The incredible talking trees

At our first camp in Kruger, we took the "Sunset Tour." This is similar to the one we took in St. Lucia (see "Leaf-stitching Ants"), but the Sunset Tour began in daylight and ended after dark. It was an incredible way to see both diurnal and nocturnal animals in a short time, animals that we would have surely missed on our own.

Our guide was named Celia. She was pretty, knowledgeable, and delightful. Best of all, Ronda, Brian, and I were the only ones on the tour, so we had four hours to ask questions and soak it all in.

Speaking of soaking, we saw tons of hippos (literally) in the river. After dark, we found them by shining our spotlights until we saw eyes. Mainly we saw birds -- big ones (Marabou storks), little ones (blacksmith plover and cape turtle doves), eagles, grey go-away bird (yes, that's its official name), king fishers, rollers, and others.

There is a species of antelope (maybe the water bucks) that Celia said do a peculiar thing if they are killed by a predator. In a herd, a lion or leopard or wild dog will single out an antelope to kill. Apparently, as it dies, it has the ability to pour a foul-tasting substance into its flesh, so that that particular lion (for instance) will leave that herd alone, thinking that they are all rotten. I don't know what this is called or how it developed -- an animal playing its last card for the perpetuation of the herd. All animals have to eat, but I like the idea of a confused, disgusted big cat.

Celia went on to say that trees do a similar thing. If an elephant chews the bark off a tree, that particular tree puts out a signal to other trees in the area, and they have the ability to make their bark taste bad. I don't know if it's all trees that do this or just a few of the evolved, but what a trick!

She pointed out an old tree that an explorer used as a landmark many years ago. There were curvy patterns in the dusty road, with big circles in between the waves. It's a beautiful pattern that I'd seen on fabric. This turned out to be an elephant walking and dragging its trunk. We saw a lone bull elephant and crocodiles, and had a great time, but I'll always remember what an injured tree or dying antelope can do to protect its kind.