MANAGERS REPORT

Dear Friends

As we are nearing the end of another summer season, one can see the changes of autumn on the Tamboti trees in the camp. The leaves on the Tamboti tree turn into spectacular colours of red, orange and yellow falling to the ground later as winter approaches. This leaves a breathtaking tricoloured blanket on the floor, announcing a rest period for Mother Nature, during winter, where she will lie and wait for the next season of rain and sunshine to repaint the dull earth, with lush green vegetation again, which in return brings life to all other living species.

This month has brought some very exciting and interesting game sightings, as laid out by the ranger team below. Game viewing in the Madikwe reserve has been consistently very good with many special sightings this season.

Staff

Our staff member of the month award for March goes to two people this month. Sam and Johannes is not just a formidable force out in the bush on game drive, but is also worth their weight in gold when it comes to bush clearing and other maintenance tasks around the camp. Well done to a great team effort.

                                                    

Special event

We where very fortunate this month to host “one of our directors” Mr Louis Kruger’s birthday at Madikwe Hills. I have known him for the past 10 years now and can truly say that he is a remarkable and inspirational man. He celebrated his 80^th birthday with his wife, children and grand children at the lodge. We wish him a prosperous year and many more to come. 

Rangers Report March 2009

Jaco

Snake odyssey

It is now the end of March and autumn is well underway here in Madikwe. The grass is starting to turn yellow and some of the trees are beginning to acquire their autumn colours in the most spectacular way. However it won’t be until end of May I suspect until the full beauty and splendour of the trees will be revealed. We had good rains up until now and every little plant is trying to grow until the last moment. There is also a clear change in the daily temperatures as well. The days are still pleasant and hot with temperatures ranging from about 28°C-32°C. During late afternoon things are starting to cool down where evenings and early mornings are quite chilly. Luckily the sun warms us up very quickly in the morning once it breaks the horizon.  This time of the year is also the time for…, yip you dreaded it, SNAKES!!! Snakes are now probably at their most active. They need to find allot of food to build up their fat reserves in order to survive their winter hibernation. They are literally everywhere and not a day goes by without seeing one species or the other. Most species are harmless, but some are more sinister and are also out looking for food. Dangerous snakes are usually shy and secretive but sometimes, inevitably, our paths cross and when it does it ensures for some adrenalin pumping action and some very nervous and anxious humans. After all nothing can stir the prime evil pot of fear of a human like the serpent.

        

I had a couple of close calls this month, way too close!!! I was busy working in the workshop one morning when mobbing calls from a group of starlings drew my attention. At first I didn’t think much of it, but after a while the noise was very irritating and I decided to go and have a look. I saw the dead tree they were all sitting in and thought to myself what it could be that was bothering them so much. Cautiously I approached to see what was going on. I didn’t see any lions or leopard so my thoughts turned to snake. I walked around the tree but couldn’t see anything. All of a sudden my eyes focussed on that dreaded smile. I stood frozen like a pillar when a realized what was staring me in the face not 3 feet away. In the tree at eye level a 3m Black Mamba was looking me straight in the eye with body in the defence position. I realized that one wrong move from my side would provoke him. These snakes are deadly and shy and because he didn’t move away when I approached meant that he was standing his ground and means business to defend himself and his position. I ever so slowly started retreating making sure that the snake didn’t get a fright. If this should happen he would strike at me. A bite from a snake this big would kill you within the hour. Finally after what seemed like hours I got back to a safe distance and I could see the snake relaxing. My whole body was trembling from the effects of the adrenalin and I had to sit down to recover myself. I reflected a bit on my brush with this deadly legend. He is not called the “Black Death” for nothing you know.

                 

That little encounter was enough to last me a lifetime but soon afterwards I was called to the staff village to come and remove a Puff adder from behind some crates very close to where a lot of people stayed. We removed as much of the crates as I could and saw the tail of the snake behind the last crate. I tried to pull the crate away to expose the snake so that we could remove it safely with the snake tongs. But as I started pulling the crate I could feel some weight to it and then this thud against the side of the crate. I realized that the snake was not behind, but inside the crate and that it actually striked at me missing my hand by inches. We finally managed to get the snake out of the crate and took it into the bush where we released it. It was about 1m long and roughly 4kg in weight I judged as I carried it away in a box, very big for this species. Puff adders possess very potent cytotoxic venom that attacks muscle and connective tissue and causes severe necrosis and eventually gangrene if not treated immediately. If that size snake managed to hit my hand chances were that I would have lost it eventually. This was my second close call and I hoped I didn’t get the third time lucky.

