Veldwagter/Ranger: August 2011

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Drolpeer

This is the second tree that flower in the bushveld. In the beginning the flowers are white and then it turns brown later in the season. You can see this tree in the bushveld.

Name tag

The name of the tree with the red flowers is Common Coral Tree. The green background is for the indegenous trees of South Africa. The yellow background is for exotic trees to South Africa.

Coral Tree

This Coral tree is the first to flower in the bushveld. It is the announcer of summer for me.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Bosvark

This is what we call in Afrikaans a Bosvark.Some farmers see them as a pest as they destroy their lands.

The one behind the big one is a juvenile.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Painted Wolf

These animals are under severe threat due to mainly habitat loss. the nickname of painted wolf relate to the skin pattern.

Mean Machine

This is one of the big five. It is a animal to respect - this photo was taken in Kruger National Park.

This old man is a typical dagga boy - this is old age in a buffalo bull. They are called dagga boy because they like to play in mud pools.
When mixing sement for a structure you also mix the sement and it is called dagga / daggah and mud looks the same altough it is a different colour.

The horns tell a story of many "scraps" and now it is almost over. This photo were taken in the Kruger National Park.

Aardvark

This is the hole digger. I observed this animal for over three hours foraging in the veld. This is just awesome to see this animal. It were late afternoon.

Ranger Training

Some young rangers are shown how to sharpen the chain saw. This type of coaching is very important in the training of rangers.

Dip applicator with salt lick

The dip applicator seen from nearer. Here you can see the salt blocks and the rollers on the side. The dip is underneath the rollers and when the animal lick it it rolls and dispense the dip on the bottom of it's neck.

Dip applicator

This is a dip applicator that is used. Interesting way to dip animals - in this case it is the wild animals. Inside the applicator they put in salt licks so it attracts the animals. As the animal lick the salt block it will rub with the bottom part of it's neck over the rollers and in that way the dip will be attached to the animal.

The one thing that is not good is the fact that the applicator is left to long in one spot and you can clearly see the effect of the animals on the soil. You need to move the apparatus more often to prevent this situation.

It does not work for Giraffes.

Soil enrichment

In this photo you can see the dung of animals covering the open soil. Next to the grasses you will see
is the layer of dung that will eventually start to disintegrate and prepare a bed where other grasses can start to grow and cover the soil.
It will also break the speed of raindrops and it will prevent the soil to be impacted by the rain.
It ake some time for nature to improve soil but there is a well established system.