Scorpion stings Monica.

The fiery little devil......

My wife Monica was re-organising clothing cupboards in the bedroom while I was pottering in the garden late yesterday.

Suddenly she let out a scream the volume of which warranted at least a very large snake in the bedroom.  I dropped everything and ran.  So did she.  We met in the conservatory, with her screaming hysterically "this spider has just bitten me!"  On the front of her dress was this nasty yellow scorpion, looking pretty aggressive.

Under normal circumstances I don't kill wildlife, but these weren't normal circumstances.  I slapped it off her and converted it to a Bushman rock painting on the quarry tiles.  Monica was in hysterics, holding her arm and screaming with shock and pain.

The fact that the scorpion had small pinchers and a thick tail wasn't good news at all.  These little buggers are dangerous and pack a very nasty sting.

Administering anti-venom is only contemplated in infants and frail geriatrics.  A liberal dash of Voltaren gel, systemic anti-histamine and some pain killers did the trick.
And, of course, lots of TLC.

World-wide some 800 people are killed by scorpions annually.
In the Western Cape scorpions of the genus Parabutus are the worst, and as far as my limited knowledge goes this one belonged to the genus Uroplectes.  A little better, but bad news all the same.

Jip, Africa sure isn't for sissies.

On Buffaloes and Poachers - Part One.

The easy one

During an early morning drive we spotted a buffalo with a cable snare around its chest.  The moment I stopped it took off like a rocket.  Fortunately it was early spring and the veld in the Pretoriuskop area resembled the fairway on a golf course.  This enabled me to give chase with the vehicle, and after a pretty wild ride I managed to draw parallel to the fleeing animal.  Five rapid shots from Tom's R1 sent it ploughing into the wet soil.  This was immediately followed up with two point-blank brain shots, as double-dead buffaloes have less of a tendency to get up and create havoc.

With ringing ears I congratulated Tom on excellent shooting - a moving target from a bouncing vehicle, with a calibre  far too light for the job (7.62), and the buff went down in about four seconds flat.
  
Closer inspection revealed that the cable was in the process of working its way into the sub dermal tissue and a large sack of puss had already formed between the front legs.

Bloody poachers.

Promised pictures - Lion at the Sperm Bank.

The bait

The invitation to Donate

Tying the "thank you" knot - see earlier posting about The Lion at the sperm Bank.

Todays victim: Cape Cobra.

Same sound, same fatal result.
Today the neighbour's electric wires killed a juvenile Cape Cobra.

Ironically, the snake seems to have been killed on its way out of the yard.
Some deterrent.
We'll have to talk.