Nkorho Q and A

I have no questions or comments at present but just want to thank you for this space to do so when I do.

 hello from   BOWSER  VANCOUVER ISLAND CANADA

a snake was released at the pan water hole -where was it captured ??

also  another snake was released in the grass last week

where did it come from and what was species

last night  two people were looking at an object at water hole  what was it  the cam photo is hard to see

thanks for this site

barry

IS THE TRACTOR THAT MOWS THE GRASS THE SAME ONE USED AT ELEPHANT PLAINS- AND IS THE MOWING FOR LOOKS OR SAFTY TO SEE THE SNAKES

My question is about the loud, infrequent pops heard last night.  We speculated gunshots (to scare away garbage scavengers), Marula fruit falling, branches breaking, etc.  Can you enlighten us?

We think we have heard lions for a few days now and possible lion/hyena interaction early Monday morning.

Are there lions still near the lodge?

Thank you!!!

Marsha

i know its not a  NKORHO  QUESTION BUT

DO YOU KNOW THE NAME OF THE WATERHOLE WHERE THE CAM IS AT ELEPHANT PLAINS 

THANK YOU  -

Hi Barry

The second snake that we captured it in the camp was a Boomslang, Boom=tree and Slang=snake. It is a backed-fanged Hemotoxic venom, Eg causes Bleeding and your blood doesn't clot. Bites are very rare and it is an aboreal snake, eg lives in trees.

the first snake was a African rock Python, also in the camp, it is non-venomous, a Constrictor. It was also in the camp, we removed it out as it does make some of the staff nervous.

We where checking that the water was coming out from the pipe, it some times gets blocked by things crawling in to it.

Hope that answer your questions, and to hear from you again

Ernst

Good morning

The Waterhole at Elephant plains we refer to as EP Waterhole or Elephant Plains Waterhole Situated on Elephant Plains open area.

 Enjoy your day

Ernst

Hi Marsha

We have had Hyena's at Nkorho almost every night, but the only Lions in the area is to far to hear them call. That is from Nkorho and  I haven't heard of Lions near EP as well.

Enjoy your day

Ernst

Hi Mosby

The loud pops can be from the Marula Fruits falling from the tree, as the Microphones are in the same tree or could be Insects flying into the Microphones.

I am asuming you are refering to Nkorho pan

Enjoy your day

Ernst

Hi Barry

Each lodge as its own Tractor and Equipment. We do it for safty reasons and to make it a bit easier to view animals from the lodge.

It is actually very seldom that we see snakes.

Keep well

Ernst 

Hi Ernst,
It's great to have you joining in with us along with Karin. Looking forward to hearing more from you. Truly enjoyed watching you share the release of the Boomslang with us.

Is there any idea what has happened to the 4th of the baby Wildebeest? We have only been able to count 3 out of the 4 we had been having for a good little while now.

Hi Karen

Glad you enjoyed it and hope to do it soon again.

The 4th Baby was caught by something we are not 100% sure what thou, we suspect a leopard.

Enjoy your day

Ernst 

Hi Ernst,

Can anyone ID the lizard we see on the cam tree ...?

Here is a pic of it

Hello Ernst and thank you so much for answering our questions!

A while back, we had a beautiful male leopard walking through the open area between the water hole and the lodge. As it walked through, it detoured over to a tree and seemed to be looking up at it and investigating it. Made me wonder if they check out the various trees in the area that might be good to hoist a kill or to flee another predator such as lions or hyenas. Is there a thinking process in what trees Leopards might utilize for hoisting their kills or to escape danger?

Thank you!

Bush greetings Fani

We suspect it's a Red-sided skink due to the fact that we can't see the head and only the back part of the body it looks like a Red-sided skink, also they are the most common lizard at the lodge.

greetings

Jacques

Thank you very much Jacques ...I hope we will have a  chance soon to capture a better pic

Hello Ernst!

Thanks, this is a great thread

On Monday morning zoomie found a huge eagle and did a great job on the cam. The bird was hiding behind the branches a lot!

