After posting “Hippos from Hell” I have now managed to upload all the videos that I took while the events narrated took place.

The videos follow the sequence of events narrated in the post with a short explanation of what you see in them.

Here they are:

A crocodile in full view can be seen approaching the drinking impala! It positions itself at its vantage point and then it disappears from the surface. The ambush is set and all that remains is to wait for new impalas to come or for the ones there to forget about it!

After catching an impala, the crocodile(s) resurfaced at point 2. The hippos moved in to wrestle the impala from them but failed. A crocodile is seen slipping through towards point 3.

After avoiding the hippos at point 2, the crocodiles regrouped at point 3 and started to go at the carcass. Almost immediately hippos came to the area of the commotion to try and get the impala. The hippo somehow chases the wrong crocodile and misses the one with the carcass that slips away, back to point 2.

A pair of male kudu watched on while the crocodile takes the impala back to point 2.

This video show the hippo going for the antelope at point 2. After this incident the hippo stole the carcass from the crocodiles at some point (not filmed) and this becomes apparent when the whole hippo community of about 16 animals is seen eating the impala!!! These videos complement the pictures of the Hippos from Hell post.

A similar situation was observed the following day when another impala was taken by the crocodiles.

While the crocodile and hippo drama was unfolding, this warthog was busy mud bathing and looking after his “mudtub”!!!

Nature does not stop…

Although the authors interpret the videos below as hippo attempts at “saving” other animals, I believe that they were, again, trying to snatch them from the crocodiles. Watch and judge!

Beware: they are strong!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USfCieXuQrs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBbMmkMapj8

Ingredients:

A gas-operated water heater

Low shower curtain and thick rod

Washing machine outlet inside the bath (with stone)

Donkey-skin towel

The list of ingredients alone should give you an idea of the setting. However, I will elaborate a bit further so that you can get an idea of the predicament I was in. The rains this year in El Gallinato, Salta, Argentina have been abundant so there is plenty of water in our borehole, a welcome change from previous years. The end result of this is that “abundant” and or frequent showers are possible if you so wish. This is not our case as we are programmed to save water but the possibility is there.

Getting ready for the dentist appointment, I decided to shower, as smelling foul would surely increase dentist’s aggressiveness above my perceived Mengele’s level. So I went for it.

To have a shower with a gas water heater requires opening the tap so that the flow of water triggers a flow of gas that gets lit by the pilot lamp and hot water comes out the other end. For the system to operate, the water has to have pressure and the gas cylinder gas! Both were estimated OK and I went for it, after opening the tap for the water to reach the right temperature.

Regrettably, the shower curtain to enter the bathtub where the shower is located is lower than me so “bang” went my bold cranium and, although severe, I managed to keep my balance and the hot water relieved my pain so that I could proceed with the cleanup. After finishing the operation to my satisfaction – though probably not my family’s – I decided to close the tap and leave, this time minding the wooden bar to avoid further brain damage.

I aligned my agile physique to avoid the bar and, again, unlucky I stepped on the stone weighing down the outlet pipe of the washing machine, which is also located in the bathtub. The pipe spluttered all over the place the first time the machine was used and I attached a rather large stone to it, to hold it and the shower curtain down. This time I lost my balance and went into the start of a headlong and inelegant fall that I managed to control by holding onto-and ripping off- the shower curtain. Thankfully the rod that hit me earlier withstood my weight and somehow I survived this second attempt on my life!

Remembering that I am retired and should look after my health, I paused, took a deep breath and I promise you I did not curse… I recovered and looked forward to a good drying and rub down with a dry towel. The final disappointment was waiting for me in the shape of a well known and hated towel known as the “donkey hide”, an ass-coloured cloth that I hate as it has the unbelievable property of only moving the water around your body without absorbing any water or drying it! So, after pushing the water down my body and into the floor drain with the assistance of the donkey hide, I ended up -still wet- sunning myself naked in the garden in an attempt to get dry, under the midday sun, with a bump on my head and checking to make sure that my ankle was OK.

Farm showering for you!

During my earlier post on fishing (A Fishing Expedition) I mentioned the hairy moments we spent during our short trip up the inundated Paraguay River. While writing it I recalled the experience I am writing now, as it also is related to floods and what they may bring to our latitude in Uruguay.

The River Plate Estuary is the outlet into the Atlantic Ocean of the River Plate basin that drains water from over four million square kilometres of land in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay. The start of the River Plate is the meeting of the Paraná and Uruguay Rivers at a place known as Punta Gorda (“Fat Point”), a few kilometres down river from Nueva Palmira, which is today a very important deep water harbour. The Paraná and the Uruguay Rivers, before meeting in Punta Gorda, collect a number of important tributaries aside from the Paraguay River such as Pilcomayo, Bermejo, Salado, Iguazú, Mocoretá, Gualeguaychú, Negro and Samborombón Rivers to name a few.

