Baby boom

One of the best parts of this experience is being able to get to know the personalities of the individual hyenas in our study populations and watching them interact with the world around them. It gets even better with cubs. Being able to meet a week old cub, be the first person it’s ever seen, and watch it learn about its surroundings and its spot in greater hyena society is truly a blessing. To the joy of every Talek RA, our Talek West and Pond clans have recently had a baby boom, and we have so many new bundles of joy to get to know.

Mizzenmast

Little Mizz is the newest addition to our Talek West clan, with Knot as their adoring mother. Being less than a month old we don’t see much of Mizz except when Knot decides to gingerly lift her out of the communal den for brief bouts of social time. All the cubs at the communal den seem almost too eager to meet their new den-mate, and all of us in Talek have to say that we share that excitement and then some.

Pilosa

Pilosa is an older cub in our Talek West clan, with Gofa as their mother. However, we’ve only known Pilosa for a little over a month. Pilosa is proving to be a bold and spunky little hyena, always seemingly eager to investigate our cruisers and explore a little further from then den than their other den-mates.

Scat and Guano

Scat and Guano are the newest black beans to grace our Pond clan, with Tasty Twist as their ever vigilant mother. Nearly 3.5 weeks old, Scat and Guano don’t come out of the den often (nor does Tasty Twist really let them), but when they do, their wobbly little legs don’t take them far before their older den-mates Ygritte and Margaery Tyrell excitedly greet their newest clan mates.

Ygritte and Margaery Tyrell

Currently the cool kids of the Pond Clan den, Ygritte and Maergaery Tyrell are just over 2 months old and are seemingly enjoying the newfound freedom that their mother Bonnet has given them. They spent their mornings tearing around the den holes, finding scraps to chew on, grass stalks to paste on, and older clan mates to play with – some of which do so reluctantly. They try very hard to play with their new den-mates Scat and Guano but are often aggressed upon by Tasty Twist in her efforts to protect her babies from their rambunctious antics. Until Tasty Twist lets them interact with Scat and Guano, Ygritte and Margaery seem to be perfectly content exploring and chewing on all the wonders the land around the Pond Clan den has to offer them.