Bucks In The Bush

A young male Bushbuck (Bosbok - Tragelaphus sylvaticus) in the Alexandria forest

As can be expected the latest batch of camera trap images form the Woody Cape included a lot of photographs of Bushbuck. I like the picture above of a young male standing in the more forest-like part of the reserve (near the town of Alexandria).

Nibbling on a few leaves

The Woody Cape gets rain throughout the year, peaking in the summer months. As a result, I got a couple of images containing wet Bushbuck.

During a wet night a dripping male Bushbuck puts his best hoof forward

I got plenty of male activity during the latest batch of images, but as always the females were on the hoof as well.

A female Bushbuck during a sunny day going in the opposite direction as the male (above)

Bushbuck aren't "big" antelope, but they definitely aren't small either. I have severe trouble walking/crawling along some of the trails. So, I felt a little less humiliated when I saw these images of a male having a little trouble along the same trail.

This part of the trail is just big enough for a Bushbuck to pas through

Being true antelope these Bushbuck don't shed their horns in the same way that the Northern deer shed their antlers. There are plenty of good reasons to keep your horns, and there are equally good reasons for shedding them. Fortunately for the males they sport sleek and stubby horns that don't seem to cause them to much trouble.

It still requires a bit of a squeeze

Surely with such good supply of food on the hoof there must be some predator around to keep them honest? But I might have to work hard to track down our spotted friend...