Life in Africa is just fine and dandy. The pigs and fish are rolling out the front gate by the truck load.
The Shooting has been going well now I've had a little more practice. I have just been out with Fergus shooting at the top end of the farm on the most wonderful African evening. The twisted trees marked against the red hues of the setting sun. I was lost in the great simplicity of my mind which faced with a sight of such beauty grinds to a pleasant halt. When we rounded a corner, looking straight at us was an animal with a foxes head a dog's body and an overgrown squirels tail. I had come to the incorrect guess of "what a nice doggy" when a command rose from the drivers seat in no uncertain terms "In The Head". I dropped onto the sight and pulled it abligingly dropped dead. I stood up and as we drove up to it i bore my ignorance on my sleeve "Ah, what is it?" It was a jackal. Jackals are very bad news for the game animals and they can carry rabies. It had been suspected that one had entered our farm as foot prints had been seen.
So what have I learnt about conservation today - well that some animals can be very destructive and transmit disease. I can also deduce that as I do not know all species I encounter it is better to shoot first ask questions later. This way we can eradicate feral and pest species but if it turns out to be rare shooting it will make positive identification easyier.
The Shooting has been going well now I've had a little more practice. I have just been out with Fergus shooting at the top end of the farm on the most wonderful African evening. The twisted trees marked against the red hues of the setting sun. I was lost in the great simplicity of my mind which faced with a sight of such beauty grinds to a pleasant halt. When we rounded a corner, looking straight at us was an animal with a foxes head a dog's body and an overgrown squirels tail. I had come to the incorrect guess of "what a nice doggy" when a command rose from the drivers seat in no uncertain terms "In The Head". I dropped onto the sight and pulled it abligingly dropped dead. I stood up and as we drove up to it i bore my ignorance on my sleeve "Ah, what is it?" It was a jackal. Jackals are very bad news for the game animals and they can carry rabies. It had been suspected that one had entered our farm as foot prints had been seen.
So what have I learnt about conservation today - well that some animals can be very destructive and transmit disease. I can also deduce that as I do not know all species I encounter it is better to shoot first ask questions later. This way we can eradicate feral and pest species but if it turns out to be rare shooting it will make positive identification easyier.
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