 | Last Walk thru the Grab & Stab
2005-05-20, Mokolodi Hill, Botswana. By: carnivore | | My shelf life at Mokolodi has now expired. These last two weeks have been spent quietly saying my “goodbyes” to friends and especially to the animals in my care. Duma & Letotse, my beloved cheetahs,... |
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 | Murder Virgin
2005-05-09, Mokolodi Hill, Botswana. By: carnivore | | Until today, I was a murder virgin. Actually, that’s not entirely accurate. I’ve been killing chickens with some regularity to feed our cheetahs. But I’ve been deftly avoiding this day for a long t... |
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 | The Creamy Alabaster Master
2005-04-25, Mokolodi Hill, Botswana. By: carnivore | | Due to some serious financial mismanagement, Mokolodi Game Reserve has decided to sell off some of our game for a quick infusion of cash. Of course, the reason proffered to the staff for this drastic... |
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| Where the Wild Things Are
2005-04-07, Mokolodi Hill, Botswana. By: carnivore | | Over a cup of heavily sugared instant coffee this morning, I got to thinking about where the wild things are here in Africa, when the famous children’s book author, Maurice Sendak, popped into my head... |
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 | Bootleggin' Baboons
2005-04-03, Mokolodi Hill, Botswana. By: carnivore | | I’ve been dreading this day for a long time. No matter how much you prepare for it because you know its coming, its still tough. Regardless of your efforts to stay emotionally uninvolved, some speci... |
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| Jimmy Jack the Alternator
2005-03-15, Mokolodi Hill, Botswana. By: carnivore | | At the predator/livestock workshop I attended a few days ago, I met a 25 yr old Swiss guy named Gabriel who lives in Botswana and is researching leopards for his Masters degree project. We got to tal... |
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| Playing God
2005-03-14, Mokolodi Hill, Botswana. By: carnivore | | Until now, our new young male cheetah Mochozi has been given only dead food. In an effort to determine his hunting skills, it was decided to put a live lunch in his enclosure. I took a rabbit from o... |
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| Roots & Routes
2005-03-10, Mokolodi Hill, Botswana. By: carnivore | | The Mokolodi Operations Manager sent us on a donkey run today. Its time to restock the meat freezer with cheetah food. We fired up an old flatbed truck, it coughed up a black exhaust plume, and we p... |
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 | Sweet Home Alabama
2005-03-07, Mokolodi Hill, Botswana. By: carnivore | | Duma & Letotse have been on a vomiting spree. Both cats have thrown up at least 5x each in the last 2 weeks. We are treating them with special medicine balls (ground beef) filled with antibiotic and... |
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 | Luckless Ganesh
2005-03-02, Mokolodi Hill, Botswana. By: carnivore | | Each morning here I make the rounds to check on the condition of animals. Our Martial Eagle had a significant patch of red feathers on his neck which he didn’t have yesterday. Kyle & I were able to g... |
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 | Drop the Meat & Retreat
2005-02-23, Mokolodi Hill, Botswana. By: carnivore | | So far, the highlight of my days here are the moments I spend with Duma & Letotse. If I could, I would sit with them all day taking catnaps. Just being in their presence is an enriching experience..... |
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| Jack Daniels Farm Fantasy
2005-02-14, Mokolodi Hill, Botswana. By: carnivore | | Alone again on Valentines Day...a familiar scene. Same solitude, different continent. Apparently, it’s a big holiday here but you wouldn’t know it by looking at couples in public. Outward displays ... |
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| Enter Mochozi
2005-02-10, Mokolodi Hill, Botswana. By: carnivore | | Two agents arrived today in a government vehicle marked DWNP, (Dept of Wildlife & National Parks). They popped out sporting very official looking starchy uniforms with matching green berets and armpi... |
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| Wartface & her Hoggettes
2005-02-06, Mokolodi Hill, Botswana. By: carnivore | | Unlike the West, there is no pace of life here. Africa has a rhythm, which quickens with the adrenaline that predators evoke and slows during drought. This rhythm is often interrupted by the ignoran... |
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 | Rigor Mortis Erectus
2005-02-03, Mokolodi Hill, Botswana. By: carnivore | | This morning the Steenbok which the sanctuary has been looking after is due to be released back into the bush. He’s a sweet boy should be able to fend for himself without being fed & watered by human... |
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 | Dreadlocks & Birkenstocks
2005-01-29, Mokolodi Hill, Botswana. By: carnivore | | Today was the day I finally had the unique pleasure of meeting the royalty of the reserve. I had known about them before I came out to Botswana and was anxiously waiting for my chance to be introduc... |
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| Fangs of Fear
2005-01-28, Mokolodi Hill, Botswana. By: carnivore | | I have no concept of the day of the week here. Unlike the West, lives here are not dictated by daily routines with rigid time schedules. There is no such concept of "routine" in Africa. The opressi... |
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| Bearing High Caliber Arms
2005-01-26, Mokolodi Hill, Botswana. By: carnivore | | Two game wardens for the Department of Wildlife & National Parks came to Mokolodi today. They came at our request to facilitate a 3 day rifle training program for our conservation team (guides, track... |
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| Loin Cloths, Spears, & Blood Diamonds
2005-01-23, Mokolodi Hill, Botswana. By: carnivore | | Just 40 years ago, Botswana (then called Bechuanaland during British colonial rule) was one of the world’s ten poorest countries. Its independence gained peacefully in 1966 coincided with the discove... |
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 | Separation Anxiety
2005-01-22, Mokolodi Hill, Botswana. By: carnivore | | Today, our sanctuary received a new guest under some strange circumstances. A baby baboon about 6 weeks old arrived weighing 3 lbs. She’s the ugliest and most irresistibly cute primate I’ve ever see... |
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 | Khaki Turban
2005-01-21, Mokolodi Hill, Botswana. By: carnivore | | Tonite, I was invited to my first bush braai. Its an African style bbq held at dusk out in the bush. One of South Africa’s most famous pop stars, Zola, hosts a cheeselog reality tv show about making... |
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 | Shantytown for Snakes
2005-01-16, Mokolodi Hill, Botswana. By: carnivore | | Mosthusi came to find me and told me he’d like to show me something, and suggested I bring my camera. We walked into the bush about 100 yards and he pointed to the base of a tree overgrown with shrub... |
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 | Vultures' Restaurant
2005-01-15, Mokolodi Hill, Botswana. By: carnivore | | Just emerging from my jetlag slumber. I’ve been in my own personal haze and the things I’ve already seen here don’t seem real. The flies, however, are all too real. Not quite as bad as the document... |
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