Ain't it amazing! You're out in the bush tracking kudu or eland. You fixate on the tracks for awhile, then scan ahead. You really don't see anything, then a limb cracks 25 yards away and there is the biggest land mammal on earth! How they can seem invisible at times is beyond me. The PH gets edgy, hand back towards you, palm flat....the universal sign for "Stop, stupid" and you start backing up quickly, guns at port arms.

Don't you love hunting Africa....Any close calls out there?

Here he is as we moved and he moved. Just a couple of small bulls but plenty of excitement!

I never thought elephants could hide until I went elephant hunting. I couldnt have been more wrong. Those things hide better than I ever thought possible.

Nice pics. Thanks for posting them.

Back when we used to hunt them in the SW Ethiopian Rain Forest you never saw the whole elephant. Not even the ones you shot. You might see 2 tusks sticking out of the bush or find yourself standing next to a tree trunk that was actually a sleeping giants leg. I've had the entire forest seem to expload with elephants that you never saw but could hear very, very close. What a rush!

Rich Elliott

If you are really carefully tracking elephants, you may experience an encounter with sleeping elephants.

WOW! Thanks for the great pics guys! I would have never believed it either had I not seen it... and I was not as quick with the camera as you.

I have tried to explain to people how an elephant can just disappear... and I just get stares of disbelief. Your pictures will help me explain the phenomenon of "invisible elephants."

[ 07-21-2003, 20:58: Message edited by: Crosshairs ]

And how can you tell an elephant is sleeping in bed with you? By the big E on his pajamas, of course. Couldn't resist. Great pics.

Norbert: I thought elephants slept standing up, and they sleep laying down, too?


[ 07-24-2003, 00:04: Message edited by: Socrates ]

Do they get a bit nasty if you wake them up????

Amazing. Reminds me of the first Jurassic Park, where the hunter talks about getting hit by the second raptor you couldn't see, from the side.

s

I had a Lioness stick her head out of the tall grass in Tanzania at no less than 2 feet, we could hear the cubs playing behind her, tough spot to be in...I just pointed the 416 at her face and we leap frogged out backwards, only problem is she took a step forward every time we backed up and that went on for 3.5 years, well actually about perhaps 5 minutes, I have no clue but I thought it would never end and if it did we would die or have a bunch of cubs to explain away...finally as we cleared the grass she just grunted and walked off stiff legged in total disgust of us and our cowardly ways, while the cubs looked us over, and I had visions of one of them coming over to visit

My PH said, it can get a bit cheeky around here at times, but that was a bloody miracle for us.....We were in Lions all that year as they were really working over the Buffalo..you will see this from time to time and it makes hunting Buff difficult...

Ray: I don't think she thought you a coward. More likely she wasn't hungry, or, your skinny body doesn't look like much to someone used to her normal diet.

GREAT story. At that range, my money is on her getting to you before you could react. Figure you are damn lucky to still be alive.

I watched a lion go from a crouch, to chomping on a sea gull, ten yards away, so fast I couldn't even move the camera before the seagull was gone.
Literally faster then my minds ability to react to his movement. I was, perhaps, 5 feet from him when he pounced, and, if I had been the sea gull, I would have barely been able to start to raise my hand, at 10 yards distance, before I was chomped.

Do they also call the female of the lion spieces the "queen", as they do with smaller cats?

Certainly is a wonderful discription of temper, speed, and hunting ability...

s
PS

I've been lucky enough to be VERY close to many large animals, elephant, buffalo, lions, and tigers, come to mind. This was in the day when
liability was not a problem, and you could go in and pet the elephants, tug of war with em, etc.
(Still can at Marineworld in Vallejo). Not to mention MUCH larger animals, like 60 foot whales, doing tail walks, and smaller, 25 foot killer whales(less then 2 feet, with NO one in the arena, and I had no fish to give 'Shamu' at the time...)

Suffice to say, I feel we are the truly inferior spieces, in many ways...

My feral cat reminds me of it everyday. I wish I had her speed, balance, jumping ability, and, when you tell stories about lions, I get a very good idea of what a lion in the wild must be like, since she is every bit a wild animal...

s

Ray

Great story. I guess the drinks around the campfire were a little stiffer that night.

Stepping around some trees and having this staring at you from a few first-downs away is a bit unnerving, too. -TONY

That is a great story, Ray. Ruark wrote "I do not believe there are many more impressive sights than a city man's first glimpse at a live maned lion loose on a plain in strange country." Amen, Mr. Ruark.

I remember seeing my first wild lions while hunting for nothing in particular, but anything in general. While the male hung back in the bush, the females stood and approached the 'cruiser. I had the feeling they were eyeing the last olive in the jar! Me. Nothing quite as visceral as just happening upon wild lions!