That first morning the wake-up-call came early, very early. It was still dark, it was chilly bordering cold, and there were no televisions, or radios or local weather channel reports. “So what?” you ask. Well, there I stand in my rondoval without a daily weather report, mentally struggling with wardrobe options so as to dress wisely for the upcoming day and its activities. How cold was it now? How hot would it get? Was it going to rain? Would it be overcast, with the possibilities of a shower, or a brilliant sun with a cloudless sky and searing heat? Gulp! We had 45 minutes to dress, prepare and eat breakfast, and then make our way to the Meerkat burrow before they emerged to face the warm, morning sun.
The answer to dressing was, “Dress for the moment, but have room in your backpack for discarded items, when the temperature rises, or additional clothing if it cools off.” And that was the plan for each and every day that followed.
After a quick bite we all pile back into the Land Cruiser and head out, to the Rus en Vrede farm, driving through the reserve and not needing to be seat belted in. Seat belts are a requirement off the reserve and on the main roads shared with locals and farmers. More on the roads later.
This morning’s visit to the burrows had the six of us divided into two groups, with one group going to Whiskers, the other group visiting the Lazuli. I was going to the Whisker’s burrow along with Jack and David. (I was quietly jumping up and down inside my head!) Actually, I was screaming inside of my head and I was sure everyone else could hear. But, no one seemed to notice, so I started practicing the “hmmm-hmmm-humm” habituation call. Hey, I wanted to be prepared and not scare the Whiskers into next month! But then everyone kept asking me if I needed water, and I realized that I was scaring the other Earthwatch volunteers, so I stopped making the habituation sounds.
Once we arrived at the farm house, we were introduced to the researcher that would be taking us to the Whisker’s burrow, Dave Bell, and he then informed us that we would be walking to the burrow. Walking? Yikes! Did he really just say we were walking? Wait, there are vehicles available, I can see them, they are right over there, off the porch under the car port. I need to get a little closer just to be sure of what I heard. Yep, we are walking. Okay, I can do this. But the desert looks so vast and the dirt road that we are headed for appears to extend, in either direction, for miles. Okay, just breathe.
The walking turned out to be way easier than I could ever have anticipated. It is flat, for the most part, the pace is moderate, and the finish line is the Whisker’s burrow. The Whisker’s burrow, how cool is that? As the days progressed, and the body and mind adjusted, the walking became a pleasure.
For the first visit to the burrow, the walk was relatively short, since they had bedded down in a burrow very close to the farm house the previous evening. We arrived before the Meerkats were up, which was the plan. Now, waiting at the burrow as the sun was beginning to rise, we had the opportunity to witness the beauty of the sky and the landscape as it came into focus, in the pink twinge of morning light. And just then, for a brief moment, a head appeared taking a quick look around in all directions, then “poof”, quickly disappeared back down into the burrow entrance. The heads, bobbing up and down in the burrow entrances, would repeat itself several more times before it was deemed warm enough to finally get the troops up and out of the burrow.
When the Meerkats finally did emerge, they stood facing the sun, some a bit more unsteady on their feet than others. And then, there was Ella, standing on tip-toes scanning the horizon and checking the sky for hungry aerial predators.
My first impression of Ella, the new dominate female, was a very positive one. She is a beauty. And, she is large for a female, weighing in at a weight usually associated with a male, and the researchers have noticed this too. So I was laughing as Ella was refusing to get into the scale for the morning weigh in. (You go girl!) Weight is just a number and doesn’t define who you are.
Okay, for a meerkat it just might. It seems that once a meerkat becomes a dominate male or female, there is a hormonal change, a change that allows them to become larger and heavier than the other meerkats. This being said, Ella was still having nothing to do with the scale box, or the researcher’s coaxing with water and crumbled egg. Finally, Dave (Bell) the researcher, started to reach for Ella to lift her by the base of the tail onto the scale. The look that she gave him was monumental! Um, maybe more like murderous. So, being the wise field researcher that he is, Dave decided to list Ella’s weight as “refused to be weighed.” I’m going to try that at my next doctor office visit!
While the Meerkats were sunning themselves, and still yawning, it was the perfect opportunity for Dave to refresh their dye marks. After everyone had finished warming up, and taking their turn on the scale and receiving their spa treatment, it was time to move out.
The Whiskers had a very productive morning of foraging. We made a huge circle and ended up very close to where we had started out five hours earlier.
