Week 341 ( 5th - 11th March 2010 )
Cathay practices stalking and other interesting antics
When I offloaded three Springbuck carcasses, Hulooo grabbed one of the carcasses and started playing with it. JenB and Coco left their carcasses and started to chase him into the thickets of Catkins Camp. I did not see them again that day. When I fed them the second time this week, Hulooo again grabbed one of the three Springbuck carcasses and the fun and games started all over. This time however Coco and JenB caught up with him and a tug of war began. Hulooo got hold of the carcass and raced off with it, the other two in hot pursuit. Coco was the first to return and take his Springbuck. JenB arrived a few minutes later and took last carcass.
I found Cathay stalking something in the short grass. All her attention was on something I could not see. Her whole body was tense and ready for the charge. The next moment she charged and pounced on her ‘prey’. It was quite a surprise when I noticed that the ‘prey’ was an old rib cage of a Springbuck! She threw it in the air, caught it again, wrestled with it and then discarded it. She would then find something else to stalk and the whole stalk and attack game would repeat itself. She later calmed down and found some shade where she fell asleep. When I fed her on the 9th I placed a Wildebeest ribcage inside the Maternity Camp, I walked towards the gate, bent over to pick up the device which is used to control the opening and closing of the gates. When I looked up she was already charging me! She must have thought that I was some kind of small prey. When I stood up she stopped the charge and just looked at me with cold eyes. Still shaking I opened the gate and thanked God for the fence that separated me from a very hungry tiger! She immediately went for the meat, licked the inside of the rib cage for a while and went to the water and took a swim. When I left she was still in the water and showed no signs of getting out soon… or feeding.
When I gave Tiger Woods a Wildebeest leg one afternoon he got quite exited, he leaped towards the gate a few times, and chuffed non stop and I thought that he was going to start feeding immediately. When I opened the gate, he slowly walked to the krip, had a drink of water and then started feeding. The second time that I’ve fed him I gave him some Wildebeest ribs and neck; again he could not hold back his excitement. But like the previous occasion he took his time to enter the camp where I’ve placed the meat, went for a drink of water and slowly started to feed.
I only saw Princess at a distance the last few days. When I offloaded the two Springbuck carcasses I only saw King Henry. The next day Princess Springbuck carcass was still in mini camp. During the second feed King Henry waited at the gate, he grabbed the Blesbuck carcass that I’ve put out and dragged it off into the long grass. He started to feed immediately on the Blesbuck. .
When I arrived one afternoon Madonna and 327 were irritated and both were walking along the fence but in separate directions after a quick scuffle. They later walked off to the South Western side of the camp and I did not see them again. 327 initiated some play the other morning with Madonna. They looked like two love sick school kids, chasing each other and fooling around. 327 went for a swim and Madonna was trying to get into the krip with him, but he did not give her a chance. She gave up trying after a while and found a spot under the tree close to the gate where she lied down and fell asleep.