Day 4: Nyala, Impala and Sable

 Well, no luck with the hyena last night; we are on call again tonight. We left this morning at 6:50, lunches packed and breakfasts eaten. We met Rita and the farmer at a reserve at 8:00 am planning to dart and move several nyala and impala. Before departing, we met the farm dog, Grey, a young shepherd breed full of enthusiasm. We divided into two bekkies (small pickups with side racks), and set off. I was with the group with Rita, so we set off in search of nyala. We drove along one of the tracks, then turned off onto a bush track, which is basically a space between trees large enough to fit a vehicle. Not too far along, an overhanging branch snatched off Carli's hat and stuck a thorn in one of her eyelids. After retrieving her hat, she asked me to remove the eyelid thorn for her. As I attempted to do so, I realized that I was not able to focus very well. Just as the realization dawned on me, several people asked me where my glasses were. Gone. They had been snatched off from my face by a tree branch without my feeling anything or sustaining so much as a scratch. I did successfully remove the thorn, and we continued with the job in hand. We located the small group of nyala, and Rita shot. Extraordinarily, she missed! (That practically never happens!), and of course the nyala took off. Eventually they took shelter in a dense patch of brush, making it impossible to get a clear shot at the one we wanted. We circled the group, waited, moved in on foot, and tried every tactic known, but those nyala were pretty wise. They simply stayed safely out of reach in the brush and watched us pass by again and again. 

Eventually, we took a break from the nyala and found the impala that needed to be moved. He was darted quite easily and went down very quickly after being darted. We moved him to the truck, performed basic medical care and drove him to his new location. After swapping teams a couple of times so that everybody had a chance to assist, we took a short lunch break. After lunch, we finally managed to dart one of the elisive nyala and relocate him. A detailed search was mounted for the missing glasses, but no success. (I have had to enlarge my screen greatly to be able to blog, and my phone screen is practically inaccessible, so please be patient if you are trying to reach me!)

About a half hour away, we entered another reserve, this one dense with rocks and brush. We needed to relocate a sable cow that had been sold to another farmer about 30 minutes away to bring new bloodlines into his herd. The sables were no more cooperative than the previous animals; Rita, the farmer and a gamekeeper had to hunt them down on foot before they were able to dart her. This took a couple of hours, during which the students learned to flick small bits of stick at one another, play games with rocks, and spit dried impala fecal pellets in a distance competition. We really know how to live! In order to access the darted sable and get it to the truck, we had to cut a fence section, leaving one of the gamekeepers behind to repair it after we left with our cargo. With the students in theback of the truck with the sable cow, Carli and I followed in the van and Rita in her car. The students maintained the sable in a safe position and monitored her vital signs during the journey to her new home. On arrival, we unloaded her, treated her for parasites and gave a vitamin injection, and reversed her sedation. She was a little slower to stand than some of our patients, but within a few minutes she was on her feet and moving away from us. 

We stopped on the way back to the lodge for ice cream. It was delicions, with flavors like passion fruit, passion fruit cheesecake, strawberry, melktart (sort of like vanilla custard), pistachio, chocolate and cookies and cream. We enjoyed our treats and headed back to the lodge for supper. 

Pasta, salad and more homemade bread were on tonight's menu, along with caramel malva pudding with custard for dessert. We all ate until we could barely move, then headed toward showers and bed. Students were looking forward to washing off sable saliva, red dust, nyala earwax, and many other adventuresome substances acquired during our work day. 

We are once again on standby for the hyena; maybe tonight will be lucky. Tomorrow we are working over the mountains ("that side") about 90 minutes away, so we will depat at 6:30.