Black cub boom!

We have a lot of new moms (and new lineages) in our Main Doc clan! The other day we showed up to a den full of little black cubs running around and playing. Their spots are only just starting to come in so we can't tell any of them apart yet but there are several possibilities for the identities of the cubs pictured below. 

Every mom gets assigned a lineage, which is a theme for the names of all her children. This mnemonic device helps us remember who is related to who. KNOT is a first-time mom and her lineage is nautical words. Her first cub is Bowline. MAA has two new cubs (her third and fourth) and we've named them Daffodil and Tulip. Her lineage is flowers. JOUL is another first-time mom and we've given her the lineage "jewels". Her first cub is Emerald. KNOT (Knot) and JOUL (Joule) are both sisters from the "measurements" lineage. MAA (Maa) is from the languages lineage and is the name of the language of the Maasai people.

Sleeping next to an exhausted mom.

These guys are so little compared to the adults!

Learning how to make friends.

Curiously approaching the car. 

Learning how to paste on shrubs!

Look at that silly little face.

Hyena cubs play with sticks just like dog puppies. 

Too cute. Our job is such hard work dealing with all this cuteness.