Happily I recently spotted one of the young mongooses crossing the garden patio. It’s old enough to be independent now and to forage on it’s own. The family has been skittish, laying low as a caracal (lynx) has moved into the area. Put a predator in the mix and there’s a palpable sense of alertness. The dassie (rock Hyrax) colony which live below along the rocky shore are hyper-vigilant, doubling sentry duty. Their urgent alarm calls ring through the air and send everthing diving for cover of safety. A caracal’s range may extend to a large area, but with the recent fires, there is scant vegetation cover and perhaps meager pickings for a lean hungry predator. Meanwhile gardening chores are undertaken with a degree of caution.
Nature on the Edge 
Oh, so cute!!
Yes, the young always have a vulnerable kind of appeal ….
Great shot of this cute creature, Liz. 🙂
Thanks Sylvia, this little fellow is quite confident, or rather doesn’t perceive us other residents as a threat. Glad to have got the shot.
We used to have a merry band of mongooses which marched across our small backyard in Umhlanga Rocks. They like to bathe in the bird bath, and were hilarious to watch. 😀
Great shot!
Thanks Ann Christine.
What an interesting back yard you have Liz! I remember seeing a small group of Rock Hyrax when I was in Israel. Would the Mongoose be a threat to you Liz?
Interesting and much to obverse re food chain activity! The rock hyrax attract attention/ but pretty wiley wirh their duty sentries on watch. The mongoose isn’t a threat to humans, but i would respect the space of the caracal ((lynx). Not that they would attack humans, but i would not want to surprise, threaten or corner one. They’re a beefy little cat, the females weigh 8 -12 kilograms and the makes are heavier 15 – 18 kgs. They prey on small mammals like the mongoose and rock hyrax – can also bring down the smaller buck species. It’s an interesting neighbourhood tor sure.
Nice shot, such a cutie!
Thanks Book Haunt 🙂
Cute little guy. Would a caracal attack a human?
similar to mountain lions. We respect their space, and they are too often victims of roadkill. Or rat poison.
Sad… they are beautiful animals.
The caracals are generally shy though we do see them during daylight they are supposed to be nocturnal hunters. They’re unlikely to attack humans. Interesting data is being discovered through the Urban Caracal project: https://www.facebook.com/urbancaracal/ run by Dr Laurel Serieys whose previous studies were conducted in California. Interesting parallels.
Goodness yes, keep your eyes and ears open!
A wonderful place to be with so many interesting things happening.
The best kind of visitors! 🙂
wow. Cape Town has a wide range of animals.. 🙂 wait, is this in CT?
Hi Darrel, this is CT in the far south. Although many of the species encountered here are widespread throughout the peninsula :).
You can see the mischief in the little mongooses’ eyes! Hope he stays out of trouble.
This little one steals the show. Yes, here’s hoping he doesn’t land up on the dinner menu of Mrs Caracal.
I hadn’t heard of a rock hyrax (or dassie) but I was surprised to see in the article at
http://www.krugerpark.co.za/africa_rock_dassie.html
that it’s “the African elephant’s closest living relative, in spite of the size difference. This close evolutionary relationship is deduced from similarities in the structure of the feet and teeth.”
Yes, isn’t neat to consider how their separate evolutionary paths evolved? Oh and the dugong /manatee are also related. So one wonders what the common ancestor looked like?
Here’s some information I found along those lines:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution_of_sirenians
Thanks for this link Steve. I went on a long Wikipedia history tour, and now conjure up images of horse-sized hyrax, and understand why elephant swim so well.
Beautiful pic! Nice to meet you, Liz! 🙂
Greetings through the ether to you too, Nandini. Thanks for your support by following my blog.
Pleasure, Liz!
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