Badger Busyness

Two Honey Badgers visited my Bushnell camera trap at Tygerberg in June.

Honey Badger (Ratel - Mellivora capensis) at Tygerberg checking out the camera

This is the same camera as the one that photographed the Caracal with the Mole Rat in its mouth. The day before the Honey Badgers made their appearance the camera was still pointing in more or less the original position I set it to.

Cape Francolin (Kaapse Fisant - Pternistes capensis) walking past

The branch in the center of the frame appeared halfway through the camera trapping session. It might have been the handy work of the Bontebok or a strong wind.

The badgers immediately showed interest in the tuna can that I places in an exposed rodent tunnel.

What is that smell?

Sniff... Sniff...

They investigated the source of the stench. When I placed the Bushnell at this location there was already very little actual tuna left in the can. Most of it was gone already, most likely consumed by fly larva and other insects.

However, the badgers still gave the can a decent investigation. I have no doubt that if they wanted to they could dig out the can and chew it open, but I guess they were more interested in the smell, than a potential meal.

Interesting...

Weird...

But since they were in a rodent neighbourhood, the badgers just could not resist to look down a couple of borrows. One never knows, you might just be lucky.

What's down this hole?

After investigating the tuna can, then the other burrows, they decided to turn their attention on the "strange glowing red thing"...

And what's this thing doing here? Time to settle the score, buddy...

The camera lost the battle and the next morning the it woke up facing in a new direction...

Yes, somewhere in this photograph is a Karoo Prinia (Karoolangstertjie - Prinia maculosa)

The camera was down for 6 days. Not taking photographs of much more than warm vegetation and the occasional bird hopping past.

Then on the sixth day something appeared...

ALERT!! Human detected!!

All camera trappers will know the feeling of seeing these images. When this image first popped up I couldn't help but fear for the safety of my camera. Fortunately, common sense returned and I remembered that the camera was safe. So what was this person doing? I couple of images followed showing this friendly soul picking up the badgered camera and placing it upright once again.

Thanks to this person's help the camera had the chance to get a photograph of a porcupine passing by.

Porcupine (Ystervark - Hystrix africaeaustralis) coming in for a sniff

About two days later I did my rounds and checked the camera. This camera set had a slow start, but in the end it really payed off.

Leopard Link

I've been wanting to post a link to the Cape Leopard Trust for a while now. Today I got a email that some new information was uploaded on their website. So, I thought it's the perfect time to share the link:
http://www.capeleopard.org.za/updates/spotted_cats_of_the_southern_boland.html

Some of you might have noticed the link to their site on the side bar of this blog. The two girls from the Cape Leopard Trust are probably the biggest camera trappers in our neck of the woods and although they focus on Leopards, they also have a deep appreciation and interest in all forms of live.

Cat News

I was very happy last week when I checked my Bushnell. I got a couple of interesting photographs of the mammals at Tygerberg. Below are two noteworthy contributions from the cats.

Caracal (Rooikat - Caracal caracal) youngster practising the stalk

This little guy appears to be still more kitten than cat to my eyes, but the attitude is coming along fine.

I was very happy to finally get my first "kill" photograph. I've been camera trapping at Tygerberg for over a year now, but I didn't have any photograph of a predator with it's prey, until now.

My guess would be it's holding a Mole Rat in its mouth

The Backlog

Here are some images I've been wanting to post, but didn't get around to. I'm going to be a bit lazy and just include the images without writing up a story as well...

A Sorrel (Suring - Oxalis sp.) being visited by a small fly

A patch full of pink Sorrel (Suring - Oxalis sp.)

Porcupine (Ystervark - Hystrix africaeaustralis) near the pond at Tygerberg

Another one near a tiny stream

We came across the old dominant male Bontebok (Bontebok - Damaliscus dorcas dorcas) the other day while it was very misty. He lost one of his horns in a fight with his son...

My wife standing next to a huge mushroom

High Time For Some News

A random species of Sorrel (Suring - Oxalis sp.) at Tygerburg

It's been a while since my last post... I haven't had many cameras in the field, but luckily my trusty Bushnell Trophy Cam (2009 non-viewer) captured some interesting things.

A Spotted Thick-Knee (Dikkop - Burhinus capensis) possibly fascinated by the strange glowing lights?

A Thick-Knee seemed, once again, to be fascinated with the camera or maybe they seem to like the company of the "strange thing with the glowing red eyes".

When the nights get lonely, the Thick-Knee knows that his "friend with the red eyes" will keep him company

I used a tuna can as bait with this camera trap set, but it didn't attract as much attention as the previous one. I caught some images of this guy eating the grubs that grow in and under the tuna can.

There were other visitor as well.

The Bontebok (Bontebok - Damaliscus dorcas dorcas) herd did their rounds as well

The Bontebok came in for a sniff. In one of the images it appears as if the antelope was standing over the camera.

I guess the hind feet must be behind the camera...

I usually place my cameras close to the ground to get nice photographs of the small to medium sizes mammals at Tygerberg. Bontebok might be smaller than many of the other antelope species but at Tygerberg they are the largest mammals in the reserve.