We heard rustles in the bushes when my wife started feeding the birds, but I thought that it was a rat or something similar.
Instead, the rustler was this Cape Mongoose. He obviously sat spying on the kind of food that Marian was feeding the birds.
We arrived at the bush camp the previous day and after coffee and a sandwich, my wife cast out some bread for the birds. The camp was alive with birdsong and also many strange wild animal sounds. It is a new style of camping inside luxury tents, with big wooden decks that look out at the mountains and the style is now called "Glamping"
Surrounded in a valley by hills and mountains, we felt that we were in a different world. Of course, there is also a dam and at night a thousand frogs sing one to sleep.
We were up before sunrise and in the photo below, the sun was busy rising behind the hills.
Wow! Look what appeared suddenly on a foot path!
This guy is a Cape Grey Mongoose (Herpestes pulverulentus, pulverulentus)
Oh yeah, he took up a very cute pose and you can see the glint in his eye.
Marian was feeding the birds and here we had a Cape BulBul and a weaver enjoying breakfast.
I beckoned Marian to throw some cheese out for the Mongoose. Never throw food directly at a wild animal, as then they will scatter. So, she threw it a couple of meters away from him.
Boldly the little guy stepped up to have a look at the cheese.
The Cape Grey Mongoose has a Catholic diet, meaning that they are opportunistic feeders that eat a wide range of mainly animal and some plant material. They mainly prey on small mammals and insects, but their diet also includes carrion, birds, reptiles, amphibians, wild fruits. The benefit of these mongoose is that they keep pest species under control, as they prey on rodents and are also known to kill snakes
Source
Yes, he saw the cheese and I think that this photo below was his way of smiling.
Right, he was a very happy little guy.
At first a tentative smelling session.
And then he started eating the cheese.
Drat! I could not get that sharp and big top tooth into the focus.
He finished the cheese and then he sauntered off, looking back as if to say; Thank you for the food guys.
Cheers little fellow and we hope to see you again the next time that we come here.
Nature eats nature and the predators that hunt the mongoose are the leopard, caracal, black-backed jackal and large birds of prey.
So I can tell you that we were very happy to see this mongoose and it made our stay so worth it at this place. I have more that 1000 photos and prepare for some great sights. Wonderful views and in two days we managed to fit in 4 small farming towns, 4 mountain passes and some stunning views.
We booked at this camp for four days thinking that it could form a base that we could work from, but sadly I received a call to come back home urgently with the result that we are back home now. We had to cancel two days with no refunds, so we lost ZAR 3000.
But such is life and we never complain.
I hope that you have enjoyed the story and the pictures.
And That's All Friends.
Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.
Camera: Canon Powershot SX70HS Bridge camera.
