After being on the project for nearly 7 months now, I have picked up a lot of new skills: how to run a bush camp, drive a stick shift, ID hyenas, draw blood, etc. However, there is one vital skill that I didn't even know one needed to have in the first place.
How to tell the difference between a hyena and a rock.
Seriously, The number of times I have had to do a double-take or have the car stopped to check with binoculars to confirm if the brown blob in the distance is indeed a hyena and not a rock is embarrassingly high. And it's not just rocks: termite mounds, warthogs, topi, dead wood, piles of dirt, and even the backside of an elephant (seriously).
For those who haven't worked in the field let me show you with a guessing game. Below are photos I have taken on the job that have genuinely made me stop and check to see if it was a hyena or not. Some are hyenas, some are not, the key is at the bottom of the post. Please comment with how many you got correct!
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Key: A: Hyena B: Rock C: Rock D: Warthog E: Hyena F: Hyena
G: Termite Mound H: Topi I: Hyena J: Dirt mound K: Hyena L: Termite mound
M: Rock
Here are close up pictures for those curious:
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