Africa 2003 - #88 Big & Little

The little dwarf mongoose is adorable. They are a rich dark chocolate brown and about 8 inches in body and another 8 of tail--40cm altogether. They live in large groups, often occupying an old dormant termite mound. These termite mounds are also favorite haunts for some serious snakes. Dwarf mongooses are very fast and hard to get pictures of.

These pictures are both taken on old termite mounds, when the little guys were still for a moment.

Here's something we've often seen, but never been able to get a picture of--and these pictures certainly won't win any awards! An African Wild Cat. They would pass for a domestic kitty anywhere and they do interbreed with them. We saw him sitting there in plain view--a rarity in itself as they are usually in tall grass.......................

.....................And then he turned around! Pardon the flashbulb eyes--this is with the little camera. I suppose I should have darkened them, but this is more authentic.

Any idea what this is? I should have put something there so you could tell size. It's big--the backbone of something big!

Did you guess right? Yep, a hippo! This one is just leaving the Namibian shore of the Linyanti River to come across twenty yards or so to Botswana. The tall plant this side of him and just after his hip at the right is papyrus, the plant from which ancient peoples made paper.

One more small thing--also seen at night because of the keen eye or our ranger, Jackson/KB. This is a puff adder, one of southern Africa's most dangerous snakes. It was only about a meter/big yard long, but was quite heavy. The spotlight the guide uses for night drives supplied enough light to not need a flash--the snake was right beside the vehicle.