Serena's Dudes

In response to my post about Serena matriarchs Emily and I thought it would be a good idea to include a post about high ranking males, so we collaborated to write up this post about a few of Serena’s dudes.  When a male hyena first leaves his natal clan and joins a new clan he becomes the lowest ranking member, not only below all the females and their cubs, but also below all the other males (among the males rank is based on tenure). Joining a clan isn't easy though and many males spend many years alone. We see these males passing through our territories on occasion and every once in a while one of them sticks around. Eventually if a male survives long enough all the males that were there when he arrived will have left or died and he will find himself at the top (albeit still below all the females and their cubs). Here we profile the three highest ranking males in each territory. 

Leprechaun is the highest ranking male of north territory. Like most of the males in north clan he stays fairly distant from the drama of the clan. The north males are most often seen in trios, strolling around the territory, enjoying life. If we ever see Leprechaun at the den it’s usually a distance, but luckily Leprechaun’s face is extremely easy to identify (note the crease in his forehead below) so we never have to pause our observations at the den to drive after him.

 

Out of all the north males Leprechaun is very tough and smart. I saw him once underneath a tree where a leopard was hoarding an impala carcass. His patience paid off; when an impala hoof dropped from the tree he promptly picked it up and swallowed it whole. We know Leprechaun is an accomplished hunter because at carcass sessions he is usually quite bloody (since the highest ranking animals usually eat first, eating isn’t a good indication of who made a kill, how much blood is on an animal’s face however is). Overall we think his name is quite fitting, his angry facial expression, the rainbow of spots on his side, and his place as the highest-ranking immigrant male.

When I first arrived in Serena, Happy Zebra’s top ranking male was an ancient old dude named Pegleg. I only got one good look at him and he was easily identifiable by his facial expression. I think someone may have described it to me as a drooly expression. However it’s been 8 months since I’ve arrived in Serena and Pegleg hasn’t been seen in over 6 months (and though we usually wait a little longer to classify HZ animals as missing since it’s such a large territory) we’ve considered Jazz to be the top-ranking male for some time now.

The first time I ever got a really good look at Jazz, Happy Zebra’s extremely handsome top ranking immigrant male, was at Holy Grail Den. This is a rather unusual place to learn a male hyena’s spots because immigrant male hyenas aren’t typically tolerated the den (natal males often come to play with their younger siblings without any harassment). This was about the time that we had first seen Higgs Boson poking his head out of the den, Ojibway’s new cub.

When the other hyenas left the den Jazz cautiously approached and carefully stuck his head into each den hole, sniffing curiously. Julia, a graduate student, was about ready to MI in place of the absent hyena mothers! (MI stands for maternal intervention which is an aggression context we use when coding behaviors. When a lower-ranking hyena is sniffing or interacting with a cub, or a high-ranking animal is being too rough, a mother hyena will often aggress on that hyena partly in defense of the cub but also so that the cub can learn its rank in the hierarchy). Infanticide has not been documented in adult male hyenas but it made all of us nervous to see him walking around the den holes unsupervised. However, over the next few months it seems like our fear was unwarranted. Jazz is a very sweet, playful, and friendly father to all the cubs at the den, but it seems like he has a special affinity for Higgs, the cub it looked like he was searching for that first time I saw him show up at the den. 

Whether or not Jazz is Higg’s father is up for debate until we collect poop from Higgs that we can extract DNA from but Jazz has seems to have a special affinity for him and all the cubs. In fact because of Jazz it seems that we may need a knew aggression context: PI for paternal intervention. When Higgs was about 4 months old he was starting to wander away from the den a bit and a mid-ranking immigrant male named Ista was slowly approaching Higgs and sniffing at him. When Jazz noticed this he immediately chased Ista away from little Higgs and then returned to give Higgs a little sniff himself. 

South’s top ranking male is a very old and scruffy looking hyena named Venice, or Veni, for short (disclaimer: in the above photo his spots are showing up extremely well). Despite his scruffy appearance all the ladies absolutely love him and he seems to sire a dominant proportion of South’s cubs. Like a lot of south hyenas he barely has spots at all (hyena spots tend to fade as the hyena ages) making him both easy to ID and sometimes very frustrating. Though scruffiness is a good indication of a male hyena being Veni we have to be 100% certain in our IDs and the only way to do that is by matching spots. So though the lack of dark spots tips us off very quickly to the fact that this is 95% certainly Veni, we still have to peer through the scruff and be sure to match a few key spots in order to confirm that it’s him. Hyenas’ appearances can change on a daily basis depending on the color of the dirt they’ve been lying in, whether they’ve been swimming, how fat they are or whatever else it is that hyenas get up to that change the fluffiness and color of their coat. The only thing that stays constant are the spots and all other generalizations tend to be variable.  

Veni is generally well loved by the clan but his favorite female hyena is a lady named Marten, who usually seems to just barely tolerate his presence. It’s quite hilarious to see Veni trailing forlornly after Marten for hours, going ears back and keeping his head low, trying to be as submissive as possible (above he shows the submissive behavior open-mouth appeasement to Marten). Abruptly he’ll turn and go bristle tail to chase off other males before returning to his puppy-dog state as he follows his favorite girl. 

