A few pictures from Botswana

[tanstaafl2]

Trying to figure out how to share photos.

Here are a few pictures from our recent trip to Botswana for anyone interested.

Password is "boredbuddy"

Botswana Pictures

If it doesn't work please let me know!

[tanstaafl2]

That of course supposes that anyone looks in the first place...

If it does work I wouldn't mind knowing that as well.

Thanks!

[ne1410s]

tan:

If it does work I wouldn't mind knowing that as well.

Works perfectly. Thanks for sharing!

[BackInTex]

Great pics! Thanks for sharing.

[Beebs52]

These are incredible, Tan. Thank you!

Is the wild hunting dog different from the jackal or hyena, or in the same general neighborhood, or totally different?

[ulysses5019]

Thanks. I needed a new avatar. Were there any Giant Botswanian Squirrels?

[tanstaafl2]

These are incredible, Tan. Thank you!

Is the wild hunting dog different from the jackal or hyena, or in the same general neighborhood, or totally different?

Wild hunting dogs are true dogs. Jackals are also in the dog family and are a bit more like coyote or fox. Hyenas are totally different.


Black Backed Jackal

Hyenas are not dogs at all despite their appearance and are actually a long distant branch of the cat family. But they are closer to civets and mongoose. I find then to be fascinating creatures and one evening (after dark) we followed one for a while. It was often only a few feet from the vehicle. Later we came upon what appeared to be a territorial fight between a bunch of them but it was hard to get pictures in the dark. They make very odd sounds (the "laugh" of the laughing or spotted hyena which is the ones we saw) and they can be quiet spooky! Females tend to be larger than males and tend to dominate in the pack. Females also have rather prominent "penis like" genitalia that makes it hard to tell them apart. I will add a few pictures to my photo site. They aren't all my pictures as I saw them only at night but a friend on the same safari later saw some during the day and shared his pictures.


Spotted Hyena

[tanstaafl2]

Thanks. I needed a new avatar. Were there any Giant Botswanian Squirrels?

Nope, no Giant Btsanian Squirrels. There were some averaged sized tree rats in the camps looking for scritches though.

I may have failed to get a picture though...

[Thousandaire]

A store down the street from me had a stuffed hyena for a while. They are much bigger than any dog and have huge heads, with jaws that look powerful enough to shred a small car. Truly frightening.

[tanstaafl2]

A store down the street from me had a stuffed hyena for a while. They are much bigger than any dog and have huge heads, with jaws that look powerful enough to shred a small car. Truly frightening.

The spotted hyena is know for eating animals bones and all (even elephants) and can be tracked because the resulting white feces. The are often described as having the most powerful bite of any animal pound for pound although other tests seem to dispute that. I suppose that would be hard to prove.

The one in the picture above looks like it has a rather keen interest in testing its bite force on the photographer...