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| This morning Tom noticed Ms. Bushbuck climbing the steps to the veranda. |
“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”
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| Amaryllis blooming in the garden. With summer approaching and hopefully more rain, we’ll see more flowers blooming in Marloth Park. |
A week ago a resident of Marloth Park posted a comment about Scar Face, the injured warthog we’d been watching and feeding for several months. He was stopping by each day for pellets and to drink from the cement pond.
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| We found it worthwhile to feed her on the steps after she’d climbed up since the other animals won’t be able to chase her away while she eats pellets. Her idea, not ours. |
After we left and returned from Zambia in August, we never saw him again. We’d become attached to him and were fearful he may have been “put down” by the rangers or died from infections due to his injuries.
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| This morning, Tom stood next to Ms. Bushbuck to prevent kudus from stealing her share of pellets. |
As much as we’d all like to believe the animals become “attached to us,” and will always return to see us, in reality, that’s not always the case. Often, in their world, finding food is their number one purpose in life (along with procreating), especially during this long dry season.
While we were gone for a week Scar Face may have decided to pursue another area in the bush and become comfortable finding available food sources, never returning to us.
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| Kudus were staring at Tom hoping for more pellets. He’d already given them several of the yellow containers filled with pellets. |
When the resident posted his photo and comments, we were relieved to discover that he, in fact, had survived his massive injury and was still thriving in the bush. The fact that we couldn’t see him become less important in discovering he was still alive.
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| A pretty girl kudu with an oxpecker looking for more pellets. |
We’re hoping for the same outcome for Wounded who visits frequently with his horrific injury to his eye and eye socket. Most likely this injury was incurred in the past week or two as the wound appears relatively fresh.
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| A face like this is hard to resist. |
This morning when he stopped by we immediately fed him all the pellets he could eat, one little yellow container at a time. After all, he is a pig and he needs to pace himself. He is very shy although he’ll approach the veranda letting us know exactly what he needs. He’s impossible to resist.
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| This morning Wounded appeared in the garden looking for food. |
We may never see Scar Face again or perhaps in our (hopefully) remaining three months in Marloth Park, we may see him again someday. Know these injured animals often possess the strength and resilience to heal themselves is comforting.
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| It appears he may have lost his left eye in the battle. Heartbreaking. |
Yes, some injured animals in Marloth Park “qualify” to be rescued and healed for example by Wild & Free Rehabilitation who may be found at this link. The costs for such medical care are managed through donations through the facility.
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| While we were watching him, an oxpecker appeared and started pecking at his wound. |
However, some animals, such as warthogs and impalas, don’t necessarily fall into the category of endangered status or are in reduced numbers in Marloth Park. Sadly, when they are ill or injured they’re on their own.
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| After the oxpecker pecked at his wound, it started to bleed. |
As we roll further into the week, I’ve begun carefully planning details for our upcoming Thanksgiving dinner party on Saturday. It’s one of those types of meals that not much can be prepared more than a day in advance.
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| Sadly, there is nothing that can be done. It’s evident he’s been working on it by using mud to hopefully aid in the healing. |
At this point, I’ve begun working on cooking and processing the frozen pumpkin into the equivalent of canned pumpkin. This is a slow process but by the end of today, I’ll have it all done. We plan to make 10 pies, one per couple to take home, a few for dessert on Saturday and a few to have left for Tom.
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| I believe this is an invasive alien plant. |
If time allows, I may make a few low-carb pumpkin pies as well. But, there’s plenty to do with our extensive menu which we’ll post on the day of the event. Tomorrow morning we each have dental and eye exam appointments, after which we’ll head back to Spar to wrap up the final shopping for a few items we still need for Saturday.
We’ll be back tomorrow with more. Please check back!
Photo from one year ago today, November 14, 2017:
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| A curious turtle scurried quickly toward us in Costa Rica. For more photos, please click here. |