?

They were 8 or 9 months old, our guides explained. Too young to hunt, so in the morning their Mom told them to stay right there until she got back. And they were being really good babies. Nobody turned on the TV, they did not fight or steal any candy, they were just hanging out, looking at us.

We were told to remain seated and not to make sudden moves. Obviously lions perceive the vehicle as one giant creature, but once the silhouette changes, they get interested and decide to check it out.

So no getting off and petting the lion babies. Can you tell I wanted to?

African sunset and dinnertime for predators. 

Some lions had grabbed an unlucky buffalo and were thoroughly enjoying their late night snack.

The next morning we met our lion cubs again! They were crossing the road even though there was no zebra crossing ;-)

Turned out this time they weren't left home alone. Mommy was with them.

And here's Daddy! He looks hungry. He was probably not invited to the buffalo buffet last night.

He was standing really, really close to our vehicle but didn't seem to be bothered by us. As there wasn't any breakfast in sight, the lion family moved on, and our guides thought it was a good time to get off and enjoy some coffee. Ahem, sure, why not. And it's really safe, right?

I posted this on social media, and a friend commented "I can't believe you got off the vehicle to have coffee. Were you not worried?" 

To which I replied "Nah - I didn't drink the Nescafé!" 

Hahahahaaaa! It's true though.

Wrapping up, did you know, there's also a list of "Ugly Five"? 

Warthog, vulture, wildebeest, marabou stork, hyena. 

I find they deserve our respect and admiration, as some of them do a fantastic - and important -  job cleaning up the other animals' leftovers. 

It's really impressive. 

This is where part two of this post begins. Today's Ultimate Blog Challenge's prompt is to write about a 

Process

One day we came across a giraffe's carcass in the middle of the road. 

Lions may have killed this old or injured giraffe the day before and were done feasting on their best parts. You know, giraffe filet, sirloin, flank and ribeye.

Hyenas are next. Their jaws are extremely strong, and they can easily grind down bones. Lions will not attack hyenas because they're afraid of their bite!

Jackals have been sneaking around patiently, waiting for their turn. Their stomachs aren't as big as the lions' so they are happy with snack sized portions. They'll also take their meal to go. They'll bury some for later. Smart!

Meanwhile, vultures have been circling from above. While they prefer fresh meat, they don't mind (and, thanks to their highly acidic stomach, don't get sick of) decaying creatures that have been dead for a few days.

After the scavenging birds have left, it's the invertebrates' turn. Flies and beetles. What do they do? Flies lay their eggs, which will hatch into maggots. They will eat the remaining meat from the carcass. Beetles and their larvae will finish up the scraps.

We're not done yet.

The lions, hyenas and jackals will eventually poop. Dung beetles process this into balls, which they will roll to a hidden place and bury. It's baby food for the young beetles, and it also helps fertilizing the soil.

The beetles will fly off at night, looking for elephant droppings or other pieces of shit, pardon my language.

By the way, you should always avoid to drive over elephant droppings. Why? They eat leaves and little branches. Lots of them. Basically all day long. At least 18 hours a day until they had about 200kg = 440 pounds of food on average. That's a lot of fibre. 

Now they only fully digest about 40% of their intake. 

Resulting in… You do the math. And the graphic images ;-)

So if you do not want a flat tire, do not drive over it! Beetles and birds will come and munch on it. 

Back to said beetles. As they fly, some may be caught and devoured by bats and birds, who will eventually be eaten by hawks and owls.

How about this for a process?

Our guides took as back to the exact same spot the next day. The giraffe was gone. Nothing left. No bones, no skin parts, nothing. Every creature had done their job - and gotten their food.

If you were an animal, would you rather be a predator or a scavenger?

Let me know.