Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2009/10/29

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Subject: [Leica] African animals
From: benedenia at gmail.com (Marty Deveney)
Date: Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:43:25 +1030
References: <3cad89990910262224v70cfe890w645554e878ef6a92@mail.gmail.com> <C70BFE43.575D9%mark@rabinergroup.com> <a3f189160910270640y57ddd3c7x818bafdc7a2ac22d@mail.gmail.com>

>I have seen enough Masai mauled by the big cats who have lived to tell the 
>tale,
>so it might be a little more dangerous than you think.

I know several people who have died, and several others who have died
in motor vehicle accidents, but it doesn't seem to stop anyone from
driving.  It's certainly less dangerous than smoking and a pile of
things that other people do every day.  I take your point, but I mean
that contextualised it's not as dangerous as most people think.

>I think Cheetahs are relatively safe, though.

Cheetahs do not have retractable (=sharp) claws and are relatively
light bodied.  They are not only very very fast runners, but like all
cats, they can move very quickly at close range, making dealing with
them very interesting.

Elephants are the biggest killers in India relative to all the other
forms of wildlife, and the
Asian Elephant is far more docile than the African one, so one has to
tread with great care, which I am sure your guides would have ensured.

Absolutely.  Approach downwind, keep hidden in brush, slow movements
and hand signals only.  But this is basic practice when approaching
any dangerous animal.

>BTW the maximum number of wildlife deaths in Africa is caused by the
>Hippo, so you were probably lucky you did not get closer to them in a
>small canoe!

I was aware of this even as I encouraged him forward.  The point where
they refuse is the closest you can safely get, so I was happy with
that.

The most dangerous animals in Africa, as everywhere, are humans.
Malaria is a high risk, but I was equipped and prepared to treat
malaria.  I wasn't as prepared or equipped to deal with the
consequences of a bad encounter with the bad end of a Chinese
Kalashnikov knock-off.

I'll show more photos when the never-ending job of processing is done.
 I am not sure there is enough Xtol in Australia - I might have to
order some in.

Marty


On Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 12:10 AM, Sonny Carter <sonc.hegr at gmail.com> 
wrote:
> I think the worst part would be when the engine stops and you have to jump
> in ?and haul it along and when you get it ?back in the current and jump 
> back
> in the boat and have to pick the leeches off.
> Oh, ?that's Wall Street, not Africa, Never Mind.
>
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, Oct 27, 2009 at 12:32 AM, Mark Rabiner <mark at 
> rabinergroup.com>wrote:
>
>> > Marty,
>> > That is a good one, if you were on foot, even better! I have seen
>> > enough Masai mauled by the big cats who have lived to tell the tale,
>> > so it might be a little more dangerous than you think. I think
>> > Cheetahs are relatively safe, though. Elephants are the biggest
>> > killers in India relative to all the other forms of wildlife, and the
>> > Asian Elephant is far more docile than the African one, so one has to
>> > tread with great care, which I am sure your guides would have ensured.
>> > BTW the maximum number of wildlife deaths in Africa is caused by the
>> > Hippo, so you were probably lucky you did not get closer to them in a
>> > small canoe!
>> > Cheers
>> > Jayanand
>>
>> I thought it was the hippos.
>> Killer hippos.
>> I remember that because it seems so incongruous.
>> Why they're so dangerous of course.
>>
>>
>>
>> Mark William Rabiner
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Leica Users Group.
>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Regards,
>
> Sonny
> http://www.sonc.com
> http://sonc.stumbleupon.com/
> Natchitoches, Louisiana
> (+31.754164,-093.099080)
>
> USA
>
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>


In reply to: Message from jayanand at gmail.com (Jayanand Govindaraj) ([Leica] African animals)
Message from mark at rabinergroup.com (Mark Rabiner) ([Leica] African animals)
Message from sonc.hegr at gmail.com (Sonny Carter) ([Leica] African animals)