In Norse mythology, Thor (/θɔr/; from Old Norse Þórr) is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind.
When I first met Thor as an apprentice it was on some dusty road deep in the heart of the Lunga Luswishi concession of Zambia. Back then he was a skinny kid and seemed to be all arms and legs, his Danish accent and mannerisms were often amusing to us but he was as keen as mustard and proved to be one with the wild. He had that morning just experienced a full blown Lion charge, which was to end at his feet and he was still recovering mentally from that experience. Little did he know that the next charge would occur a few days later with me and it would be another raging Lion in the long grass which was to die at the end of his rifle. I remember him seriously start to doubt his profession and I remember thinking otherwise and that this boy had truly found his vocation. Note this was my first and only serious Lion incident to date. This picture shows Thor with the Lion that a client had wounded the previous day. Having stalked this cat on foot the end result was a deflected bullet that had smashed into the back leg and stomach of the beast. This can be seen clearly in the photograph and the Lion was put down some 24 hours later after some very hairy tracking which accumulated in the charge.
He was to conduct his first safaris in the Kafue and with surprising results. The trophies he collected for our clients were of a very high quality indeed. It takes much effort to get the best out of an area and he did so with surprising ease. He became a proficient mechanic, doctor and chef and was to quickly realize the importance of a cold beer.
Having been born and bought up by his parents in the wilds of the Luangwa valley he was knew how to handle a gun and his passion for the bush had never waned. He was to apprentice under Richard Bell Cross and myself and very quickly learned enough about dangerous game to apply for his full license and to take on grim beasts all by himself. Quite a daunting task for such a young man but not only that he went on to manage and develop the pristine Munyamadzi reserve where he resides today. Which coincidentally was but a few miles from his birth place in the Luangwa. He had come home.
It was on the same dirt road that his father had cut many years before that I met him again and this time we reversed the roles for he was now in charge. For a week or so he had been tracking the man eater of Nyimba and strain was taking its toll. The hunting had been done exclusively at night when the Lion would leave the thick stuff to stalk isolated villages. It was to be some four days later when we put the Lion down early one morning in a remote patch of thicket on the edge of the Muchinga Escarpment. The Lion had been but a few feet from Thor when he ended its life and as it reared I sent a bullet into its chest but he was already dead. The photo shows a suppurating cavity and it had lost a canine to the infection.
Thor did indeed wield his hammer that day and it was for the protection of mankind.
When I first met Thor as an apprentice it was on some dusty road deep in the heart of the Lunga Luswishi concession of Zambia. Back then he was a skinny kid and seemed to be all arms and legs, his Danish accent and mannerisms were often amusing to us but he was as keen as mustard and proved to be one with the wild. He had that morning just experienced a full blown Lion charge, which was to end at his feet and he was still recovering mentally from that experience. Little did he know that the next charge would occur a few days later with me and it would be another raging Lion in the long grass which was to die at the end of his rifle. I remember him seriously start to doubt his profession and I remember thinking otherwise and that this boy had truly found his vocation. Note this was my first and only serious Lion incident to date. This picture shows Thor with the Lion that a client had wounded the previous day. Having stalked this cat on foot the end result was a deflected bullet that had smashed into the back leg and stomach of the beast. This can be seen clearly in the photograph and the Lion was put down some 24 hours later after some very hairy tracking which accumulated in the charge.
He was to conduct his first safaris in the Kafue and with surprising results. The trophies he collected for our clients were of a very high quality indeed. It takes much effort to get the best out of an area and he did so with surprising ease. He became a proficient mechanic, doctor and chef and was to quickly realize the importance of a cold beer.
Having been born and bought up by his parents in the wilds of the Luangwa valley he was knew how to handle a gun and his passion for the bush had never waned. He was to apprentice under Richard Bell Cross and myself and very quickly learned enough about dangerous game to apply for his full license and to take on grim beasts all by himself. Quite a daunting task for such a young man but not only that he went on to manage and develop the pristine Munyamadzi reserve where he resides today. Which coincidentally was but a few miles from his birth place in the Luangwa. He had come home.
It was on the same dirt road that his father had cut many years before that I met him again and this time we reversed the roles for he was now in charge. For a week or so he had been tracking the man eater of Nyimba and strain was taking its toll. The hunting had been done exclusively at night when the Lion would leave the thick stuff to stalk isolated villages. It was to be some four days later when we put the Lion down early one morning in a remote patch of thicket on the edge of the Muchinga Escarpment. The Lion had been but a few feet from Thor when he ended its life and as it reared I sent a bullet into its chest but he was already dead. The photo shows a suppurating cavity and it had lost a canine to the infection.
Thor did indeed wield his hammer that day and it was for the protection of mankind.
