November 2008

Green, green everywhere...dark green, bright green, light green, yellow and green, red and green, orange and green, green and green... We are very excited to announce that after months of waiting in anticipation, the rain had finally arrived. With wet roads and muddy boots we are so pleased to see Zululand in its true spirit once again. The transformation unbelievable in only a weeks time, fire-ball lilies (Scadoxus multiflorus) everywhere to be seen, Sickle Bush (Dichrostachys cinerea) boasting their "Chinese lanterns" in bright pink, yellow and white and newborn animals wandering through the lush green bush.

Scadoxus multiflorus
Dichrostachys cinerea

An assortment of different millipedes busily going about their business, a huge amount of different insects, moths, bugs and beetles to be found around every corner.

One species of insect I would like to introduce to you is The Millipede Assassin Bug (Ectrichodia crux). This interesting organism is about 22mm long, unmistakably shiny black with a dull yellow thorax incised with a black cross. They generally rest during the day under stones or among debris, emerging at night to feed on an exclusive diet of Millipedes...
They attack by jumping on a Millipedes back, causing it to "roll over" and then quickly inject venom into the abdomen of the helpless Millipede. This is the only vulnerable spot on the Millipedes tough body, the section where the legs are actually attached to the abdomen.
The venom starts dissolving the insides, and the Assassin Bug then consumes the inside of the Millipede, leaving behind a shell of emptiness...

No one ever said that nature's predators had to be oversized with huge teeth and fur...

Bush Cuisine

Chocolate Crispy Bites

A favorite with children, this version of crispy bites have been given a
new twist which is sure to be popular.

Ingredients: White Dark Layer

50g Butter 50g Butter
1tbsp golden syrup 2tbsp golden syrup
150g White Chocolate 125g Dark Chocolate
50g Toasted Rice Cereal 75g Toasted Rice Cereal

Method

Grease a 20cm square cake pan and line with baking parchment.
To make the white chocolate layer, melt the butter, golden syrup and chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of gently simmering water.
Remove from the heat and stir in the rice cereal until it is well combined.
Press into the prepared pan and level the surface.
To make the dark chocolate layer, melt the butter, golden syrup and dark chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water.
Remove from the heat and stir in the rice cereal until it is well coated. Pour the dark chocolate layer over the hardened white chocolate layer and chill until the top layer has hardened.
Turn out the cake pan and cut into small squares, using a sharp knife.

Cooks Tip:
These bites can be made up to 4 days ahead. Keep them covered in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Makes 18

Have you ever wondered....?

Why do bats hang upside down?

Bats essentially hang upside down because their legs are too weak to hold their body weight. This has occurred as a result of adaptations to fill their particular niche as mammals. Bats are the only mammals capable of flying, as in birds, weight saving mechanisms evolved to make flight possible. Most birds have hollow bones, but have minimal reduction (in most species) of the legs as they need them for perching and walking about in search of food. Rather than having feathers, bats have developed extensive but light membranous wings, have kept the solid bones, but have reduced on the one thing that was not of prime importance – their legs.
It actually requires no effort to hang, and if a bat were to die while hanging it would not fall. Hanging is therefore also an energy saving device, critical for periods of torpor.

Why do Bats not fall or get tired?

Normally in animals (there are a few exceptions) the tendons are voluntarily or consciously used to close a joint. In bats, however, the tendon connections for the claws on the toes are involuntary, activated by the body weight when hanging upside down. Gravity therefore does all the work, the body relaxes and the claws close – and stay closed. To fly again, the bat needs to consciously raise itself to overcome gravitational tension, voluntarily opening the claws enabling it to drop and fly.

How do bats not get brain damage hanging upside down?

Bats have a regulatory system within the circulatory or venous system of the head. This system restricts blood pooling in the head and thus prevents brain damage.

News from our Rangers

With the first summer rain, come the first summer termites...

What a spectacular sight, after the first proper rain, the queen termite lays some eggs of a different kind...these
termites are born with wings (they are called alates), and for each termite mount this happens only once a year.
The winged females leave the mount, find their king and it is then up to this King and Queen to build their own "castle". They find a suitable Spot, and starts setting up their brand new "castle". If they are successful, who knows how big their "castles" might end up being. The queen termite is so amazingly clever. If the mount is disrupted, and lets say they lose a lot of soldier termites, she actually knows to lay more "soldier eggs", if they lose a lot of workers, she lays "worker eggs". Pretty amazing for a creature that flies once, builds a home and never sees the sun again.

