Tree Snake!

While the clients were relaxing by the fire and enjoying a few drinks, we needed a couple extra chairs for everyone. So it was requested of me to go into the garage and grab a few extra chairs… ok no problem.

I pulled out a few, dusted them off and made sure they worked ok and I saw one last blue fold out chair in the corner. Reaching down I pulled it open, and quickly withdrew. I was surprised I didn’t jump, but there in the nice little basket of a home the folded seat of the chair made was a tree snake. My hands were merely inches away from where it was sleeping a few seconds ago.

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(This was exactly how things were in the picture above. I took this just after it all happened)

The snake started to panic and look around, I had a feeling it would take off at any moment. Knowing that this snake is highly poisonous and nothing short of deadly I didn’t want it to get lost in the stacks of boxes and other odds and ends. Acting quickly I slid the long silver gun case towards the chair hoping it would slither underneath it and find refuge there until I could get some help with this. There was no spade (shovel) handy or anything I could use to kill it efficiently without leaving the garage and losing sight of it. I pulled out my phone and called Andre and this was one of those moments where you fumble around with the buttons a bit trying to go as fast as you can… A few minutes later (felt like an hour) Andre showed up with a spade and I told him where it was, helped him move the gun case really quick and he was on it with the spade immediately. CHOP-CHOP-CHOP!

The young tree snake was soon in pieces.

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If I have my information right, they have told me that the baby tree snakes are just as poisonous as a Mamba and you will be dead within minutes of a bite. But the good news is their mouths are still very small so unless you present a finger or something they can sink their teeth into, they cant get a hold of you to inject their venom. So whenever I am moving rocks or digging through the firewood pile (favorite hangouts of the snakes) I try to be very careful where I put my hands and fingers. Fortunately I learned this lesson the EASY way!

We are under the impression they have a nest somewhere just behind the garage underneath the root system of one of the trees because there have been tons of baby snakes found around that area in the last few months. There have also been black mamba sightings. (Keep in mind this area is about 40 yards from where I sleep)

Coming soon, THE BIGGEST SPIDER I have seen in Africa to date!!! And of course much much more. Also, I am in the process on updating you guys on how my buff hunt went with PH Ian Blakeway. It was excellent and he has invited me along for his other buff hunts in September/October. I told him I would love to join him as long as I am still in SA.

Cheers!

-The Jonny

Buffalo!

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So I am off to Harrysmith (not sure of the spelling, my apologies) tomorrow with my good friend Harvey who is one of the head construction guys contracted here on the farm. I will stay with him for 2 nights and then another good man and PH, Ian Blakeway from southern Natal will pick me up early Monday morning so we can be off to get our client at Joberg and hunt buffalo for two days in the Southern end of Krugar National Park.

I am very excited to be invited to accompany these gentlemen and be able to experience a dangerous game hunt. Cape Buffalo here we come!

The trip will not be free but it will not be a fortune either to go along with them. I can only hope for the best!

Meanwhile, hunting clients will be coming into our camp here at Madaka Game Ranch in a few days. It is hard for me to leave but there will pretty much be no “good” time for me to leave this season.

Thankfully it seems to be working out.

I will phone Ian in the morning to confirm everything…

Cheers, and goodnight!

-The Jonny

Poachers!

Something To The Right!

It was not the first time we went out armed and looking for the poachers. But this time it was a little different. We got the call just after 6pm. It hadn’t been dark for long and in fact, the sun still silhouetted the mountain ridges with its final glow as I rode off into the darkness, bouncing along with the spotlights wires stretched to the max from the cars battery under the hood and over the cab not even reaching the back of the bukkie (truck) where I hunkered down from the cold, and where every bump my bones smacked into the steel framing around some part of the vehicle. But be sure not to misunderstand me, it was still very very dark. With no flashlight you could barely see your hand in front of your face. It was a starry night but that was the most help we were going to get from the light gods for tonight. The rest was up to us…

One of our workers had heard the dogs coming in. So we went out with the truck a spot light and a rifle (Andre was driving and had the rifle and of course his trusty .357 strapped to his hip).
When we got closer to the barking of the poaching dogs which took about 10 mins to drive to we jumped off on foot and started walking through the bush towards the noise in the pitch dark.
I was armed with either the flashlight or spot light when I was standing on the back of the truck.
I cannot begin to tell you how much I felt defenseless… I felt so naked out there, as far as protection goes. A simple pocket knife was no match for a man in the dark with a sharpened panga (machete) or who knows what. And that was IF I was at the ready while stumbling through rocks and ditches and bushes in the darkness.