Axel has proven himself as a reliable sentry and excellent forager. He is a very healthy and alert Whisker male. I watched, and photographed, as he demonstrated his skill at cleaning off the bitter taste from millipedes’ outer skin and his success at defending his meal from Rhogan Josh. Axel and Rhogan Josh both scaled, and guarded from, the very sharp camel thorn bush that grows almost everywhere! Yes, I will share those amazing photos. Axel also submitted to Wollow, who appears to be assuming the “dominate male” position, since Machu Pichu’s brush with a snake. Although he survived the snake bite he is no longer with the group. (In the days to come we will see him again – more on that later.)
Busta is ill. He has lost almost half his weight and often stops to rest while the others continue to forage. At the time of our expedition he had not been diagnosed with tuberculoses and he was not presenting with any swellings or lumps. Busta was still alive and keeping up with the Whiskers on the last day we say them. Nugget and Beaker did some play fighting and then came Juno, Marico, Oriole and Sabota! These guys were “all” play, all the time, and loving every minute of being young. Rufus was also spotted doing guard duty, on and off in a very thorny bush, but did manage to forage and fend off drongos.
The most surprising event of the morning was the encounter with the Forked-Tailed Drongos. They are a shiny sleek, medium sized, very black bird with red eyes. Most are banded, colored bands attached to their legs, and are also part of an ongoing study at the reserve. But this morning, we felt as if “they” were the ones, studying “us”.
As I was watching what Ella was doing, I felt a rush of air by my ear and turned, to come face to face, with a forked-tailed drongo. Just hovering in place and staring at me. But Ella had caught a scorpion and the crunching sound had the drongo moving out to hover above Ella. The Meerkats basically ignore the birds. But because it was a really good foraging patch, and the crunching sounds must have carried, a “flock” of forked-tailed drongos were assembling in a nearby shrub. Then, they decided to give the Earthwatchers another once over and started literally getting in our faces. It was interesting. Okay, interesting only if you hadn’t seen the original Alfred Hitchcock’s movie “The Birds”. Dave radioed, to the researcher who is studying the birds, to let them know how many had congregated and where.
All in all it was an amazing first morning and I really didn’t want to head back in for lunch. But, the Meerkats had all been weighed, again, to get their mid-day weights after foraging, and it was time to head back to the farm house.
After lunch and a brief nap, we reassembled in the farm house to meet with Sophie and learn what was to come next, in our ongoing Earthwatch adventure. The rest of the afternoon would be spent learning how to operate the GPS handheld units and gathering for yet another delicious dinner and great conversation.
As I prepared for bed that night, I couldn’t believe how fast the day had gone, and how early 6:00 the following morning would be arriving. Honestly, I was tired, but I fell asleep with a smile on my face and Ella and Wollow and crew all appearing in my dreams. That was a good night!
Click here for next installment: Who's been sleeping in my burrow?
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Человек должен делать то что он захочет несмотря на личные обстоятельства и опасности потому что это основной принцип морали человека
Мы сделаем это не потому что это легко а потому что это трудно
Ужели скажите весь мир наш таков
Нельзя нам прожить всю жизнь без врагов
Кто дорогою идёт
К кому дорога приведёт
Если угодно будет судьбе
Враг и не скроет кто он тебе
Но если вдруг решит он подсластится
Котёночком он сможет притворится
Тогда держись дружок держись
За что держись ? Естественно за жизнь
На явных смотриш ты бестрашней
Но тайные враги опасней
Стихотворная характеристика моего знака Зодиака
Венера и луна вошли в его ментальность
Чувствительность и вкус чуть-чуть синтиментальность
Да он упрям да лезет напролом
зато дилентатизм вот это не о нём
Трудолюбив и терпелив
Надёжен Постоянен справедлив
Однако и консервативен и к сожалению ревнив
Советов умных ему можно не давать
Он их не слушает и вряд ли будет исполнять
Но присмотритесь вот они Тельцы
Воители Вожди и Мудрецы
Шекспир Мария Медичи и Робеспьер и Кромвель
Бальзак Брамс Фрейд про Ленина мы помним
Делакруа и Трумен и Екатерина
Довольно странная наметилась картина
Смешались все и так через века
Идёт Телец с упрямостью быка
Нет нет он в общем-то миролюбив
По пустякам невздорен не гневлив
Но бойся если рядом друг Телец
Когда терпению его придёт конец
Он двести раз попробует на зуб
Совсем не потому что туп Телец и глуп
А потому что перед каждым шагом
Ему сто раз себя проверить надо
И с памятью Тельцу чертовски повезло
Он долго помнит и добро и зло
Ах! Милый мой я признаюсь
Люблю тебя и чуточку боюсь
И один человек может что-то изменить но попробовать должен каждый
