grass Archives - Page 11 of 63

Sheer

Just 13km from Sabie on the R532 road towards Graskop lies Mac Mac Falls, which was named by the Scottish miners who sought their fortune by panning for gold in the 1870s gold rush; they themselves didn’t come up with the name. Apparently, President Thomas Burger was visiting the area in 1873 and was struck by how many of the miners’ names began with “Mac”. On the spot, he named the area Mac Mac – a name that has survived to this day. Mac Mac has twin falls that plunge some 70m into a gorge below. Now a national monument, the waterfall was not always split in two. Gold miners in the area for the gold rush blasted the originally single stream to try and reach the gold-bearing reef over which it drops. Mac Mac tends to revert to one fall during the dry season. Passing the local curio sellers, a steep walk along a cement pathway (with many steps) takes you to the viewing platform. The view platform at the Mac Mac Falls is restricted by palisades, but you still get a great view, just make sure your camera lens points through the palisades.
Info source: http://www.safcol.co.za/what-we-offer/ecotourism/mac-mac-falls/
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The photo was taken during August 2013 at Mac Mac Falls, Sabie, Mpumalanga, South Africa.

4 September 2019Landscape, Picture of the day, Travel

Reprimand

Zebra mares may give birth to one foal every 12 months. The birthing peak is during the rainy season. A mare gives birth within the vicinity of her group and while laying down on her side. The newborn foal weighs 30–35 kg (66–77 lb) and the afterbirth is rarely consumed. A newborn is capable of standing almost immediately and starts to eat grass within a week. At the moment of birth, a mother zebra keeps any other zebra away from her foal, including the stallion, the other mares, and even the previous offspring. Later, though, they all bond. Within the group, a foal has the same rank as its mother. The stallion is generally intolerant of foals that are not his and zebras may practice infanticide and feticide.
Info source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plains_zebra
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The photo was taken during November 2017 at Rietvlei Nature Reserve, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa.

19 August 2019Picture of the day, Wildlife

Timid

The bushbuck is closely related to the nyala and the kudu. Rams are graceful in appearance with a dark greyish-brown fur, white spots on the flanks and white socks. Ewes are smaller and lighter in colour than the rams, with more distinct stripes and spots. On the ears, legs, tail, chin and neck, both sexes have geometrically shaped white patches and a white band at the base of the neck. The markings on rams become prominent in their displays of arching their backs, slowly circling one another in a tense, high-stepping gait. This is done in order to maintain the strict age-based hierarchy of dominance amongst the rams, showing that fighting would be unnecessary. Bushbucks are most active during the early morning and part of the night. In the case of being alarmed, they can react by sinking to the ground and lying flat, may leap away or bark hoarsely. When surprised in the open, they stand dead still or slowly walk to the nearest cover. Most of their day is spent grazing and standing. They are the only non-territorial and solitary African antelope. Ewes prefer to limit engagement with their young to no more than a few hours a day, and adult rams actively avoid eye contact with one another. Neither rams nor ewes defend their home ranges, often overlapping with the home ranges of other bushbuck.
Info source: http://southafrica.co.za/bushbuck.html
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The photo was taken during September 2017 at Tshokwane Picnic Spot, Kruger National Park Mpumalanga, South Africa.

16 August 2019Picture of the day, Wildlife