Perhaps once a year, floods take place and a lot of debris comes down the River Plate as a consequence of heavy rains that fall in areas where some of the smaller rivers mentioned are located. Brown, muddy water points towards the Paraguay River while a brick red colouring to the Bermejo River. Floods bring huge water hyacinth islands drifting past at high speed and, during severe flooding, it is not strange to see colossal trees floating past as well. Not surprisingly then, animals are also seen populating them and I have heard stories of monkeys holding on for dear life. Sometimes the animals land here. I remember a pair of Anacondas seen by a friend at Punta Gorda last year! I also remember the famous 1959 floods when dried exotic insects and small animals such as snakes and mice could be seen stuck on the walls, indicating the how high the water reached on the walls of flooded houses.

In order to tell you about the real event that a member of my family lived through, we need to go back in time to the end of the 19th Century. My father, who was one of the nephews of the main protagonist, called Manuel, told the tale. His family lived in Nueva Palmira at the time in a Spanish style house composed of several rooms around a central patio that opened behind to the backyard where fruit trees and poultry were kept. The only toilet of the house was located there. A large Ombú (Phytolacca dioica) provided abundant shade in the main central patio. It was there where the family congregated in summer to drink mate and entertain visitors. As the household was located in the centre of the town’s social hustle and bustle, it was not strange for several characters to pay a visit. Among these were business people, politicians and the town’s Priest, as the family also belonged to the Catholic Church.

The time of the event was April and the town was undergoing one of its periodic floods, although I have no further details of its severity. It was a cool autumn evening and the family was congregated indoors, in the large kitchen. The daughters were probably doing crochet or embroidery and the adults, drinking mate, gossiping or talking about the events of the day. It was before dinner and probably a “Puchero”[1] was being cooked. The arrival of the Priest was expected and, after the formal greetings, he went in to see the grandmother and to take her weekly Confession. Voices were lowered and the conversation switched to more formal issues. His task completed, the Priest returned to the kitchen and he was, as usual, invited for dinner that, as usual, he declined. He did politely accept the offer to drink a few mates before leaving though.

After a while, probably as a consequence of mate drinking, the Priest excused himself and went to the toilet. Although it was dark outside, he knew the place and, with the help of the ubiquitous oil lamp he got there. After about 20 minutes of the Priest’s absence, one of the daughters made a comment about his delay but they decided to wait a bit longer before checking on him “to avoid embarrassment” as the mother put it. A few more minutes passed and then suddenly they heard strange sounds outside. Manuel stood up and rushed to investigate.

Once outdoors he heard moaning. Nothing prepared him for what he saw next as it was as unexpected as it was shocking. The priest was leaning against one of the patio wooden columns, holding it and as pale as a ghost. He was the source of the cries Manuel had heard. Manuel ran towards him and just managed to reach him before he fell. He heard a soft “Tigre!” before his companion went limp and almost fell despite Manuel’s hold. He felt the unmistakable slippery and sticky blood on the Priest’s back while the word the priest had uttered sunk in! They were in grave danger in the dark so he made a supreme effort and rushed with the Priest towards the door that he kicked open to enter. He dropped the apparently lifeless Priest inside the house, shouted for the door to be closed as soon as he managed to enter and while cleaning his hands on his trousers he rushed to fetch his gun.

His arrival in the kitchen with the bloody and inert Priest created great confusion. The girls froze in horror but his wife immediately reacted and, together with the house staff, they placed the Priest on the large dinner table. It was clear that he was badly mauled, particularly on his back. While Manuel fetched his gun, his wife, staff and daughters, started to remove the Priest’s cassock to be able to stem the bleeding and clean the wounds. Although the Doctor lived a few houses away, there was no chance of going out to fetch him while the thing responsible for such an attack was still at large!

Armed with his Mauser rifle, Manuel went out. He forbade the ladies to leave until he returned. Before he went, the Priest came to and let them know that he had been attacked while leaving the long drop by a “Tigre”[2]. This was confirmed by the severity and depth of the claw marks. He was lucky that it did not bite his neck and kill him. The Jaguar was probably stalking the chickens at the time the unlucky Priest’s nature call brought him out!

Either Manuel was brave or he did not think much when he left the house to gain his vantage position up the large tree. He knew the tree so he chose a good spot and waited. Not long after, the first light helped him and he saw the unmistakable silhouette of the jaguar, still near the log drop. Although the light was not yet ideal, afraid of the animal running away, he took aim and shot. The Jaguar fell and, without waiting he shot it twice again. He waited for a few minutes and, seeing that the cat did not move, decided that it was safe to climb down. The cat, a young adult, had found its demise thousands of kilometres away from its home range.

