UITTREKSELS UIT: “Wie is Ek?” “Wie is Ons?” – Diere van Afrika Stel vir Jou Raaiseltjies – Reeks 2

Elke reeks bevat veertien kort raaiseltjies. Hulle word aan die jong leser gestel deur ses soogdiersoorte, vyf voëlsoorte, twee ordes insekte en een groep ‘reptiele’. Elke raaisel is geïllustreer met uitstekende fotos. Kom meer te wete oor elke spesie of groep se kenmerkende persoonlikheid, eienskappe en eienaardighede deur te probeer om die vrae te beantwoord “Wie is Ek?” en “Wie is Ons?”.
 
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My Naam is Xerus inauris – Wie is Ek?
 

Ek is 'n knaagdier; dit beteken dat my voorste tande, my knaagtande, baie langer is as jou voorste tandjies. Myne is ook vlymskerp. Hulle werk soos beitels as ek 'n harde peul of die dop van 'n neut moet oopkou. Ek hou van sade, peule, knolle en van sommige sappige blare. Soms eet ek blomme en vrugte as ek hulle kan vind. My pote eindig in kort skerp kloue – ek kan daarmee peule of vrugte vashou terwyl ek aan hulle knaag.
 
 
My Naam is Bucorvus leadbeateri – Wie is Ek?
 

Omdat ek nie hande het nie gooi ek met 'n ruk van my snawel my kos op in die lug – dan vang ek dit in my mond sodat ek my kos in een stuk kan afsluk. Anders as jy kou ek nooit my kos nie. Jy sal vir my lag as ek bely dat ek soms 'n paar keer moet probeer om 'n kriewelende sprinkaan of klein paddatjie gesluk te kry.
 
Weens my pa se diep stem het ek die naam bromvoël gekry. Ek weet dat jy dit só uitgewerk het. Maar het jy ook geweet dat my wetenskaplike naam Bucorvus leadbeateri is?
 
 
Ons is die Skarrelende Vliesvlerkige Insekte van die Orde Hymenoptera – Wie is Ons?
 

Een van die interessante feite oor ons wat jy miskien al van weet is dat ons almal vroutjies is wat saam in 'n nes bly. Meer as dit, ons is ook almal susters wat saam met ons ma, die koningin, bly. Ons ma lê al die eiers waaruit ons nuwe sustertjies sal broei. Soms lê ons ma ook eiertjies waaruit ons boeties sal broei, maar ons boeties mag nie lank saam met ons woon nie. Sodra hulle groot genoeg en gereed is, smyt ons hulle uit die nes uit. Hulle moet dan ver vlieg om vir hulleself 'n skuiling en kos te vind, en natuurlik ook 'n prinsessie wat dan haar eie nes en familie alleen sal begin.
 
 
My Naam is Ceratotherium simum – Wie is Ek?
 

Op my gesig dra ek twee enkel ‘horings’ wat van gekompakteerde hare gemaak is. Hulle is eintlik nes jou vingernaels en nie rêrig horings nie. My ‘horinkies’ is nog kort maar my ma s’n is baie groot. By haar is die voorste een langer en effens meer na bo gebuig; die een daaragter is korter en meer driehoekig van vorm. Ons gebruik ons horings meestal om onsself teen vyande te beskerm; dan baklei ons soos musketiers van oud met hulle swaarde.
 
 
My Naam is Terpsiphone viridis – Wie is Ek?
 

My pa het die langste oranje stertvere gehad wat ek nog gesien het. Hulle was meer as twee keer langer as sy hele lyf. As hy deur die lug gesweef het, het hierdie pragtige vere agter hom gewapper soos baie lang vaandels wat in 'n sterk wind flapper. Ek is nog 'n bietjie jonk – my stertvere is nog nie heeltemal so lank soos my pa s’n was nie.
 
 
My Naam is Aepyceros melampus – Wie is Ek?
 

