The only animal in our garden right now is The Imposter, this time, without his little buddy, Narrow Earlier, we had visits from warthog Lonely Girl, Wildebeest Wille, and bushbuck Torn Ear, Since it’s Saturday, the first weekend day of the 10-day school holiday, here in South Africa, we feel fortunate to see any wildlife at all. Yesterday, an unusual event occurred in our garden. Big Daddy (kudu) tore down, using his enormous horns, the main branch of a tree, to gain access to its tasty leaves. As the low-lying bush dries out as winter approaches, male kudus can easily knock down a tree with their massive size and strength.
I was in the second bedroom, putting away laundry when I heard a vast sound hitting the house. Tom was taking a shower and didn’t hear a thing. I ran outside to see what was going on to find Big Daddy happily munching on the moist, lush green leaves on the downed tree. I wish we had seen this happen.
But, we managed to take a few photos of the result, which doesn’t do the event justice. Since that transpired, several other kudus and bushbucks have stopped by to partake of Big Daddy’s rambunctious event. We doubt that he and others will stop by to participate over the next week or two while the leaves are still green.
It doesn’t appear that there was any damage to the house when the tree was felled by Big Daddy. Thank goodness for that. Few of the low-lying trees in the bush are sizable enough to cause damage if they are brought down by wildlife. We’ve seen such an event by elephants in Kruger National Park but never here in Marloth Park. When Tom came out to see what had happened during his shower, he too was in awe of the strength of this substantial wild animal. It was rather exciting.
On another note, one of our dear long time readers wrote a comment on yesterday’s post as follows:
“I have to ask, with all of the animals visiting, how do you handle their poo and pee? Thanks for writing, Jan! I keep busy cleaning with our two teacup dogs and can’t imagine the odor and waste from the many large animals that visit you.”
I don’t recall that we’ve ever posted anything on this topic. One would think the sight and smell of poop and pee would permeate the air in Marloth Park. It does not. Nor is it a factor of visitors or residents getting “used to it.” There is no smell and rarely, and I mean rarely, do we ever see an animal poop in the garden.
Most often, they head out to the bush to “do their business” Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that most animals won’t poop where they eat, or they prefer the deep bush setting as more suitable for them. Yes, on occasion, we may see a warthog or a kudu pee, but we’ve never seen a warthog, bushbuck, or kudu poop in our garden. Even then, there’s no smell. I know this sounds hard to believe, but it’s true.
Even Frank and The Misses, who spend considerable time on the veranda each day, never leave a telltale sign of their visits, other than their messy piles of birdseed.
Before we came to Marloth Park for the first time in 2013, we had wondered the same thing. In no time at all, we realized this wasn’t an issue. That’s not to say we never see wildlife poop when out and about. It’s easy to determine the massive poops of wildebeest. Most locals chuckle when they see it since it’s such an oddity to encounter.
With wildlife only eating vegetation, there’s less of a likelihood of smell. So there it is, folks, the answer to the question that may have left many of our readers curious as to how we can manage to sit outside, day after day, night after night, with animals surrounding us.
That’s it for today! We hope you have a lovely weekend.
Photo from one year ago today, April 24, 2020:
This photo is from the repeated photos one year ago while in India in the lockdown. As we walked the souk, deciding where to dine, these varying roof lines of a courtyard caught my eye. For this post from April 24, 2014, please click here. For the year-ago post with more Marrakesh, Morocco photos, please click here.
