Baboons 1.....Spots 0

BGGMKLR

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Anyone who ever dismissed Baboons as being cheeky but harmless peruse this.
Enjoy
Cheers
Spike

 
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Taking one look at their dental hardware through binos left me inclined to believe they are the farthest thing from warm and cuddly.
 
If the others didn't come to help the big male, the leopard would have probably killed it. On the video, it seems the baboon was in bad situation but its friends/brothers came just right in time to save it.
A baboon is definitely a dangerous and very strong animal and I wouldn't like to be attacked by one of them, and even less by such a group.
 
Anyone who ever dismissed Baboons as being cheeky but harmless peruse this.
Enjoy
Cheers
Spikehttps://www.facebook.com/reel/558098680651935/?mibextid=9drbnH&s=yWDuG2&fs=e
Nothing like sticking together!
 
Yes that's a well known video clip. Baboons are so incredibly observant and this is a good example...they keyed in on the big dog baboon going for the cat and backed him up. One on one, the baboon gets smoked...but the odds are too heavy on this one for the cat. I've seen baboons recognize people wearing camo and not moving...did they scent them first or see them first? Hard to say but they have ruined many a hunt in Africa with their alerting everything for some distance. Very sharp eyesight...probably some of the best eyes on the planet after birds of prey.
 
One beautiful morning just at daybreak, I grabbed a coffee at the Vic Falls hotel, and took the narrow path off of the rear veranda to the Falls.
It was my first trip and a top lifetime bucket list item.
I was alone with my thoughts... not another single person in sight.
Other than the low distant roar of the Falls, and misc wakeup calls from the local bird life, it was as quiet and peaceful as imaginable.
As I rounded a corner on the path I was looking at a lone giant male Baboon about 15 or 20 feet in front me...sitting in the middle of the path... motionless...but staring intently at me.
I stopped...he stared.
Mexican standoff.
After what seemed like a lifetime (closer to 2-3 minutes) he stood, assumed an NFL-esque 4 point stance, and either yawned out of boredom, or or purposely tried to scare me to death, by opening his mouth wide enough to latch onto a regulation size basketball.
Not being a Baboon- ologist, I have no idea what he was thinking, or the point he was trying to get across, but I do know this.
He never made a sound... he never took his eyes off of me...and never blinked.
Not once.
As he exited to the left into the thick, he continued to give me the "side eye" until out of sight.

Still now, 34 years later, that priceless chance encounter remains a top 5 "best morning ever" moment.
Best
Spike
 
last trip to SA on the limpopo river every night we heard baboon and leopard clash. Could never tell who was winning or losing.
 
Love the baboon story at Vic Falls. What a memorable encounter and I can certainly visualize a baboon not blinking and just staring motionless. They are remarkable creatures. One thing funny I learned about them is that they are susceptible to "contagious yawning"...that human thing of watching someone yawn and then you can't help but yawn. Same thing with baboons/monkeys.

As to Spots and baboons fighting...that's the eternal battle like lions & hyenas. It's never finished.
 
I spent a little time in Kenya in 1980 while in the US Navy. I am at a lodge in Tsavo and a baboon ran up and grabbed my mixed drink. Everyone thought it was hilarious and cute as he sat sipping my drink.

I didn’t make squat and could not afford to pay for the baboons drinks also. So I tried to get my drink back. The staff of the lodge was not impressed with me trying to get my drink from him.

They said a few of them had an alcohol problem and stole a lot of drinks.

If you look you can see my drink in his hand. You can see my friend isn’t helping much
IMG_8781.jpeg
 

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