Super MOM!! A mongoose rescue

Yesterday, I was sitting at the lab tent table, minding my own business, eating lunch. All of a sudden, I saw something streak by a meter away from me. It was obviously our resident slender mongoose but it was carrying a large ball of some sort. I immediately thought she was carrying a baby and got very excited to have her reproducing but, by this time, she was long gone so I went back to eating. Until I began to hear a strange noise, coming from the bushes that the mongoose had run out from. It was a noise I had never heard before, so I went to investigate. Lo and behold! I found this little guy!
He was sitting there calling for his mom incessantly.
I kept an eye on him and sure enough, Mom came dashing to the rescue!
She picked him up,
and whisked him away to safety!

New Neighbors

There’s often debate among the Fisi Camp researchers as to which camp, Talek or Serena, is best. While I won’t get into the specific pros and cons of each, I do think that a lion family looking to move into camp must reflect the desirability of that particular camp. Such is the case with Serena.

It all started yesterday around noon. I was sitting at our dining table just in front of the lab tent, doing some light reading, when I heard the snorting of impala out on the plain just below camp. No big deal. A few minutes later I saw, out of the corner of my eye, the long, tan legs of an animal strolling into camp about 35m away from me. My first thought was that an impala had wandered into camp, which would make it the first I had ever seen actually IN camp. Taking a closer look, I noticed very large paws and a long, swishing tail. Not an impala, but a full-grown female lion. Not quite the same thing.

She came to a stop about 22m from me and, looking at me the whole time, half sat down in a way not unlike a housecat that’s preparing to spring upon an unsuspecting toy. Perhaps I was this lion’s unsuspecting toy. She continued to stare at me while I sat there wondering what options I had (not many). At the time there was only one other person in camp, Moses, one of our all-purpose staff guys. Luckily, he was sitting down at the kitchen tent, so I called out to him, “Moses? SIMBA.” Yes, just like in “The Lion King”, “simba” really means “lion” in Swahili. Moses, previously unaware of the situation, crouched down and peered around the corner of the kitchen tent and saw the lion. “Ah, she is hunting.” Not shocking, but not the words I hoped to hear from him.

Hearing Moses, the lion turned her gaze from me and looked in his direction. Then back at me. I was just preparing to slowly stand and back into the lab tent when she stood up, turned, and walked out of camp the way she had come. Crisis averted…


Around 5:30pm yesterday I was again doing some light reading at the lab tent while Moses did the same down at the kitchen tent. Needing a break, I stood up and walked to the rocks near the fire pit (just in front of the lab tent also) to have a look out onto the plain. Suddenly, I heard Moses say, “LION, LION” in a loud whisper. I ducked down and looked to see the same female walking past the kitchen tent just 5m from Moses. She walked around the tent, skirted the brush at the edge of camp (just 20m from me), and paused to lie down and stretch at the storage tent before leaving camp through the brush again. Not good to have a lion hanging around/in camp for the day.

After two close encounters I was a little disappointed to have not been able to take any photos. At the same time, I didn’t want to be one of those people you’d read about in the news who watched through the lens as a lion ran up and put the hurt on me. But, as you’ll see, I was able to get a few photos after all (otherwise this would just be a long, boring story for you all).


I reached the safety of my tent trouble-free last night and slept soundly, as usual. I awoke this morning, around 6:45am, to the sound of light footsteps on the leaves near my tent. As a group of dik diks likes to sleep in camp at night, I naturally assumed it was one of them. Since it was close, I decided to sit up and have a good look at it out my window. Again I was fooled. It was not a dik dik, but the same female lion, walking just 5m from my tent. This time she was trailed by two small cubs. The three of them circled my tent, just 2-3m away the whole time, and then started to walk back to the woods at the edge of camp. As they were walking away the female caught the sound of Moses unzipping his tent and she paused, growling. She stared Moses down in obvious maternal defense mode. Like yesterday, Moses crouched down behind the tent. The female and one cub continued walking to the edge of camp, where she again stopped to stare at Moses. At the same time, on the opposite side of the tent, I heard a high-pitched squeak. I went to the window and looked, and there was the second little cub, apparently lost and calling for its mom. After about 10 seconds the cub regained its wits and ran around my tent and off to reunite with its mom. Together again, the three of them walked into the woods and away from the tents.