The drama continues in Serena North

This morning it was really rainy and wet. When I arrived at the den there were no hyenas visible and I wondered if it was even worth it to go out. I decided, after sitting for 45min at an empty den waiting for some action, that I would just do a quick loop by the river and see if anyone was down there.

When I got down to the river road I found Tinsel, Hurricane and Oakridge with a topi carcass. A few minutes after I arrived, Sherman (who I thought was the new matriarch) loped up to the carcass and chased everyone else off. I hung around with Sherman for a little while until continuing on down the road. About 300m away I found Waffles, LogCabin and Torani (the royal family that had fallen in rank, we thought). Waffles and LogCabin were acting very excited and were bristle tail parallel walking while Torani loped around after them. They were headed towards the carcass so I decided to turn around and follow them. I arrived back at the carcass just as Waffles and her two kids were arriving. Instantly, I knew LogCabin and Waffles meant business. LogCabin didn't waste anytime before approaching the carcass and bite shaking Sherman. Waffles is a little bit more benevolent than her daughter so she let LogCabin do most of the roughing up.

After LogCabin and Waffles chased Sherman I had to take a long detour to follow them (it was too wet to just drive straight after them). When I arrived, Waffles was standing eating the carcass with LogCabin and Torani. Sherman was out of sight. It was so exciting to finally see a face off between Sherman and Waffles. I don't know if this actually means that Waffles is still the Serena North matriarch or it just means that things are still really unstable but Waffles isn't giving up her throne easily. If Sherman gets her daughter and her two granddaughters together Waffles and LogCabin may not be able to keep up for long.

As I was driving away from all the excitement I saw some hyenas on the other side of the river. These weren't any hyenas that we study but I sat and watched them check out a crocodile while hippos look on anyway. This morning once again reminded me how absolutely amazing hyenas are and that I must have one of the coolest jobs around.

Hippo ribs- it's what's for breakfast.

This is Fuzz, a subadult male in Serena North. This hippo died over a month ago and has been rotting in the water in this culvert ever since. This doesn't deter our hyenas however, they know that ribs can still be a great source of food.

Although Fuzz didn't cache these hippo bones (the hippo died in this spot) hyenas have been observed to store food underwater and return to it days later. Hyenas have also been seen to catch fish in shallow waters. Somehow hyenas are able to detect food in completely murky water- we're not sure if they're feeling for it with their paws or snout, or if they can smell it, or if they're just using their excellent memories.

Just how far is Waffles falling?

More updates on our favorite alpha (or not?) female from Serena North clan. After a week of rain we are finally back out in the field and it looks like Waffles and LCS have moved to Schiphol Den up on top of the hill (and right next to the road) near camp. Unfortunately it looks like Waffles has definitely dropped in rank, this morning she approached Sherman (the 2nd highest ranking adult female) and a subadult male named Fuzz with her ears pinned tightly back. The message here couldn't be clearer.

What was interesting was that when Sherman walked away Waffles proceed to greet with Fuzz with her ears back. In this photo you can see Waffles lifting leg for him while his ears are clearly forward. Fuzz is a mid/low ranking natal male and if Waffles is behaving submissively to him then she not only has lost her spot as alpha, but dropped quite far indeed. Or it could be that Sherman's presence had Waffles just acting submissively to everyone, only time will tell for sure. 

I also recently learned that Tinsel's and Mistletoe's (two mid ranking females) mother, Elf, was alpha at a point in Serena North's history before RBC was alpha. It seems then that North has a long tradition of an unstable hierarchy. Talek West clan (the clan that has been under study for 25+ years) has exhibited a very stable hierarchy, so we're not sure if Serena North's instability is unusual or if it is perhaps related to the location of Serena North in prime riverside (high prey density) territory, or some other unknown factors.

Waffles has babies!

Waffles, the matriarch of North clan, has recently shown us her two new cubs; the greatly anticipated Mrs. Butterworth and Aunt Jemima or Mrs. B and Aunt J for short. (Waffles' lineage is "syrups").

We're hoping they're girls not just so that they'll match their names but also because we want Waffles' to maintain her place as alpha. With her coalition partner Peepers dead and Eleanor only mid-ranking Waffles' has only her daughter LogC to support her reign. Sherman, the second highest ranking adult female  has a daughter and two granddaughters (still subadults) to back her up. Recently we've seen some worrying behaviors; when LogC or Waffles has been interacting (individually) with both Sherman and Hooker we've seen them acting submissively. However when Waffles or LogC interacts with Sherman or Hooker one-on-one their ranks still hold. Sherman is a tough hyena who could definitely be making moves for the alpha position.

We love Waffles because she is so benevolent and friendly to the low-rankers but we need to see her asserting herself more if she wants to maintain her rank! Also of note: Waffles' is sharing her natal den with the second lowest ranking adult female hyena LCS (so named for her ear damage, a left "c" slit). Even though Waffles has risen in rank while LCS remains low ranking they are still best buds.

