This entry was posted in Nature and tagged Bateleur, black mongoose, blue pumpkin, cabinet sauvignon, Porcupines, red wine on December 22, by Jane.
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Black mongoose
Add username "SmithsonianChan" on Snapchat for fun and fascinating facts. We'll be sharing spontaneous photos and videos as inspiration strikes. Lions of the Namib.
- The Penguin Freud Reader (Penguin Modern Classics).
- Wilkinson's World of Adventure.
- black mongoose | Wilkinson's World!
Unlock Full Episodes Access even more free Smithsonian Channel full episodes and documentaries online through participating TV providers. Don't See Your Provider? Find out if your television provider carries Smithsonian Channel. Black mongoose are stalking predators that will sometimes pursue prey much larger than themselves such as rock hyraxes but more commonly they hunt birds, like guinea fowl and drongos , and rodents.
The range of the black mongoose extends from the Kunene River region southward toward the Erongo Mountains of Namibia. Black mongoose are known as obligate petrophiles because they are highly adapted to living in extremely rocky areas with many large boulders. Home ranges vary widely in size from 12 to hectares. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Black mongoose Scientific classification Kingdom: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. African Journal of Ecology. We have seen them on three different occasions, which makes us feel extremely priviliged. Anyone who has traveled from Windhoek to Swakopmund will be familiar with the imposing outline of the Spitzkoppe mountains. Standing on a flat plain at an altitude of m above sea level, they should be clearly visible. Often, however, they are shrouded by haze or dust. It sits proudly alongside other domed mountains called the Pondoks, which is the local vernacular for small rounded huts that are made from branches and cow dung.
Further west lie the Little Spitzkoppe. These granite inselbergs have been eroded over time by wind and weather and shaped into the interesting rocks that so many folks have come to love.
black mongoose
We arrived quite late in the afternoon and were a little dismayed to find that all the regular campsites were already occupied. By regular I mean those campsites that had a 44 gallon drum serving as a dirt bin — there were no other facilities on offer, not even toilets or water, at least that we could see!
We drove around until we found a nice spot right up against an enormous granite mountain — in fact a sheer cliff rose hundreds of meters above us, making our car look quite dinky by comparison. Rob soon had a fire going and we sat chatting about the prospect of seeing new birds the following day.
black mongoose - Mammal Watching
Our Roberts Bird Guide told us that Herero Chats were endemic to this area and they would be lifers for us. We were up early the next morning and after breakfast, we walked a short way from our campsite around the base of the mountain, where we came to a clearing with a thicket of bushes covered in purple tubular flowers. This turned out to be a magical spot as the flowers attracted the Dusky Sunbirds and there were literally dozens of these lovely little birds flitting from bush to bush drinking in the nectar.
Rob was in his element photographing them and we spent a good hour there totally enthralled at the spectacle before us.
Along the way we noticed some mountaineers attempting a particularly steep and difficult climb. The enormity of what they were doing struck us when we saw how small they looked against the rocks meters above us. This area is a favourite with rock climbers and over the years many have met their fate on these perilous mountains. We had lunch in the shade of some big boulders and managed to tick off a pair of Herero Chats, although getting a decent photo of them proved somewhat difficult.
The birdlife in this area is quite magnificent with about different species on the list. There are also a number of animals to be found, but they made themselves very scarce during our visit and we were out of luck until the following day. By mid-afternoon we were ready to head back to camp and take a rest. The campsite offered up no shade at all so it was rather hot inside the rooftop tent. We did manage to sleep for a bit and were woken rather rudely by birds gathering outside.
Zusammenfassung
Starlings, Mountain Chats and Hornbills all fought over the scraps of bread as we clicked away happily unseen above them. Once again the moon gave us a special show as we bid farewell to the day. Our first visit was to the southern part of the area where the boulders were spanned by an enormous natural arch of rock. From here the Erongo Mountains were clearly visible in the distance. We stopped off at a disused water reservoir that was covered with bushes and trees and were delighted to spot a pair of black mongooses.
The black mongoose Galerella nigrata is a fairly rare specimen in Namibia and is mainly found in the Erongo mountains.
I was therefore especially pleased when we came across the pair at the reservoir and Rob was able to see them for himself. They were rather shy though and ducked into the undergrowth and although we waited for a good half hour for them to reappear, they must have been watching us and kept hidden. Here there is a climb up a steep incline, with assistance provided by a thoughtfully placed chain handrail.
This art, believed to have been the handiwork of the San people some 25 years ago, was created using extracts from vegetables, blood from animals as well as the urine from dassies Rock Hyrax and even Ostrich egg yolks. It was a sacred area for the nomadic people of old and many of the paintings depict their spiritual practices.