It’s been 2 hours now without seeing them, but it’s a safe bet that they’re not far. I’ll certainly be taking great care not to get myself between mom and cub as I walk around camp today. It’s funny to think though, as I look out onto the plain, off all the tourists driving endlessly in search of lions (they always want to see lions and cheetahs) when we’re here in camp and the lions come right to us (whether we like it or not).

Sorry for the long-windedness, but I hope the photos make up for it. I apologize for the quality; they were shot through my window screen and I was not about to step out of my tent for a better shot.

Hyena Playtime

A few weeks ago, just as the migration was starting to show up, the hyenas worked themselves up into a bit of a frenzy for a few days. We had some crazy mornings with 2-3 kills a morning and some massive border patrols. One morning, we were out for our usual morning obs and came across a few hyenas in the morning darkness. We followed them and realized we had our work cut out for us when they joined a group of thirty hyenas. We automatically assumed that they were gearing up for another border patrol. As the sun came up and I mentally prepared myself for a difficult morning of data collection, the hyenas began trailing off in a line in typical border patrol fashion. They crossed the nearby lugga, began social sniffing and pasting all over the place, and then, much to my surprise, crossed the lugga again, went right back to where they had started, and began sacking out. A few hyenas seemed interested in a herd of zebra and some even made a few convincing lunges but, before we knew it, they were all play romping.

Usually play romping is done by cubs at the den so we were pretty surprised to see subadults and adults running around acting like children. The sheer number of hyenas playing was impressive to see. Even our oldest hyena, Navajo, got in on the play time.

Old and New Favorites

Awhile ago I wrote a blog professing my undying love for the immigrant male Rough and Ready but I never got around to posting photos of his lovely spots. So here he is! my handsome hyena boyfriend! (he's the one on the left)Since it took me so long to get these up here I thought I'd throw in the added bonus of my new favorite cub. He started out with the cub name "Jay" and it has taken us months to see him nurse and finally confirm who is mother is. Now that we know he belongs to Hendrix (shoe lineage) we have dubbed him Puma. He has a lovely little black face, much blacker than all the other cubs, and he has the uncanny ability to sneak scraps away from carcasses.
Even though he is one of the lowest ranking hyenas in the clan, he holds his own and won't let anyone steal those scraps from him. Here he is with tuft of wildebeest beard that he carried around all morning the other day.

Mara Mystery Creature

Lately we have been hearing reports of a strange mystery creature roaming the plains near Talek camp. A few days ago I saw this creature for myself and could hardly believe my eyes. This morning I saw it for a second time. There is no mistaking it. We have a genuine mystery creature in our midst. I was able to snap a photo of it as proof:




Okay, so maybe it’s not quite so mysterious. It appears to be, at least mostly, a Thompson’s gazelle. However, there is certainly something strange about it. Its body is shaggier than any other I’ve seen so far, and there’s no mistaking that head. This unique Tommy immediately brings to mind hypertrichosis, or “werewolf syndrome”, in humans, but we’d like to hear what other theories are out there that might explain the strange appearance of this poor Tommy.

And The Winner Is... Kate!

The voting has closed and congratulations to Kate! After more than two years of blog posts, her timeless classic "Animals Have Brains Too (Part II)" dominated the non-scientific poll of hyena blog followers. With a whopping 49% of the votes, she crushed the competition like a hyena with a bone. Thanks to everyone who voted and helped celebrate the two year anniversary of the blog. Also, a huge "thank you" to Professor Kay Holekamp and all the students in her entourage who have helped share these great stories from Africa.

As proud winner of the poll, Kate has won bragging rights along with a hearty congratulations from all. Live it up Kate and feel free to post a lengthy acceptance speech in the comment field below!

Two Years of Great Hyena Blog Stories

Two years ago, Professor Holekamp launched this blog as a way to share some of the great stories involving MSU students and their hyena research in Kenya. To mark the two year anniversary and highlight some of the interesting stories shared on the blog, we've put together a poll based on audience recommendations of their favorite stories. Cast your vote and we'll reward the winning author with all the glory and bragging rights we see fit: http://twtpoll.com/7hsmqf




In case you are not familiar with all the posts, use the search box or Blog Archive on the lower left to find these gems. Enjoy!