Die speletjie waarvan ek die meeste hou het nie 'n naam nie, maar jy kan hom seker ‘gedêng-gedêng’ noem. Ons staan rustig saam met ons maats in 'n groot groep sodat ons ma’s dink ons is soet. Skielik hardloop ons almal in wye kringe deur die bos; ons volg mekaar en probeer die eerste wees deurdat ons kortpaaie tussen bossies vat of met lang spronge dit oor 'n hindernis waag. As ons ma’s kwaai raak, staan ons weer stil ... tot die volgende keer.
 
 
Ons is die Vierpotige Diere Met 'n Skubbige Vel wat Water-lewende Jagters is – Wie is Ons?
 

Ons is nader familie van voëls as wat ons familie van die ‘reptiele’ is. Ons behoort aan 'n baie ou geslag van diersoorte wat die voëltjies insluit. Ons is dus glad nie ‘reptiele’ nie, soos julle mense voortgaan om ons te noem.
 
Daar is baie min soorte van ons wat jy in Afrika sal kan teëkom. Ons almal leef en maak jag op ons prooi in water. Voordat mense op ons jag gemaak het vir ons velle was ons meer volop. Die grootste van ons soort kom nog redelik wydverspreid in Afrika voor. Jy sal ons tog nog maklik in die groter riviere, moerasse, mere en damme, en selfs in strandmere en riviermondings, van suider en oostelike Afrika kan vind. Ons leef net nie in die hoë gebergtes en die woestynareas nie. Nog 'n reuse soort sal jy net in die Nyl van Noord-Afrika kan teëkom. Daar is ook twee baie kleiner soorte wat in die riviere in die oerwoude van noordwestelike Afrika leef.
 
 
My Naam is Sagittarius serpentarius – Wie is Ek?
 

Ek het my gewone naam óf van die Franse óf van die Arabiere gekry. Jy sal aan die einde van hierdie kort raaisel weet hoekom dit só is. Jy sal ook weet hoekom ek een van die keuses bo die ander een verkies. Jy sal ook uitvind dat die wetenskaplikes van ouds 'n groot fout gemaak het toe hulle op my wetenskaplike naam besluit het.
 
 
My Naam is Helogale parvula – Wie is Ek?
 

Ek eet meestal klein insekte soos kewers. Ek eet ook erdwurms as ek hulle met my skerp naeltjies aan my pote uit die los grond kan uitgrawe. Ek hou ook daarvan om skerpioene te eet wat ek onder boomtakke of klippe in die veld vind. Soms kry ek dit ook reg om 'n akkedissie te vang. Ek hou glad nie van miere nie omdat hulle baie suur proe. Ek is seker dat jy ook voorkeurkos het wat jy eerder as enige ander kossoort sal eet.
 
Weet jy wie ek is? Jy is reg, ek is 'n dwergmuishondjie. Die slim wetenskaplikes het vir my die naam Helogale parvula gegee.
 
 
My Naam is Ploceus velatus – Wie is Ek?
 

Ek moet nog baie leer. Watter blare is goed om mee te vleg? Watter soort knoop moet ek waar insit dat die nes wat ek bou sterk word? Ek besef ook dat ek 'n hele aantal neste sal moet bou en herbou voordat ek 'n pragtige vroutjie of twee sal kan tevrede stel.
 
As ek eers 'n nes gebou het, sal ek hom moet adverteer. Ek sal op 'n takkie naby my voltooide nes moet sit en luidkeels sing terwyl ek my vlerke fladder. Ek sal ook onder aan die nes moet hang terwyl ek sing en vlerke swaai. Dan is daar ook die gevaar dat 'n indringer my van my eie nes sal kan wegjaag. Omdat ons meestal in 'n groot bondel saam nes maak is daar altyd die gevaar dat 'n ander mannetjie jou nes en een van jou vroutjies sal steel. Dit sal baie van my vat om my eerste familie te kan groot maak.
 
 
Ons is die Tweevlerkige Insekte van die Orde Diptera – Wie is Ons?
 

