wildlife

Nap time. Just like the cats that hang out in our homes, lions like to sleep: A lot, up to 20 hours a day. We came upon these females snoozing away in their amusing poses in Chobe National Park, Botswana. The whole pride was scattered out underneath the trees, including a large male.

My first interest in lions was brought about by a song whose opening lyrics are included in my heading. I was 10 and my 17 year-old sister had fallen in love with a navy man whose deployment had taken him off to the coast of Africa. I must have heard the song 50 times, or at least enough to burn it forever into my memory banks. I was a little young to fact-check Nancy, but that was okay, I loved the song. Actually lions do most of their hunting at night or during storms when their prey are more vulnerable. Also, not many live in the jungle. They prefer the more open savanna lands of eastern and southern Africa.

This was one of the males that was responsible for protecting the pride. We often hear how lionesses do most of the hunting and ‘bring home the bacon’ (warthog), to the *king of the jungle*. This is true, but one look at this male persuaded us that his life as protector was far from easy. Check out the large scar running down his side! He earned his food.

The sun was going down when we came on the pride sleeping in the sand, obviously taking advantage of its warmth. There were at least 10 lions enjoying the last rays.

There were two males with the pride. This one seemed to be saying, “Mind if I join you?” Note the female’s swishing tail. More cat language.

The setting sun lit up the lions’ eyes. Peggy and I were thinking, “These are kitties we do not want to disturb.”

Would you?

Female lions are excellent hunters. This photo suggests one of the reasons why. In addition to impressive teeth, they can run up to 50 miles per hour and weigh upwards to 350 pounds. We had just watched this lioness hunting. Her yawn suggested that perhaps it was nap time.

Shortly after we took this photo, she made a brief dash after something we couldn’t see and she didn’t catch.

Settling down (before the yawn), she was still on high alert.

We came across a lion that was working its way through a young elephant in Chobe. Malibu storks waited patiently for the lion to leave.

Another lion invited herself to the meal…

Check out the ears on the lion that had been enjoying its meal. If you have a cat, you know that means “I don’t think so.” A lightning fast paw may follow.

So she stalked off past another safari vehicle that had also stopped to watch the action. Is that a hungry look she is focusing on the occupants?

Which brings us to this magnificent fellow that I have already introduced in another post. He was about to give himself a bath. Note the size of his paws.

Like any cat, it started with his tongue!

First, he had to get his washcloth wet, i.e. lick his paws.

And washed each side of his face. I thought this could have been titled: “Oh no, not another blog about me!”

While we are on the post featuring big cats, I have one more:

We were driving down one of the roads through Chobe National Park when we came across these interesting tracks. Our guide explained that a leopard had killed an antelope (probably an impala) and dragged it across the road. The fact that there were no tire tracks over the trail suggested it was very recent. We stared into the bush to see if we could spot the leopard and its meal. No luck. In fact, we would be lucky to see a leopard on our trip at all, the guide noted.

The next evening as we were heading out of the park, he got a call and told us he had a treat, not explaining what. It turned out that a leopard had been spotted.

It didn’t seem particularly bothered by our presence, but it did roll over and face away from us…

A final shot. Next post: The striking fish eagle and a visitor from our trip up the Nile a year ago, the Egyptian goose.

This magnificent fellow was probably the bull of the herd, and proud of it! He was surrounded by some of his lady friends.

A blog quickie…

Peggy gets excited when she sees elk. So it’s not surprising that she multiplied the number she saw by 10. I can also get quite excitable. Roosevelt Elk are the largest members of six subspecies of elk in North America. Bulls can weigh up to 1100 pounds! Once, they were close to extinct in California. Today, there are seven herds in and around the Redwoods. The largest herd numbers 250. Most are closer to the size we saw. It was conveniently located in someone’s yard. I drove in so Peggy could take photos.

Elk herd near the Redwoods in Northern California.

There were probably 30 elk altogether.

I was impressed by the antlers shown here...

Peggy was impressed by the antlers shown here…

elk with large racks near the Redwoods in Northern California

So she took a close up. Given the season, I figured that Santa could turn to these fellows if his Reindeer refused to fly.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer on strike. Xmas card by Curtis Mekemson.

Red-nosed reindeer goes on strike. (card by Curt Mekemson.)

The real deal: Alaskan Caribou. (Photo by Peggy Mekemson.)

If this guy were a blacktail deer, we would call him a spike. I don't think I would want him mad at me!

If this guy were a black tail deer, we would call him Spike. I don’t think I would want him mad at me! The marks on his back suggest he has been nibbling at itches.