The Adventures of Dolittle - The Saga Continues

When last we saw our intrepid hyena, Dolittle was stumbling through North territory and, well, he looked like crap. Ripped to shreds, one foot in the grave... you get the picture. I'm sure you've all been waiting with bated breath for the next installment in this epic adventure, so here I am to sate your curiosity.


And so our valiant but tattered hero trudged onward through the lonely wilderness, and made his way to... Happy Zebra?!

For about a month after Dolittle mysteriously turned up in North clan territory, he just vanished completely. The last time anyone had seen him, his head and neck looked like he'd been attacked by a rabid paper shredder, and he'd moved on from thin and was well into gaunt.

Fast forward to the morning of May 5th. I was moseying along through Happy Zebra territory when I suddenly came across a rather scruffy looking hyena sacked out in the middle of the road (for further clarification regarding this phenomenon, please refer to Kenna's treatise on the many forms of "sacking out"). This hyena had amazing ear damage, which I knew didn't match up with any of the HZ gang. Hmm... who could this be?

As the sun started to come up, I noticed that the hair on this hyena's neck was all patchy and the underlying skin was scabby and scarred. Eew. Something must have torn this hyena up but good.

Wait a sec...

No way!

It can't be.

But yes folks, it was. Dolittle, in all his scruffy glory, alive, almost completely healed and looking pretty well-fed to boot!


The Long Road Home

We were all ridiculously excited to see Dolittle again, and we wondered initially if he might try a secondary dispersal into Happy Zebra after his abrupt ejection from South clan. Then several weeks passed without us catching another glimpse of our little refugee, and we started to worry again.

On the morning of May 27th I headed off to the current South clan communal den. Most of the hyenas were easily recognizable, but one lazy lump was curled up in a tall patch of grass near the den and just wouldn't budge for me to get a good look. So I sat, and waited, and sat some more. Finally it decided to stretch its legs, and I nearly spit my tea. Dolittle! Same scruffy neck, same mangled ears, and all safe and sound at home again. He was in good company, too, lounging around with Clovis, the top female, and Spider, one of the higher ranking males.






Epilogue?

Dolittle is most definitely back in South clan (we've been seeing him at almost every den session lately) but it looks like the male ranks in South clan have gone through a little bit of a reorganization. We started off with Dolittle > Spider > Bing > Rooster. After this whole Dolittle saga, Bing has somehow clawed his way to the top and we have Bing > Dolittle > Spider > Rooster. It makes me suspect that Bing might have been to one to thrash Dolittle and send him packing... Sadly we'll never know for sure.

Anyway, the important thing is that Dolittle is alive and well, and back home. I'd call that a happy ending, right?

Eye Issues

This poor little guy is one of our new den cubs in Talek West. His left eye appears to blind in much the same way that Jin from Fig Tree was blind. We have not seen Jin in months so we assume he has passed on to hyena heaven (yes, of course there is a hyena heaven). He seems to be doing ok at the den so far with one eye but we will have to keep you posted on how he does when he graduates from the den and starts spending time out in the big world. We are all curious to find out who his mom is because her rank may determine whether he survives to adulthood. For now we have dubbed him with the cub name Elk and we have a sneaky suspicion that he is sibling to another unknown cub we have temporarily named Moose.

UPDATE: Elk is in fact Vanity, cub to Argon. Unfortunately Argon is pretty low ranking so Vanity may have to be pretty aggressive and assert all the dominance he has over his sibling Moose (now Avarice) in order to survive.

A Reunion: They're Baaaaaack!

It is amazing what a heartfelt apology can accomplish in so little time.

We had heard rumors that the migration would be late this year due to all the rain in Tanzania. But, it looks like that didn't keep them from us. The migration is a bit early in fact. I was here in November for the tail end of the migration and I had no idea how little that had prepared me for this. One day we were still laughing at our one wildebeest that looked confused and silly hanging out with all the topi on the Talek Plain and the next we were seeing herds of zebra all over the place and strings of wildebeest running in from the South. I am completely overwhelmed by the sheer number and density of the herds. None of the pictures or personal accounts had prepared me for this. And this is only the beginning!

The Talek West hyenas are getting multiple kills every morning and they've become strikingly more gregarious. The cubs at the den are always playing keep-away with various scraps of wildebeest and everyone is fat and bloody all the time. The wildebeest are headed west as well so it won't be long before we start seeing our Fig Tree and Mara River hyenas again.

LONG LIVE THE MIGRATION!