Wat is die belangrikste leidraad oor wié ons is? Ons het net een paar vlerke! As jy ooit nie seker is watter inseksoort jy besig is om te aanskou nie, tel net die vlerke. Ons vlerke is membraanagtig en vir vlieg aangepas. Hulle is redelik groot en het meestal 'n ovaal vorm. Omdat hierdie vlerke deurskynend is, breek hulle sonlig in sy verskillende kleure op. Jy kan dus al die kleure van 'n reënboog op ons vlerke sien dans. In sommige soorte word hierdie kleurvolle skouspel as seine gebruik om 'n maat mee aan te lok.
 
 
My Naam is Syncerus caffer – Wie is Ek?
 

Ons leef in groot troppe saam om ons teen ons grootste vyande, die leeus, te beskerm. As hulle probeer om ons te jag hardloop ons in 'n bondel weg. As hulle egter een van ons bedreig, draai ons om – dan is die lawwe leeus sommer in die moeilikheid want ons kan hulle baie seermaak deur hulle met ons horings te gaffel.
 
Mense sê dat ons nors is. Ek dink dit is 'n fout – ons is vriendelik solank jy ons nie kwaad wil aandoen nie. As jy moeilikheid by ons soek sal jy dit kry net omdat ons mekaar sal verdedig. Ek dink jou familie tree ook só op as daar gevaar dreig.
 
 
My Naam is Bubulcus ibis – Wie is Ek?
 

Ek het 'n korterige, reguit nek wat nooit 'n kink in het nie, anders as die meeste voëlsoorte wat na aan my verwant is. My kop is rond maar ek het 'n sterk, reguit, swart snawel wat na 'n skerp punt toe loop – dit laat my kop 'n bietjie driehoekig lyk. Met my snawel kan ek maklik my prooi tussen grasse of blare oppik en vas hou. Al is my geel oë klein, is hulle baie skerp en ek sal die kleinste beweging raaksien.
 
 
My Naam is Lycaon pictus – Wie is Ek?
 

My pels is van digte, sagte lang hare gemaak. My hele lyf is versier met blertse en blokkies van wit, goudgeel, rooi-bruin en swart patrone. Almal van ons het 'n unieke skakering – jy sal nooit twee van ons vind wat eenders lyk nie, al soek jy vir jare aaneen. Ek kan dus almal in my groot familie uitmekaar ken; soms is dit natuurlik nie 'n goeie ding nie – as ek stouterig is weet almal onmiddellik dat ek die skuldige is.

EXCERPTS FROM: “Who am I?” “Who are We?” – Short Riddles Posed by African Animals – Series 2

Each series contains fourteen short riddles. These are posed to the young reader by six species of mammals, five bird species, two orders of insects and one group of ‘reptiles’. Each riddle is illustrated with superb images. Learn more about each species’ or group’s distinctive personality, characteristics and quirks by attempting to answer the questions “Who am I?” and “Who are We?”.

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https://books2read.com/ap/8NkvaJ/Tnreb-Rekabnessiev



My Name is Xerus inauris – Who am I?

I am a rodent; this means that my front teeth, my incisors, are much longer than are your front teeth. Mine are also razor-sharp. They work like chisels when I need to chew through a hard seedpod or the shell of a nut. I like seeds, seedpods, tubers and some kinds of juicy leaves. Sometimes I eat flowers and fruits, if I can find them. My paws end in short, sharp claws – with these I can hold onto seedpods or fruit whilst I am busy gnawing them.
 
 
My Name is Bucorvus leadbeateri – Who am I?
 

Because I do not have hands, I throw my food into the air with a tug of my beak – then I catch it in my mouth so that I can swallow my food in one piece. Unlike you, I never chew my food. You will laugh at me if I confess that I sometimes have to try a few times to be able to swallow a wriggling locust or small frog.
 
Because of my very large bill and because I find food only on the ground, I was given the name ground hornbill. I know that you worked it out as such. However, did you also know that my scientific name is Bucorvus leadbeateri?
 
 
We are the Bustling Membrane-winged Insects of the Order Hymenoptera – Who are We?
 

