Night shot

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Actually: Night Shot (And Some Thoughts About ‘Togging On A Game Reserve)

Sifting through the several million photos we took at Sanbona, I think I’ve managed to kraal a significant but reasonable number of them into a Flickr album. Some were easy to include, some less so. But I use Flickr so that I’ve got a record and a memory of what happened, rather than to show off my photographic prowess. Using that second method would have taken a whole lot less time. What the group ends up with is a combination of the best shots and the best of the rest – it’s not always easy to photograph uncooperative wildlife. For an example, only 1 out of every 100 birds of prey that I see is facing me. Unless I don’t have a camera with me, of course. Then they all face me. Bastards.
That said, we were lucky enough to get very close to a lot of stuff, including cheetah, elephants (twice), rhinos and lions (and even a semi-cooperative bird of prey at one stage), amongst other things. So there are plenty of them.

But while you’re out and about looking at these things, you have to remember to make a decision: do you want to experience the animal there and then, or do you just want photo memories of it?
For me it was a bit of both, and so once I’d grabbed a couple of shots, I stopped and just watched, observed and listened (albeit with the camera ready to shoot again).

Obviously, you can take a bit more time over the shots of things that don’t move.

We also used our phone cameras while we were away. Firstly, so that we could email the kids something each evening and secondly (and photography snobs may want to look away now) because you can actually grab a decent shot every now and again. Oh, and it enables you to do things like this while someone else is using the “real” camera.

The place we stayed at was amazing. The setting was amazing. The staff were amazing. The food was amazing. The ranger was particularly amazing. It was, as you might expect, having read the previous five sentences – an amazing experience.

You can endure enjoy the full Flickr album here.

The Falconer

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Continuing with this week’s wildlife/animal theme, here’s a nice video of Nigel Wassall, a falconer from the Isle Man, doing… falcon stuff… on the Isle of Man.

Here’s the blurb:

The Falconer follows Nigel Wassall, a falconer of 40 years, as he flies his beloved birds of prey on the beautiful landscapes of the Isle of Man. Filmed over a series of days at different locations, all together with his favourite piece of music Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.

This film of Nigel Wassall has been done by Brook Wassall, who you might remember from such posts as Sky Shot. Presumably, there’s some familial relationship there, but I have yet to discover what it is. Either way, you can see more of Brook’s work on his website (well worth a visit).

EGS

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It’s May, and we all know what happens in May. EGS happens in May.

Incoming via Polo Times:

Grass Sickness cases show a spike in May.
Polo ponies that are kept out at grass could be affected this spring by Equine Grass Sickness.

Yep. EGS = Equine Grass Sickness: a sickness of equines that is caused by guess what?

The main risk factor for grass sickness, as the name may suggest, is grass.

Thanks wikipedia. No Jimmy, I’m not donating for stuff like this.

I’m not into ponies and horses (those allegations never even went to court), but I am into microbiology and this does have a microbiological side because the sickness is believed to be caused by a toxin produced by Clostridium botulinum. Yes, what’s killing horses left, right and centre is the same stuff Helen Zille injects into her face.

And it is killing horses. Almost invariably. Let’s look at the mortality rates for a few human diseases:

Influenza A (and by this, I mean actual Influenza, not “‘flu”) kills about 0.1% of people who get it.
Bubonic plague (the “Black Death”) kills about 5% of those it infects.
Mortality in those affected by the recent West African Ebola Epidemic was around 53% (although, it’s complicated).

EGS kills 95% of the horses that get it. Ninety-five!

I’m pretty happy that I’m not a horse right now. Or… in fact… ever.

Brilliantly, according to Polo Times, one of the best ways to limit the chances of your equine getting EGS is not letting your equine eat grass. Who knew? (I bet wikipedia knew.)

PT is equally insightful in their “What to look out for” section on EGS:

  • Peracute: The horse is found dead in the field having presumably ingested large amounts of the bacteria.

That’s hugely helpful. I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for that. Thanks.

Anyway, if you have horses (and I suspect this is mainly aimed at the Northern hemisphere), then apparently it’s well worth your while to be careful what you let them eat in the Springtime.

Even more miles from civilisation…

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If all has gone well (and (at the time of writing this) I have no reason to assume that it won’t have done), I will be enjoying a long weekend break with my wonderful and long suffering wife in celebration of our tenth wedding anniversary.

We’re leaving the kids and the beagle in safe hands and heading out to a private game reserve a few hours inland (obviously) from Cape Town. It’s in the middle of nowhere, and I have no idea what the connectivity will be like from there, although I’m reliably informed that “there is a wifi”.

Readers of 6000 miles… will be glad to know that posts on here will continue over the weekend and (depending on that connectivity) may be supplemented by further ‘tumblr mode’ offerings.

Have a great long weekend. I know I’m going to.