We walked towards it all for a while then stopped to listen and Andre turned off his torchlight (which he possessed at the time)
After walking through the prickly bushes and crunching over dried grass for a what seemed like 10 minutes (was more like 4) I suddenly heard a rustle to my right side… the opposite direction that Andre was facing at the time with his light.
I have a lot of trust in Andre so I assumed he heard it too but that he just didn’t think it was any noise of importance…
Another few seconds went by which felt like 5 minutes, and there was the noise again. A soft, brief rustle. I was hesitating but finally I broke silence and whispered to Andre “I hear noise to the right.”

He spun around with the flashlight and shined the it where I had directed him to and there sitting upright were two poaching dogs being almost perfectly silent. (as they are trained to do so)
Andre fumbled with the light and the rifle all together but eventually the flashlight found its way into my hands and he worked the action on his .243 and quietly but sternly commanded me to hold the light on the dogs…

BLAAAAM!

The shot went off and the one dog collapsed to the ground not making a sound. My ears ringing the other ran off to the left and down into the ravine farther but we lost track of him in the tall grass almost immediately. We searched around a little more then heard more barking farther away in another area up on one of the hills in the opposite direction we were walking.
We marched back up the ravine to the truck and began driving back and forth again on the main road with me on the back of the truck working the spotlight back and forth over the ridges and valleys in the dark night. The frigged cold air was stinging my skin as it went down my collar and up my sleeves.

We were getting closer…

Andre and myself jumped out on foot again and stopped every once and a while, perfectly silent just to listen. I found myself breathing slowly through my mouth.
The barking was still too far away even after walking in that direction for a brisk 5 minutes. We then decided we needed to drive around the large hill to the other side so we jumped back into the truck again and sped off bouncing down the dirt road… myself barely managing to stay upright AND steady the spotlight, never-mind the bitter cold.
Then we were getting yet even closer, but by that time the barking had stopped. We slowly drove in that same direction we knew we had heard the dog(dogs). I kept scanning left and right with the spotlight, finding nothing but shades and shadows…

THEN! Two sets of eyes lit up like duel glowing orbs. I shined the spotlight on the bigger animal and it turned out to be a Gemsbok. So I panned the light to the left to the smaller set of eyes and there it was! A poaching dog! At this point I yelled to Andre piloting the truck that it was a dog on the left. I steadied the light on it for Andre but this time I was wincing. For the last few shots were already ringing in my ears. I only had one free hand to plug my one distant ear and I just turned my head away from the rifle that was about 4 feet below me and CRACK!!!

:::Yelping:::

The dog was hit.

But the shot was taken just as he started to run towards the right.
There was some thick brush and the dog was crying out as it ran behind it but quickly it came to silence. We could both tell without saying a word that it wasn’t a hit where he would die quickly.

The dog settled in behind the brush and then slowly so did we.

I jumped out of the back of the truck, faithful spotter and used the flashlight to light up the area where we last saw the dog.
As we approached, looking left to right fifty yards ahead, there it was, lying on the ground its back facing us. It got hit in the stomach just as I thought, clean through. The soft point bullets tore the poor ol’ boy up inside because I could see the area around the bullet wound swollen and bulging from the impact and penetration… There was a decent amount of blood coming out.

Andre approached 3 steps ahead of me to see if he was still alive. As we got closer, it barely moved. It was clearly not doing well at all and probably would have died in 15-20 mins… but it would have been really painful for the dog. Just as I was willing Andre to please put him out of its misery… I heard the “shack-clack-clack” of the action being worked.. My flashlight froze in place. I turned my head again, my ears rang even harder, and the dog never moved again.

We switched off all lights and listened…

Silence. Crickets chirping, but no wind, no breeze, nothing.

If there were more poaching dogs on the property, then they all hunkered down and kept quiet because there were no signs of them after that. I asked Andre if I should continue scanning with the spotlight on our drive back in and he said “Yes, go left and right with it.”
So I did.

The only eyes I saw in the blackness of the night was impala and blue wildebeast. Which made me flinch at first to warn Andre of the glowing orbs staring back at us but too soon I realized it was just game animals.

We didn’t kill them all, but that is just about impossible. However, getting two in one night is a very good thing, and very rare. Us warriors, we did quite well and a hot dinner was ready and waiting for us as we arrived at the Lapa a few chilly minutes later.

I don’t know that we will get any pats on the back for our efforts tonight, especially me, but I do believe we earned our bacon this time.

-The Jonny

Waking up in my new home…

This is from when I first arrived here on the Game Ranch. It’s high time I posted it! This will give you a little tour of the room/building I am staying in as well. Enjoy!

-The Jonny

PS stay tuned for an exciting upcoming post (hopefully it will go up tomorrow since it’s mostly written just needs some polish). We had poachers and their dogs come in tonight! (June 3rd, 2013) Bullets were flying!