One of the interesting facts about us that maybe you know about already, is that we are all little females who live together in a nest. More than that, we are also all sisters who stay together with our mummy, the queen. Our mummy lays all the little eggs from which our new little sisters will hatch. Sometimes our mummy also lays little eggs from which our little brothers will hatch, but our little brothers are not allowed to live with us for a long time. Once they are big enough and they are ready, we throw them out of the nest. They must then fly far away to find a shelter and food for themselves, and of course also a little princess that will then start her own new nest and family all on her own.
 
 
My Name is Ceratotherium simum – Who am I?
 

On my face, I carry two single ‘horns’ made of hair that is packed together very tightly. They are actually just like your fingernails and not really horns at all. My little ‘horns’ are still short, but my mummy’s are very large. With her, the one in front is longer and slightly more curved upwards; the one behind is shorter and more like a triangle in shape. We use our horns mostly to protect ourselves against enemies; then we fight like the musketeers of old did with their swords.
 
 
My Name is Terpsiphone viridis – Who am I?
 

My dad had the longest orange tail feathers that I have ever seen. They were more than twice as long as his whole body. When he glided through the air, the beautiful feathers fluttered behind him like very long banners that are flapping in a strong wind. I am still a little bit young – my tail feathers are still not quite as long as my dad's were.
 
 
My Name is Aepyceros melampus – Who am I?
 

The game that I like the most does not have a name, but you can certainly call it ‘gedang-gedang’. We stand together calmly in a large group of pals so that our mummies think that we are being good. Suddenly, we all run in wide circles through the bush; we follow each other and try to be the first by taking shortcuts between shrubs or by daring to use long jumps to get over an obstacle. When our mummies become angry, we again stand calmly... until the next time.
 
 
We are the Four-legged Animals with a Scaly Skin that are Water-living Hunters – Who are We?
 

We are more closely related to the birds than we are related to the ‘reptiles’. We belong to a very old line of animal species that includes the birds. So we are not ‘reptiles’ at all as you people continue to call us.

There are but very few species of us that you will be able to encounter in Africa. We all live and hunt for our prey in water. Before people started hunting us for our skins, we were more plentiful. The largest of our kind still occurs fairly widely spread across Africa. You can still find us easily in the larger rivers, swamps, lakes and dams, and even in lagoons and estuaries, of southern and eastern Africa. We only never live in the high mountains and the desert areas. Another huge species you will be able to encounter only in the Nile of North Africa. There are also two very much smaller species that live in the rivers in the rainforests of northwestern Africa.
 
 
My Name is Sagittarius serpentarius – Who am I?
 

I got my common name either from the French or from the Arabs. At the end of this short riddle, you will know why this is so. You will know as well why I prefer one of the choices above the other. You will also find out that the scientists of old had made a big mistake when they decided on my scientific name a long time ago.
 
 
My Name is Helogale parvula – Who am I?
 

Mostly, I eat small insects such as beetles. I also eat earthworms if I can dig them out of the loose soil using the sharp claws on my feet. I also like to eat scorpions that I find in the veld under logs or stones. Occasionally I get it right to catch a small lizard as well. I do not like eating ants at all because they are so sour. I am certain that you too have your favourite food that you enjoy eating more than any other kind of food.
 
Do you know who I am? You are right; I am a dwarf mongoose. The clever scientists have given me the name Helogale parvula.
 
 
My Name is Ploceus velatus – Who am I?
 

I still have a lot to learn. Which leaves are good for weaving? What kind of knot should I place where so that the nest I am building will become strong? I also realise that I will have to build and rebuild a whole lot of nests before I will be able to satisfy a beautiful little lady or two.
 
Once I have built a nest, I will have to advertise it. I will have to perch on a small branch near my finished nest and sing loudly while I flutter my wings. I will also have to hang from the underside of the nest as I sing and flap my wings. Then there is also the danger that an intruder will be able to chase me from my own nest. Because we usually nest together in a large bundle, there is always the danger that another male will steal one of your nests and one of your little ladies. It will take a lot for me to bring up my first family.
 
