So who was the other rock hopper? It was a Small Grey Mongoose.
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| Small Grey Mongoose (Kleingrysmuishond - Galerella pulverulenta) |
The mongoose passed by the camera a few times, but these guys move fast and most of the pictures were blurred, or slightly out of frame. They have a tendency to pause for a moment to look around and then quickly move along again. The sharper images are usually when the mongoose happens to be pausing in front of the camera. I encounter them sometimes along a path and then they tend to run along the path in front of me, pausing every now and again to look over their shoulder or scout the surrounding area. After a while they'll dash into the cover next to the path and disappear.
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| The Small Grey Mongoose's legs are darker than the rest of the body |
The mongoose must be catching something in the quarry, and I'm sure it isn't Dassies. Dassies are to big. I'll have to investigate a bit more to unravel the mystery and hopefully manage to photograph it.
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| The mongoose always moved from right to left, going down, past the camera - it must use a different route going up |
Mongooses rock! Great photos. Hope you're successful at snapping their tucker (sorry, my Aussie trip is reviving old habits). I'd put my money on striped mice, although baby dassies aren't out of the question as these guys have been seen wrestling Cape grysbok lambs and young scrub hares...
ReplyDeleteI've only observed them hunting once - in Fish River Canyon - where a family of three were trying to prise open my backpack!
So happy to have stumbled across your blog from the Nature Blogs Network.....we're two wildlife biologists new to the network and looking forward to following your adventures...Camera Trapping is so much fun - each day is like Christmas is it not? What a grand idea to center your blog around :)
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Thanks for this! I saw one in Hermanus and didn't know what it was. your pics cleared that right up for me
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