Sure enough one afternoon on game drive we were cruising along the plains looking for some general game when everybody shouted as one man: “Stop, snake”. In the road right in front of us I saw it. A big Mozambique Spitting Cobra raised upright with his hood spread wide in self defence. I slammed the brakes so hard that my tracker nearly fell of the vehicle. Flying of the front seat and giving a spitting cobra a Butch James tackle was never a good idea. My tracker Simon clinged on and prevented an awkward and dangerous situation with a very venomous snake. They possess a cocktail of cytotoxic and neurotoxic venom amongst others and can spit it at your eyes very accurately at 2m. Once in your eyes it can cause severe damage or even blindness if you receive no medical attention. I got out the car to see if I could maybe convince him to leave the road with a long stick. With sunglasses on (they spit venom at your eyes remember) I approached him and tried to gently ease him of the road. The snake just stood still watching me intently and I could see that he wasn’t in any confrontational mood. I decide to take some pictures while I had the chance and he didn’t even spit at me once (phew…). After a little while he dropped his hood and made a very quick getaway into the tall grasses. That was the third time and thank goodness I didn’t get lucky or unlucky.   

Nicholas Crouch    

Elephants in the darkness

On an afternoon game drive we arrived at a beautiful dam in the northern part of the reserve. On arrival it was nightfall and we encountered two separate herds of elephants approaching the dam. Elephants were on the top of the list for my guests so they were naturally excited which made me excited as well, considering we had been in search of elephants for two days. I positioned my vehicle in safe viewing area and the elephants arrived, at first nervous about my presences as they had a lot of young calf’s. They soon relaxed and settled in, not just for a drink but a swim as well. They completely submerged themselves under the water, splashing, and trumpeting full of joy. One of the females caught our attention at a muddy section of the dam, she loosened the mud with her feet and tusks, then sat down and rolled over onto her side preparing for a good wallow. This elephant moved in such a way I thought was impossible for a four ton animal covering every inch of her body in mud, truly amazing. Unfortunately it was getting dark so no photographs were taken but a photograph could not describe the flexibility of this gigantic animal. This sighting was photographed in the mind and sent to the archives of the heart, forever.

Jacques

Greetings from the bushveld.

 

My start at Madikwe Hills has been an amazing one. We have had plenty of rain and the bush is beautiful! Myself and Victor (my tracker) have had some amazing sightings over the past month ranging from the very rare Pangolin to the highly endangered Wild Dogs! We have some locals at the lodge that keep us entertained when we are not out on drive, Willie the Wildebeest, hanging around the staff village, Steve the Rock Monitor who made himself comfortable in a hollow log at reception and Stompie the tame Tree Squirrel running all over the lodge.

       

The one sighting that stood out for me this month, was the Cheetah male jumping on a bent tree and sent marking. Cheetahs like to scent mark on elevated places like termite mounds and fallen tree trunks. It was great to see one actually doing it and best of all he went on to pose for pictures for the next 15 minutes before deciding to jump of and be on his way

 

 

      

 Sam

Wild dogs of Madikwe

Of all the animals of Madikwe none are probably so special to see than the wild dogs. These super predators are not only endangered but some of the best hunters in the world. They kill as much as 80% of everything that they set their sights on where as lions can only muster maybe 30%. According to the IUCN red list of threatened species only between 3000 and 5000 of these animals can still be found in the wild

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The wild dogs have not been seen for almost a week and lots of people were working very hard to try and locate them. After some long and hard tracking we found the big pack of 17 wild dog’s busy hunting. It was still early morning so they are still very active looking for some food. We followed these animals for almost an hour and a half when they came across a warthog that just got out of his burrow. They looked interested, but you could see that they knew that they didn’t stand a chance. Even though a big pack like this is more than capable of killing a full grown zebra, warthogs are very powerful and razor sharp tusks can quickly spell the end for any unlucky or over enthusiastic wild dog. Luckily sense won over hunger and they left the warthog alone to continue their hunt for more familiar and less dangerous prey. As we came around the corner we saw that all of them are in stalking mode and that is when we noticed a herd of wildebeest with two youngsters heading in their direction

        

The wildebeests noticed them and stopped, glaring at them nervously. The wild dogs attacked running into the herd to try and separate a calf from the herd and they scattered in all directions. All of a sudden a huge lioness came charging out of the bush running straight towards one of the wild dogs. That wild dog saw the big yellow cat just in time and made a turbo charged escape leaving the lioness in a dust storm of panic.

 

 

                                               

In the confusion the wildebeest youngster came too close to the lioness and she seized her opportunity to catch it right in front of us. That little close encounter was too much for the wild dogs as they decided to high tail it out of there, leaving the lioness with her prize. After the dust settled the lioness settled to feed and I could hear over the radio that the wild dogs where already over a kilometre away. Good decision from their side.

                                                           

This was a perfect example of how these predators will try to seize every moment to try and kill each other. They don’t do it for food but it is all linked to competition. If lions can kill any of the other predators they come across it means more food for the future. That is the way it is and always will be. What an amazing morning, one that will stick with me for a very long time indeed.Dear Friends and Colleagues.

Regards

The Rangers Team