Caracal (Rooikat) On The Hunt

One of the things we love about nature is that it never fails to surprise you, here we were trying to photograph a particularly skittish Jackal Buzzard when we were treated to an exceptional sight.  This was a sight that remains embedded in the mind, the best photographs always seem to be those seen by the human eye and not those captured by the camera lens.

The Jackal Buzzard was moving from pole to pole and as we drew closer it would just simply fly off to the next pole.  At last it looked as if the bird was going to remain settled for a photograph.  It was then that the peripheral vision caught the movement ..... from there it was slow motion.  The noise of disturbed Guinea Fowl taking to the air, the rush of wing beats and squawks intermingled and between the birds was this amazing cat at full stretch.  He had launched himself into the air with the fore paw stretching way up until it connected feathers.  A mixture of bird and cat .... a picture burned into the memory of a magnificent jump with a successful catch.

It was over in seconds, way to fast to even get the camera in the direction of the raucous but I was fast enough to jump out of the vehicle and start firing away with the camera.  The Caracal was so focused on the hunt and eventual kill that it had not even registered our presence.  It walked slowly into the open "chewing" the carcass of the Guinea Fowl, you could see the jaws clenching then releasing obviously making sure the prey was indeed dead.

Then in a trans the cat turned to look at us, obviously the clicking sound of photographs snapping away had alerted him to our presence.  He looked at us, then away again.  All of a sudden he registered what he had seen and looked one final time before dropping the Guinea Fowl and loping off.  That was our cue to leave so that he could return for his kill.

What a sight!  

Below are some more Caracal photographs, these were taken at a later date at De Hoop Nature Reserve