Can you ID?

Keep well! 

I wasn't hear that day, but I have seen this behaviour in Leopards before. Often Leopards scent mark trees by either clawing the tree or by urinating on it and he was possibly picking up on that scent.

The leopard is known as  Ntcila, meaning Tail as he has a kink in his tail, he is still young and as a result he is also still curious, as all young animals are, which is another possiblity for his behaviour.

Leopards are oppertunist and will drag their kill to the nearest tree, they prefer Marula's as they have nice thick horizontal branches and forks to lodge their prey in.

Hope these answers cover  your questions and feel free to ask some more questions.

Ernst

Good evening Ingwe

Jacques picked it up and it was a nice sighting, it actually looked like it was eating something small. It's hard to point out what due to the quality but we are pretty sure that it is the Dark morph of the Whalberg's Eagle

greetings

Ernst

Hi Ernst and Jacques. Thanks for the great answers here.

My question is one that came up the other evening when a mother Rhino and her young one passed through NK. There were a lot of Hyena's around and off cam sounds leading us to believe that a confrontation between them may have occurred.

My question is, could and would five or six Hyena's attempt to overcome and kill a young Rhino in the presence of one other adult Rhino?

Great! Thank you Ernst and Jacques

I did see him eating also, he was a bit camera shy and Jacques did a great job 

Thank you for answering my Leopard question! I find them to be such fascinating and beautiful creatures!

Thank you Ernst, Jacques, Karin and all involved!

Good Morning, Ernst, Jacques, Karin and staff. This is a dream come true, being able to ask you all questions and get your answers.

This morning at just after 1:00AM, your time, we had the great pleasure of seeing a Cheetah come to the water hole for a drink. I emailed you at the time, though I didn't expect any of you would be up. I hoped you might find it early and perhaps get to go and look for some tracks.

At any rate, is an ID possible on this animal? He/she didn't stay around very long - seemed to be on a mission.

Thanks again for this new feature!!

Roger

Here is the Cheetah video in case the lodge staff is interested in what direction it arrived from, where it drank at, etc. What an awesome sighting!

Cheetah

Good Morning Roger

Thanks for the pictures, unfortunately they could not find the cheetah this morning, but we will be looking out for it this afternoon.

We don't give the Cheetah's ID as we don't see them that often, but we had 2 males who used to stay together. A few months ago they seemed to have split up as we only see them one at a time, but we recognise the one from a scar on the back leg from an encounter with some Hyena's. Their home range covers a very large area.

He might have been careful as there might of been Hyena in the area and they might come and harass him.

Thanks for the questions and the pictures

Ernst

Good morning

Every area on earth has its nuisance.

Which animal gives you the most trouble around the lodge (or in the lodge)?

Thanks

Barry

Thank you for being here to answer questions for us about Nkorho sights and sounds.

I was wondering if anyone will be staying up tonight (Feb 20/21st) for the Lunar Eclipse?  We are currently looking at the ground and hope to see the eclipse, if possible.

We also wondered if it is possible to see the eclipse with color on and infra red off, or, if things would still just look all black without infra red.

That is, if anyone is awake at the time of the eclipse

Thank you!

THE QUESTION OF WIND COMES UP ALL THE TIME BY MEMBERS DO YOU HAVEA WIND GAUGE AT LODGE

AND IF SO COULD WE GET SOME WIND SPEEDS

EVEN IF THIER A DAY LATE - ( THIS IS A $10.00) GAUGE LOL

THANK YOU BARRY

Good morning Marblehead

Spotted Hyena's do hunt for themselves, but usually it is things up to the size of Zebra's. I have never heard or read of Hyena's going for anything bigger and they will never even think about going for a small Rhino if an adult Rhino is close by.

Rhino’s have relatively bad eyesight and great hearing, and Hyena’s are very curious so if they meet in the dark it can be interesting interaction.

Enjoy your day

Ernst