Andrwe Bazeley
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Upload & Sell: On
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| p.1 #1 · One really bad ass SOB | |
We arrived on the scene a little too late to see this bad boy in action -- he had just killed a female baboon and was jumped by two large male baboons -- apparently he dispatched them pretty quickly. No mean feat, because a male baboon can be a pretty tough customer -- two would make it a big time fight. Anyway, arrived as this boy was dragging the carcasses up into a tree. A little note of trivia -- don't play touchy feely with leopards -- they have been known to attack humans from the front by jumping on them, using their front claws to grab over the back of the head and rip the scalp off over the face, all the while kicking like crazy with their back feet and disemboweling their victim -- dead in about 5 seconds. No crawling up to this boy with my fisheye.
After he had the baboons stashed up the tree, we noticed a female leopard hanging around nearby. Turns out that the two of them were in the process of mating. In fact, they can spend several days mating -- sometimes doing it every 15-20 minutes or so. Another piece of trivia -- the male leopards have a bony barb on their penis -- to keep them coupled together I think -- but apparently it hurts big time when he pulls out. As a result, the female always shrieks a bit and twists around and and bites and swipes at him a couple of times. this makes a really good shot -- if you are lucky enough to get it. We stayed with this pair for 3 days, listening to their mating through the bushes and occasionally getting a glimpse -- but there was too much brush in the way to get that killer shot. That's the way it goes sometimes for a wildlife shooter.
Hope you enjoy, Andrew
Mombo Camp, Botswana, Nikon D3X, VR 600mm f/4G, f/4 @ 1/500, Iso 800
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Great capture and story.