With only just over two hours of the afternoon left Warren and I decided to pop into the Park. Deciding to stick to the tar road that goes to Pambeni we were hoping to see....mmmmm whatever Mother Nature has on offer for the day! Noticing a few cars stopped up the sand road, we followed suit and there it was...or rather, there they were, Wild Dog. A rarity indeed!
Lyacaon Pictus or The African Wild Dog, means a "painted wolf like animal". I love their coats which looks as though the artist has very carelessly daubed their coats with lots of brown, black and cream paint inno particular order or pattern. They remind me of paintings I have seen of the Nguni cattle and their beautiful coats. Maybe they would look rather wonderful, done in fabric! An interesting challenge indeed.
The Wild dog's ears are big and round and rather attractive.
They move around in packs looking for dinner which usually consists of small antelope and there are lots of impala on this road. In turn, the dogs are afraid of lion and spotted hyaena. The dogs hunt their prey and bite at the victim while on the run, with everyone partaking in the feast. If their are babies back in the den then food will be regurgitated once the adults return to base.
The pack we came across consisted of about seventeen adults and seven or eight pups. We were able to keep up with them for about three kilometers while they ran, stopped and rolled, sniffed, chewed on whatever, regurgitated, pooped and peeed. It was a most amazing experience.
Evidently the dogs give off an unpleasant odour which fortunately I never experienced. I tended to meep my window rolled up as we were so close to them. I really did not need one of them to jump up and have a nibble of my arm!!
They just never co operated for a group photie as they each did their own thing. Cameras were clicking and my point and push camera worked overtime. A very excited woman in a car next to us said she took over a hundred photos. What a treat and what a wonderful sighting.
You just never know what awaits you in Kruger Park. It is all about LUCK and Timing.
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