 
We are the Two-winged Insects of the Order Diptera – Who are We?
 

What is the most important clue about who we are? We have only one pair of wings! If ever you are not sure what type of insect you are looking at, just count the wings. Our wings are membrane-like and adapted for flying. They are quite large and usually have an oval shape. Because these wings are see-through, they break up sunlight into its different colours. Therefore, you can see all the colours of a rainbow dancing on our wings. In some species, this colourful spectacle is used as signals with which to attract a mate.
 
 
My Name is Syncerus caffer – Who am I?
 

We live together in great herds to protect ourselves from our greatest enemies, the lions. If they try to hunt us, we run away in a big bundle. Yet, if they threaten one of us, we turn around – then the silly lions are really in trouble because we can hurt them badly by gashing them with our horns.
 
People say that we are bad-tempered. I think that this is a mistake – we are friendly as long as you do not want to do us any harm. If you are looking for trouble with us, you will get it just because we will defend one another. I think your family also acts like this if there is danger threatening.
 
 
My Name is Bubulcus ibis – Who am I?
 

I have quite a short, straight neck that never has a kink in it unlike most bird species that are closely related to me. My head is round but I have a strong, straight, black bill that stretches to a sharp point – this makes my head look a little bit triangular. With my bill, I can easily snatch up and hold onto my prey between grasses or leaves. Even though my yellow eyes are small, they are very keen and I will spot the smallest of movements.
 
 
My Name is Lycaon pictus – Who am I?
 

My fur is made of dense, soft, long hairs. My entire body is decorated with blobs and blocks of white, golden yellow, red-brown and black patterns. Each one of us has a unique colouration – you will never find two of us that look alike, even if you were to search for years on end. Therefore, I can tell everyone in my big family apart; sometimes this is obviously not a good thing – if I am being naughty, everyone knows immediately that I am the culprit.

ON PHOTOGRAPHY: Maximising the Odds of Photographic Expression – 2. A Farm Called Palmietpan

In the previous blog, I discussed very briefly how spending some time in the company of the same individual or small group of animals on separate occasions has allowed me to explore their lives more intimately and meaningfully through photography. This is one strategy that I relish whenever I stumble across such an infrequent and special instance. I indicated too that spending time repeatedly in the same small locality on separate trips has allowed me to maximise the odds of capturing the sense of place much more intensely. Repeated visits have not only allowed me to broaden my understanding, appreciation and feel for a locale; recurring outings to the same area also spur me on to work harder at capturing all features of a place photographically.

In a significant way, a locality brings to light its magnificence, beauty and meaning to me (as a photographer) only once I have taken several photographs during an initial visit, I have had time thereafter to reflect on these images, and then I have had an occasion to revisit the region once more. This allows me to compare my first photographic efforts to the actual place and to my experiences of it during this subsequent opportunity. Moreover, on succeeding visits, I inevitably discover new, previously unobserved features of the place, different conditions of lighting, my different moods will evoke different responses each time around, and the place itself too will have altered in many particulars. Never has a locality confronted me with congruent combinations of visual delights or photographic challenges as on any previous occasion. 

Any destination, no matter how often I have visited it, will always provide unique experiences if I remain receptive to its sense of place and I am willing to pursue it. At a very young age I learnt that having encountered a particular place and photographed it, does not equate with comprehension, appreciation and complete discovery of a locale.

I have written previously about Palmietpan, a small sheep and cattle farm in the south-western Free State Province of South Africa. As with all agricultural landscapes, fences, tracks and roads crisscross Palmietpan too, and the farm is peppered with cribs, windmills, kraals and outbuildings. Worse still, Palmietpan is situated on the outskirts of the town of Hertzogville/Malebogo – maize silos, electricity pylons and telephone lines dominate the skyline. The general landscape of Palmietpan is monotonous; flat grassland covers most of the farm, with an occasional clump of several Acacia thorn-tree species, Buffalo-Thorn Jujube, Karee and Wild Asparagus at watering-points. A small, shallow dam and a large pan are present as open expanses of cracked clay for most of the year – in summers with good rainfall, they do hold some shallow water. An isolated portion of the farm is covered by open bushveld, but I have had only very few opportunities to spend time there with a camera.

