One thunderous evening with the promise of rain in the air, darkness had settled over us.
Game drives were heading back to lodge for a warm dinner and we were all quite hopeful to miss the ominous weather that was looming above our heads. Excitement rose as Alex – the other guide, who was 3 vehicle lengths ahead of us – reported not one, but three leopards. Immediately, I killed the engine and the lights and waited for the signal to join the sighting of these exceptional animals. After a brief visual of a female in the grass heading off to join the other individuals in a thick drainage line, we lost visual. After various attempts of trying to relocate the animals, reluctant to give up, I was losing hope when I spotted FOUR individuals right next to the road, a mother and her three cubs.
Ecstatic with the turn of events, we headed for another road that would put us ahead of the leopard as they walked away. Before reaching the planned route, we spotted an unexpected impala ram heading right in the direction of the leopard. I once again cut the engine. We use a red filter over the white light of the spotlight to reduce the invasiveness a spotlight has on nocturnal animals. It takes about 35 minutes for a predator’s eyes to recover after being “blinded” by a white light, as the pupil has to quickly adjust to the sudden change in light, where a red light doesn’t seem to affect their sensitive nocturnal vision. This is even more important to keep in mind while an animal is hunting as you could make the prey aware of the nearby predators’ presence. It felt as if we were holding our breaths when suddenly a shadow emerged from the grass and within seconds the impala was grasped over the mouth. It was over quickly and soundlessly – a successful technique for avoiding any unwelcome visitors, hyenas – and we headed off the road to watch the event unfold. Slowly, the cubs started to materialise from the darkness and join mom. Like a good maternal figure, she left the meal for the cubs to dine first.
After almost an hour of watching the three cubs feed under the blankets of lightning and drizzle, it still hadn’t dawned on me the situation I had been so lucky to witness. We headed back to the lodge where dinner was waiting for a group of delighted guests fully satisfied by an extraordinary event in the African bush.
Contact Leopard Mountain Lodge
Web. www.leopardmountain.co.za
Email. info@leopardmountain.co.za
Tel. +27 35 595 8218