Termites can not consume any of the foliage that they carry into the mount. For them to eat, they wait until what ever they have brought in has grown some fungi and this is what their diet consists of. Worker termites feed all the others, King, Queen and soldiers alike, this of course gives the Queen a bit more free time to do what she needs to do...lay eggs, instead of crawling after all the kids to get them to eat their fungus.

The soil you see that actually forms the mount, is all the soil that the little worker termites have dug from the inside of the mount to form passages and ideally creating an air-conditioned residence for everyone. So, if you think about 4m high termite mounts, remember that all that soil has been dug out to the surface, and just imagine the size of the inside of the mount, and the amount of living, crawling termites that reside there.

Black Bellied Korhaan
Eupodotis Melanogaster

Most closely resembling the female Northern Black Korhaan, this species differs by having an obviously longer and thinner neck, chevron-snapped marking on the back, and olive, not bright yellow, legs. The russet crest of the male Korhaan is erected only in display. Females resemble males but are wider and lack the grey on the throat and neck. The call is a loud, piercing chew-chew-chew. In display the male suddenly fold its wings and legs and plummets in a ball to the ground. Found in grasslands with some trees and lightly wooded farmland. They mainly eat plant material, but also insects.

Scented-pod Acacia
Acacia nilotica

Absolutely striking this time of the year, this brilliant species of tree has bright yellow fluffy flower balls with hairy stalks. During the winter months it bears long narrow pods that resemble a beaded necklace. Young
green pods are covered with fine, reddish hairs, turning black as they mature. Mature pods have an extraordinary
sweet smell, separating them from all other seed pods, making them irresistible to the browser and in turn their
seeds are dispersed through the dung of the animals that enjoy this sweet treat.

Funny Bones

There was an old man in France who used to get up every morning at five A.M. he would then go and sprinkle a white powder on the roads.
When he was asked what he was sprinkling on the roads, he answered that it was elephant powder.
The person then remarked "But everybody knows that there are no elephants in France!" to which he replied " I guess it must be working then!"

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Feel free to drop us an email with your favorite jokes to add into future newsletters. You can send them to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Brain Teaser

Thank you to everyone who responded to our October competition! The winner of our Leopard Mountain competition for September is Jeff Reardon! Congratulations - you have won yourself and a partner a free night at the lodge including dinner, bed & breakfast as well as game drives!

Last Month's competition was:

You'll see us at night,
Most likely in flight.
We live in dark places,
Upside down our sleeping faces.
Eco location
Avoids feeding frustration
Our stories are scary
And our bodies quite hairy.

What am I?

A Bat – Family Chiroptera

.........You could be the lucky person to win yourself and a partner a free night including dinner, bed & breakfast and game drives at the lodge. Simply answer the riddle below to be entered in our lucky draw and email us the answer to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (competition closes 20th December 2008 terms & conditions apply):

This month's competition:

My tail strong
And my body long
I bask in the sun,
You'll see me and run.
Carnivorous my diet
On land, or in water I'm quiet
With knobbly skin,
I look like I grin.

What am I?

News from the Lodge

With the rain coming late this year, there have been a couple of rescue missions, mostly due to the wet parts in the riverbed drying up drastically fast. We have had to close one drinking hole in the river bed, as animals were starting to get stuck in the thick mud surrounding the water.
Luckily we could open it again after the descent rain, offering the animals a safe place to drink again.

One specific creature needed special attention this year though...Rudolph and Khumbulani took on the massive task of saving the Barbels/Cat Fish. They had to be moved to the hide as the arrival of proper rain was fairly unsure. They had managed to rescue 14 Barbels in the end, but I would like to mention that this is a quite a hefty task. Barbels are slimy, and slippery is mud. They were caught by hand, transported to the hide, and released there.

Click here to have a look at our online gallery of Leopard Mountain Lodge!

Best guest comments of the month:

Thank you very much for everything; the view, the game drives, the staff, rangers,...food. After coming from busy Kruger NP, we enjoyed here a little piece of heaven.

Thanks very much! We'll never never forget our stay with you.

"There was more to be seen that could ever be seen..."

The Boikanyo Foundation

Since it's the time for giving why don't u spend a few minutes and a small amount making a donation to The Boikanyo Foundation. The foundation raises funds for paediatric cardiac surgery at Johannesburg General Hospital for underpriveledged children. Please visit www.boikanyo.org for more information. Any amount will help... :-)