Monday, December 1, 2008

Addo 3 .... felicitous feline find....

One of the things we were determined to find on this trip to Addo were the lions. We checked in regularly at the reception to see where they were being spotted, and drove those roads, scanning carefully. All in vain. But then, travelling along a section of road we were not really supposed to be on, because our car is not a high clearance vehicle, we got to see a cousin of theirs, and were absolutley ecstatic....

You can spend your whole life in Africa and not see one of these in the wild. Caracals are shy elusive nocturnal creatures, and have been made even more so because they have been hunted by farmers to the point where it is very rare to see one. This one posed obligingly at the side of the road, obviously reluctant to give up its warm sunny spot in the soft sand .... we were over the moon, and it really made up for the fact that the lions again eluded us. Anyway it gives us a good reason to go back soon!

8 comments:

  1. I have only seen these in the wild twice and both times it were fleeting sightings. You were really fortunate to have seen one and have it sit still to be photographed. Check out my post from Saturday for Addo's lions (in a compromising position *wink*) Now if I could only do a link to that post but I don't know how.

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  2. Sorry Sam, but I don't get what you were trying to explain in your comment because it just created a link and I can't see what to type. But yes, I am trying to find out how to do what you did above.

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  3. I am scared to death by this pic (I am frightened of normal household cats!) but I think it's a marvellous shot - well done!

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  4. Beautiful caracal! How lucky to find him so still! The photo is great!

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  5. Wow! Stunning picture! This caracal looks gorgeous. His ears are so long and very elegant.

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  6. Isn't he absolutlely gorgeous?? I've never seen one but am very envious of your sighting. Clearly, he's a sun-worshipper!

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