Bush Pills

Very short comments and observations

Harare wet Christmas

Although overcast and rather cold for Harare at this time of the year (19°C), I am sitting outside writing this short note that briefly interrupts my series of reports on Gonarezhou and Kruger.

I am pleased to be in the open-air so that I can hear the water filling the ex swimming pool (now our water reservoir). The Municipality water started flowing this morning! This may not impress you in other parts of the world used to the water  just “being there” but I can assure you that here it feels like Christmas!

So, after having long showers we are now busy filling all possible water deposits!

The last time we had public water was July 2013 and it lasted for 24 hours! We hope this time it will last longer and, who knows, it may be a sign of better things to come!

The “cold snake” enigma solved

The street newspaper sign that started this issue:

The Bushsnob is investigating under cover and will revert back...

The Bushsnob is investigating under cover and will revert back…

Then came my ‘tongue-in-cheek” follow up:

There seem to be two snakes! Investigations continue...

There seem to be two snakes! Investigations continue…

If you follow this blog, you will remember that I promised my readers that I would get to the bottom of the snake in the fridge affair. I am now in a situation that permits me to briefly tell you what took place on July 2014.

As documented by the Harare local newspapers, a child was seriously ill and his father sought “divine intervention” to cure him. He consulted some “Prophets” to help him with the problem. Two came and, after checking the situation, they diagnosed that the child’s illness was due to “evil spirits”. They proposed to cleanse the house where the child lived to rid it of said spirits at a cost of USD 1,000.

After an agreement was reached, the two “Prophets” arrived with the necessary tools in a bag and started the cleansing process. This involved singing hymns and sprinkling water. Later on they asked the house occupants to go to the shop to buy candles, milk and eggs that were also needed to complete the operation. When the house owners returned, the “Prophets” were very agitated as the evil spirits had -reportedly- transformed into a snake that was loose in the house.

After a while the snake was found in the fridge. As the operation looked suspicious, the Police was called in and the sham discovered! It then became clear that the false “Prophets” had rented a tame cobra for USD 80 and used it to carry out their scam! They are now in Police hands and being charged under the Animal Act for abusing the snake!

IMG_0229 closed for safari cropped and small

I am out looking for stories in Gonarezhou and Kruger National Parks.

During this time I will be working on new posts and, internet permitting, I will be publishing raw posts as they may not be edited by my Senior Editor, who also happens to be my daughter…

Bushsnob

 

 

Keeping fit

The weather in Harare is clearly getting warmer now. Although this complicates the water situation as the dry season advances, the conditions are great to renew our daily walks to keep our physical wellbeing. We are gradually increasing the distance and we hope to reach about 10 km, our daily average. Today we did six km and it was an interesting mid morning walk. We met the family of vervet monkeys that dwell in the hilly area our walking path traverses, where some large plots covered with msasa trees are present. The monkeys are now used to the increased urbanization and are seen walking over the walls and houses, apparently having found a new harmony with their man-made surroundings.

Further on, we came across another find in the form of a chameleon road kill. It was clearly a young one and, although sad, it indicated that these creatures are getting active again, probably with the warmer weather.

This find brought to mind an event that took place in Kenya in the eighties, while we lived in Tigoni. Chameleons were quite common in the forest that surrounded our house. Of particular interest was Jackson’s chameleon Trioceros jacksonii with its three horns and bright colours. The shrieks from a couple of hornbills called our attention and we realized that they were trying to catch a chameleon that was puffed up and putting up a gallant but hopeless battle. It was duly rescued and brought into the house “for protection”. It was seen inside for a couple of days and then it disappeared. Our belief that it had left the house was wrong as, regrettably, it was found mummified under the mattress of our bed a few days later! How he got there will remain a mystery.

Being a veterinarian, used to strong professional smells, I did not notice anything. However, I am sure that my wife did and she probably attributed it to me but she was, as usual, too polite to mention it.

Spot the beast…

tsavo east lioness

No posts!!!

This is bad but, for the last two days, I needed to perform a lot of the tasks I had postponed because of the very posts I wrote! Shopping, buying water, repairing the borehole, make bookings for planned trips, banking, pruning the roses, etc. were among the time consuming jobs I needed to get done. I am pleased to inform you that, these over, I will come back in full swing very soon as I have a few contributions almost ready to be released, thanks to the valuable contribution of my Editor in Chief (my daughter!) that is working overtime…

In the interim, to keep you entertained -and while still on the issue of deception- I place this picture so that you can spot what is in there, preparing an ambush. Although I am sure that you will find it, I will be posting another one later that will leave you in no doubt.

Have fun…

 

AND THERE SHE IS…

It was enough for her to move a few centimetres to reveal herself. A warning to the bush walkers…

It was enough for her to move a few centimetres to reveal herself. A warning to the bush walkers…

Flowers and Spiders
The yellow spider holding the bee. The small flies can be seen in different areas of the flower and the small male spider with its fly prey is on the right of the flower.

The yellow spider holding the bee. The small flies can be seen in different areas of the flower and the small male spider with its fly prey is on the right of the flower.

Walking in the garden I saw a bee collecting pollen on a yellow flower. Nothing strange about that you may think as there are beehives all over the place. However, about four hours later, the bee was still there and it was there still the following day. Clearly, further investigation was required.

Upon closer inspection I could see that  the now dead bee was being held by a rather small yellow spider, mimicking perfectly the colour of the flower and now busy sucking the bee’s body juices. Interestingly, there were also tiny flies on the flower, attracted by the mini carnage and, on further observation, a very small brown spider had caught one and it was also feeding on it. When disturbed, it left the fly and moved to the underside of the flower. My hasty conclusion was that the small spider was a commensal, taking advantage of the flies attracted by the dead bee.

After a bit of research and reading, the picture got clearer. The larger spider was a female Yellow Crab Spider (Thomisus sp.). This is not a rare spider so I was a bit disappointed. Then the following question was: what would it do when the flower dies as there were no other similar flowers nearby? It seemed rather obvious that the survival chances of such a brightly coloured animal would not be too good! I learnt a bit more about this as well! Once the flower dries, the spider moves off and it is able to change colour again to camouflage itself to its new surroundings. The wonders of nature strike again!

Oh, by the way, the tiny spider sharing the flower was not a commensal but the male spider that, in view of the size difference, I am sure it does well to inhabit the other side of the flower. That is exactly what I would do…