Some of the Smaller Creatures!

Everyone wants to see the "big five", but there are so many other interesting critters out there! Our rangers were excellent in showing us all the little things that we would have missed on our own.

One thing I found intriguing was the Dung Beetle!!! One day our ranger, Chris, picked up something and turned to me and said hold out your hand! I held out my hands and he put this black beetle on me!!! Yuckie!!!! I immediately dropped it and Chris picked it back up and made me hold it again! He explained that the male dung beetle rolls some animal poop up in a ball, then the female lays her eggs in the dung and the larvae feeds on the dung while it is growing. It seemed like a very unusual method of reproducing to me, but the funny thing is they are very protective of this little critter! There were road signs around that we found that read: CAUTION: Dung Beetles Have Right of Way. I thought this was almost a joke, but it is not; if you see a dung beetle in the road, you are suppose to avoid running over it!

I am smiling, but I am really freaking out with this dung beetle on me!!! What I won't do for a picture!!! (And yes, I did wash my hands REALLY good when we got back!!!)

The dung beetle starting to roll up some "poop"!!! These balls can get to be as large as a grapefruit!

Thought this was a joke, but it is not!

Look at this beautiful guy!!! Blue-headed Agama Lizard. I saw him running across the parking lot at the lodge. No one else was around, but I had to CREEP up on him slowly to get near him, I felt pretty fortunate to actually see him!

God shows how creative he is in all of nature! Hard to believe there is a lizard that is so blue and yellow!

Dwarf Mongoose. These were the cutest little guys poking their heads up and down out of their holes.

Liam (our ranger at Sabi Sands) finds a chameleon in a tree.

Birds

Our rangers not only knew EVERYTHING about the big animals, they also knew a lot about birds, so whenever they spotted something, they would point them out to us! Bob was not that interested in the birds, but I thought it was quite fascinating! Maybe I should think about bird watching as a new hobby!!!

Vulture - huge wing span - that's why they are usually seen in trees like in the picture below. They need plenty of room to open their wings to get airborne quickly .

Two Fish Eagles

I love my camera!!! Thought this was a great shot of the eagle in flight.

Oops! I can't remember the name of this bird, but it has a yellow (orange ?) eye and the most beautiful iridescent blue feathers! How amazing is that???

Horn bill (?) We had stopped for a morning coffee break and this bird was sitting in a tree and interested in the snacks we were having. Our spotter, Mamps, took a piece of bread up to the tree and offered it to the bird. The bird got the bread, but Mamps tried to touch him, and the bird bit him with his big bill! Mamps jumped and was shocked at the bird's aggression - we all got a big kick out of it!