Hello Everyone!
This is a video I took back in 2013 during my deployment to Eastern Africa. In the video you see Joker, a female Ethiopian hyena, and we were getting our flashlight back!
What an eye opening experience! I have had the privilege to meet genuine heroes you will never hear of, and have been humbled by friendships in places most of you will never get the chance of seeing. Here are some pics of the squad.
Just some of many amazing memories that shaped the person I see in the mirror today.
Frequently during my drives around the perimeter I would come across an adolescent pack of Hyenas. I would hear the creepy cliche laugh rip through the darkness and immediately roll the windows up. After about nine months and 547 MREs later, a beautiful friendship was born.
In the early stages of this relationship, I would every so slightly crack the window of my pick-up, and proceed to toss stale crackers. By day 300 we basically shared spoons...
Yep, that was a tasty spoonful of government issue peanut butter!
Thats my supervisor in the video, Im filming. I was a little hesitant to get out the truck...
You know, cause about 8 of these were outside hiding in the shadows...
From time to time I would ride in the bed of the pick up while feeding our new friends, but thats about as close as I got. There is something slightly discouraging about doing a quick google search on "hyena", and the first sentence referring to an 1100 psi jaw strength.
Here are some more cool clips we were able to catch!
Thanks for watching !
If anyone has any cool deployment/animal videos or pics, link them in the comments.
Take it easy everyone.