Once the outcome of the hunt became known, the Doctor was fetched and with him came the whole town, which had been woken up by the loud shots, wanting to find out what had happened! The animal was skinned and his head was displayed at the History Museum in Montevideo for many years where I saw it while visiting the place with my father in the late 1960s. It took a while for the Priest to recover from his infected wounds but he survived.

[1] A traditional dish made up of boiled vegetables and tubers with pieces of mouton or beef.

[2] The name Tigre was given to the Jaguar (Panthera onca) by the Spanish Conquistadores as they found it similar to the Asiatic Tiger. The name has stuck in large parts of its area of distribution.

Capybara and rider. Picture by Mariana Terra.

The Capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) is the largest rodent in the world. Surprisingly (for me), while reading about this animal I learnt that there is another species found in Colombia, Panamá and Venezuela known as the Lesser Capybara (Hydrochoerus isthmius). The Capybara is native of South America where it dwells near bodies of water. It is a social animal that forms large groups (up to 100 individuals) although smaller groups are more common.

On the road. Picture by Julio A. de Castro.

Capybaras were not new to us as we had been fortunate to see them in the past while fishing in Ita Ibaté on the Paraná River, in the Beni region in Bolivia and in the Pantanal in Brasil, apart from the occasional sightings in Uruguay. I did not consider them to be very exciting animals hence they were not high on my list of “things to see” in the Iberá wetlands. My wish list included rarer mammals such as Giant Anteaters and Manned Wolves[1].

Breakfast time…. Picture by Julio A. de Castro.

In retrospect, I was really unfair and I should have considered these giant rodents as a “must see” as well! Their sheer abundance made them interesting and the fact that they showed great tolerance to us while walking, bordering on indifference, added an element of intimacy that facilitated some close encounters. The latter were not too close, as adults would bark in warning while babies would squeal before moving off. This closeness -with our help I admit- made our walks in the area much more fun and detracted from our failure to find the “specials” mentioned above.

A moment of closeness… Picture by Mariana Terra.

Seeing life through the Capybara’s eyes (and brain). Picture by Mariana Terra.

There were capybaras all over the place, of all sizes and colours. With regards to colouring, we noted the brown hair colour of those living in the Iberá lagoon vs. the red hair of their relatives dwelling in the waterlogged savannah. Although a few theories were discussed, some of them rather eccentric, we did not come to a logical explanation for this difference. What we all agreed upon was their clear alopecia that we were informed was a kind of mange. Further reading revealed that 90% of the Capybaras in an area of the Iberá wetlands suffers from mange caused by Sarcoptes scabiei, a common form of the disease and 42% showed signs of severe infestation.[2]

The animals were seen grazing, often doing this lying down more like herbivours than rodents They were also seen swimming alone or in groups. However, and perhaps the more interesting find was the habit of these animals to occupy almost all hollows filled with water. They seemed to enjoy being quietly immersed in water and they were really reluctant to depart from these truly private bathtubs!

Capybara in its bathtub. Picture by Julio A. de Castro.

The Bushsnob waiting for his turn to enter the bathtub.Picture by Julio A. de Castro.

VIew of Capybara in bathtub. Picture by Julio A. de Castro.

Somehow you expect Capybaras to gnaw! This they may do but a bit of reading reveals that they are herbivores and selective in what they graze, choosing plants with high protein content. They have a simple stomach but a large caecum that acts as the fermentation chamber. However, their most extraordinary digestive feat is that they produce two types of faeces: individual oval balls of green olive color and another of glutinous consistency and clear coloration. Cecotrophy is the name given to their habit of eating the clear droppings as, when excreted, they are still rich in nutrients.

We did not know about cecotrophy while at Iberá but we did watch an interesting phenomenon: tadpoles feeding on Capybara pellets dropped in the water. Clearly there was still nourishment left there for the benefit of other creatures as well.

We will be back to re-inspect the droppings more carefully next time!

A FEW INTERESTING VIDEOS OF THE IBERA WETLANDS:

[1] Myrmecophaga tridactyla and Chrysocyon brachyurus respectively.

[2] María J. Corriale, M.J., Orozco, M.M. y Ignacio Jiménez Perez, I. (2013). Parámetros poblacionales y estado sanitario de Carpinchos (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) en lagunas artificiales de los Esteros del Iberá. Mastozool. neotrop. vol. 20 no.1 Mendoza.

As today is a holiday and I imagine you can do with some entertainment, I decided to post a few videos about elephants. Please put up with my usual lack of photographic/filming skills and enjoy the moment!

1. What I call the Babalala Tusker for lack of another more appropriate name until it is -eventually- named by the Kruger National Park authorities.

2. I believe this to be a magnificent view of elephants at a waterhole in Hwange National Park in October 2013. This sight really hooked me on the pachyderms (with help from family and friends…)

3. Another view of elephants drinking at a smaller waterhole.

4. Elephants are the only animals that show “emotions” when approaching the water! Just watch…