Waffles and her cave

Waffles, the matriarch of our Serena North Clan, has recently found what seems to be the deepest hole in the territory to make her natal den (we think, we haven't actually seen the cubs yet). We would have never found her if it wasn't for her collar, thank you GPS points!

Hopefully, she will emerge soon with Mrs. Butterworth or Aunt Jemima (or both)!

Hyena Pillows

Over half the time, when we find a hyena, she's asleep. Now, hyenas don't just sleep anywhere- it turns out hyenas are very particular about finding a good pillow. However, pillows can be just about anything.

Termite mounds are a favorite pillow. Then gentle dirt slope of a mound makes a very good resting spot.

If no termite mound is available, sometimes a hole or depression can do the same trick.

Even mud is okay, especially on a hot day.

If there aren't any dirt pillows around grass can be a comfy pillow too.

Fellow cubs make excellent pillows if none of the other options are available.

If a hyena is all alone, their paws can be used for a pillow.

Rocks are a very commonly used pillow.

For more creative hyenas even a carcass can make a good pillow!

Or buffalo poop!

Of course, sometimes a hyena is so tired they just fall flat asleep in the middle of the road with no pillow at all.

Solar Eclipse

Two days ago we got see a rare solar eclipse- visible from most of Kenya. The sun here is extremely bright and it was impossible to see anything with naked eye but I did manage to get some good photos of the eclipse. Some thin clouds started passing in front of the sun part-way through the eclipse which actually helped darken the sun enough to be able to see the moon taking a slice out of it, but later on the clouds completely obscured the sun and we were unable to see the total eclipse. Watching the lighting change across the landscape was fascinating as the sun's light became dimmer. 

The sun still too bright to see the thin sliver that the moon was taking out of it.

Me trying to get a good photo! (Credit to Emily Thomas)

 Halfway obscured!



Almost all the way covered, but the clouds were getting darker.



This is the view we had from our "front yard". Sun covered up by clouds at this point.

Pan's ghost

Just in time for Halloween, we had a ghost in camp. Benson and I were working in the lab tent when I got a text from Emily, who’d been looking at gps points from our collared animals. She asked us whether we’d seen Pan around, since her collar was active again and had been sending in points from around the territory, though she added that there were a lot of points in camp. At first, I was really puzzled, since Pan was a hyena that died a few months before I arrived. They found her body and collected her collar and skull, but she was too far gone to determine what killed her. So now we were receiving gps points from a dead hyena all over the territory.

For a brief moment, I wondered if there was any way Pan could still be alive. After all, we’d seen some hyenas in our other two clans that had been on the missing list, most recently Muhammad Ali, who hadn’t been seen in over two and a half years. However, I’d held Pan’s skull, which seemed pretty definitive.

It was Benson who solved the mystery: We had a new collar in the darting box with the same frequency as Pan’s, and the magnet (which we use to stop collars sending out points until we deploy them) had come off. So every day when we went out with the darting supplies, the collar sent out another point from somewhere in the territory, but most of the time it was in camp. It also explained why we’d had inexplicably large amounts of interference on the tracking some mornings.

Then, last night we saw Pan’s grand-cubs and I couldn’t help but think of how much impact a single hyena can have in the future of the clan, depending on how many of their offspring survive. Maybe that’s all that Pan’s ghost was trying to tell us.

Hyenas LOVE water.

(For those of you whose internet is too slow for videos see photos below.)

This morning most of our Happy Zebra hyenas were playing in Egyptian Goose watering hole. Most hyenas seem to enjoy a little bit of splashing, and some are very timid about getting their paws wet or being splashed. Then there are those that somehow don't seem to mind water up their eyes, ears, and nose and will allow themselves to be dunked under water in addition to voluntarily sticking their heads under the water as they swim and play.

The larger adult in this video that you see in the deeper water playing with a cub is Cosby (a low-ranking adult female) and the cub is Jolly Roger (or just J-Rog for short). Her brother Swag goes in up to his belly a few times. They hyena who balances with all four paws on a grass mound is Eremet, J-Rog's subadult aunt. At the end of the video you see Andor (female cub, possibly a second or third cousin to J-Rog) being very timid about getting splashed by Cosby or J-Rog.

Here is Cosby swimming and diving. It was very fun to see such a low ranking female playing with the cubs and enjoying herself. Earlier that morning before the pool party had started she was tearing up some turf while play romping with the bigger cubs.


Some play romping and splashing.

There were some zebras present that really wanted to go to the watering hole to get a drink but with the hyenas being so absolutely crazy they weren't so sure. The cubs thought it would be really funny to chase them away.


Jolly Roger in all her dripping glory. She has a really good circle with a dot in the middle that looks like a target on her left side that makes her easy to ID from a distance.

Later on the cubs started play romping near the zebras who weren't so easily spooked this time.

Finally the zebras were able to get their turn to come and drink. Note the out of focus cubs sleeping in the foreground. Overall it was a pretty exciting morning in Happy Zebra today. Right now none of the cubs are really young enough to be at a den (except for Higgs) which means there isn't a consistent den for us to go to every morning and we haven't been seeing too many hyenas. Finding every single cub here (including Higgs who was too afraid to go into the water) was a lot of fun.