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.
Wonderful photos Kenna! It's good to see you're back to blogging. You'd be surprised at how many of us there are, who wait, and hope for more pictures and stories. Thanks Does anyone ever loose her temper when playing, or does it always end happily?
ReplyDeleteSometimes hyenas will try to initiate play with someone that does NOT want to play. That's usually when tempers are lost. Other times, someone will get a little too rough and the other hyena does not seem to appreciate it too much but, for the most part, in play, everything goes. We're always amazed at how rough "play" can get.
ReplyDeleteWell done Navs! Saw an Obama butt in there, too. :) Kenna, do you remember my last morning obs, when all the adults had a pool party? I'd never seen the adults act like that, and it is one of my fondest memories of them. Especially the part where the mid-ranking males thought they might join in on the fun and Fozi and Barce had to get all wet-blanket on them and ruin the good times for everyone. What a couple of old farts.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Obviously the best part of the whole morning was that "play" is not a CI, right?
ReplyDeleteI DO remember that pool party. That was awesome as well. Maybe I should try to dig out the photos from that day too.
ReplyDeleteYes, the no CI part was amazing. Especially after the crazy border patrols we had been having. I was in need of a break. Evidently, so were the hyenas!
Those are the westies I know & love!
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