GO GO lioness !! Spring Spring Impalas.
Lions need 5-7 kgs (11-15 lbs) of meat per day. An impala weighs about 40-80 kgs (90-170 lbs). So eight to ten lions could feed on an impala. But Vultures always look for dead animals from above and their presence lead hyenas.
The vultures smell the hunting and fly into the sky just above. They are waiting for the moment to scavenge. Hyenas are looking at the vultures in the sky. The group of the birds tells hyenas where the carcass is. The lions have to leave the carcass when more hyenas come gather and outnumber them.
Dung beetles don't take lions' droppings. They eat dung produced by herbivores and omnivores. They look for dung with their strong sense of smell. Some beetles hung on to herbivores and wait for the moment that the animal produces their food. When two beetles come to one dung ball, usually the one rolling the ball is male, and the other on the dung ball is female. She is preparing to lay eggs in the dung ball.
They have very important roll to maintain the environment clean. If there is no dung beetles, ranch would be contaminated by the cows' faces which cultivate mosquitoes, parasites, or bacteria.
Meerkats mainly eat insect as well as lizard, snake, scorpion, spider, plant, and anything also. Because they have only few fat in their body, they need to eat constantly.
The Martial Eagle habitats in Zimbabwe, South Africa, and so on. Its wing span is about 190 cm to 250 cm and it is one of the biggest eagles in Africa. It eats hyrax, mongoose, rabbit, lizard, or snake. Sometimes, even larger mammals like impala, jackal, and serval are attacked. What a powerful bird of prey she is!
Meerkats lives in the group of about 20. They build underground nest which has several entrances. They are active during the day time. One or two of them stand straight on rear legs to see around as if they are the security guards while the others are looking for foods. If the guards find their enemies, they bark in a high tone and all the family members rush into their nest.
Adult Meercats teach their offspring how to capture and handle their foods. For example, The Fattail Scorpion, one of their favorite foods, is given to the young after the dangerous sting has been removed. Sometimes they got stung by the scorpions, but amazingly meerkat are immune to some venoms.
By the way, the Fattail Scorpion is one of the deadliest scorpions. It is found throughout Africa. Several humans are killed by this scorpion each year.
Meercats creates their nest underground. Sometimes they share their nest with mongooses or ground squirrels. But it is not peaceful if the Cape Cobra comes into the burrow.
Cape Cobra’s venom is strong enough to kill a human within 2-5 hours after one bite.
Meerkats eat snakes but cobras rarely. Venom of the Cape Cobra is too strong for meerkats to take a risk.
Believe or not, such a dangerous cobra is the preferred food for some animals. Can you guess who they are?
Ratel (Honey Badger) is a great snake hunter. The preys are the venomous snakes such as the Cape cobra and Puff adder.
Ratel may be bitten by a snake while (s)he is fighting.
The venom is harmful to kill the most of animals. However about 5 hours after the ratel bitten by a snake , (s)he can get up and start eating the snake.
Believe or not, ratel has a kind of immune system against the venom. It is considered that the ratel get to be immune while eating venoms of snakes, scorpions or bees since they are youngsters.
Ratel is 60 to 100 cm long with the weight of about 10kg (male) or about 6kg (female).
Even though they are not so big animals, they are a great fighter against lions and leopards. They can spray strong odor, and scare the big beast with the sharp craws and teeth. Sometimes They steal the lager predators' prey.
The end of Capter 1