Family commitments have always determined the times of my visits, most often during the end of summer or in the middle of winter. In addition, many visits have coincided with times of severe drought. Of all the places I visit regularly, Palmietpan has set the greatest challenge photographically. Apart from a brief stopover of a sporadic vagrant (a Kudu or a Warthog, for example), the farm is devoid of large game. For a photographer interested in the environment and its inhabitants, first impressions of Palmietpan are that this farm is unphotogenic in extremis.

Over the past decade and a half, I have wrestled with Palmietpan. Initially I would gladly have swapped localities with almost any other environment; nevertheless, I had no choice and had to accept the challenge posed by this farm, an agrarian area that seemingly would not bring to light any fine photographs. Palmietpan is a place that humbles the photographer – every composition, every image has to be discovered through hard work. Here, photographs do not happen, compositions do not await disclosure by a photographer’s merely cursory glance.

Yet, as I have discovered (and I am still discovering fifteen years on), Palmietpan is a magical place of hidden beauty and exciting encounters. The most obvious photographic gems are the various patches of different grasses on the grassland expanses. The seasonal changes in the interaction between the light and the grasses – each species with its own specific inflorescence, height, thickness of culms and shape, length and arrangement of leaves – is astonishing. Hidden between the grasses are the numerous shrubs and herbs, each with different flowers in summer. These colourful gems are usually small – the tall grasses conceal them – so that only prolonged hikes through dense grassland can uncover them.

The bushes and trees also display beautiful flowers for a short while in summer, but they retain throughout the year their individual growth-forms and distinctive plant parts, including cladodes (instead of leaves), hooks, prickles or thorns, for example. Just as every part of a nude body can be photographed, so too every part of a plant reveals beauty.

While grasslands hide the splendour of the insect and spider life extremely well, especially in dryer months, the Harvester Ants are busy throughout the seasons. When water is present in the small dam, colourful dragonflies and damselflies zing through the air or wait patiently on grass stalks or branches of shrubs for passing prey. The seemingly abandoned grasslands also hide the small mammal inhabitants, the rodents and small carnivores. Very patiently, they have taught me their individual habits and they have revealed their favourite seasonal haunts.

After a long apprenticeship, I can now find and approach Four-striped Mice, South African Ground Squirrels and Yellow Mongooses whenever I feel the need for a good chuckle at their skittish and secretive behaviour. I have learnt, too, exactly where different species of grassland and bushveld birds will find a beak-full of water, even during droughts, and which water birds I can expect to encounter in the wetter summers.

By working away at first discovering, then learning about Palmietpan, over many visits to this one small place, I have been able to capture at least some of the essence of the grasslands, bushveld, dam, pan and the residents of this most wonderful domain. There is no need to rush from photogenic locality to the next – patience, observation and the ceaseless exploration of even the most unpromising environment over time will yield successful photographic compositions.

The sense of personal achievement as a photographer is boosted by having to work hard at the fundamentals of photography, searching for compositions rather than being confronted without effort by an obvious landscape that is then photographed but often left uncharted. I learned very early on in my photographic journey that restriction to access of a discernibly photogenic destination in no way diminishes my photographic passion or chances of capturing unique images. I simply need to work harder and become receptive to the sense of place that surrounds me, wherever I may find myself.

Moreover, Palmietpan even provides ‘landscape photography’ regularly. While the ground below baulks against composition as a dynamic, satisfactory landscape image, the high vaulted sky above provides cloudscapes, which, like all landscapes, challenge any photographer to find a composition – not of an actual place on Earth, but a haven for cloud princesses, giants, ogres, gremlins and imps who will show their residences and castles to any earthbound explorer of the endless vista of clouds, again-and-again, visit-after-visit.