Huh? A Hippo? Hooray!

26 Feb '08 3:02 am

For a few weeks now an errand hippo has been surprisingly high up the Magoebaskloof valley, being seen, or leaving signs of a visit every few days in various places. This morning a very stern announcement on the school intercom: the lake and surrounds are out of bounds till further notice. My first reaction - a frightful accident in the mist had toppled a vehicle over the bridge. But the news was more amusing and joyful. A hippopotamus had been sighted in our lake.

Now there is just one problem. On 16 March our Rotary Club hosts an open-water swim event where 600 plus swimmers are expected to take to the water - in an infinitely larger lake, just a few hundred meters away...

It is strange for a hippo to go a-wandering, but not unknown. I have heard of it before, but not in our area, where they need to heave their large bodies up some 800m of mountain to reach our altitude.

And if you don't believe me - here is the proof: taken this morning...

26 Feb '08 2:09 pm

I must say, Jack, that he looks very happy and quite serene in your lake. Surely he wouldn't hurt a few hundred swimmers swarming around the area. Of course, I wouldn't want to run unto him on dry land and I'll bet he is actually even more agile in the water. Hippo's have such silly looking heads attached to those tank sized bodies.

27 Feb '08 7:00 pm

Hippos kill more people in Africa than any other beast. They can be unpredictable, and they are difficult to manage because they need to be monitored both above and below water. More worrying, they are extremely difficult to capture - dart them and they drown. So they have to be darted on dry land AND then prevented from escaping to the water before the drugs take effect.

28 Feb '08 7:48 am

That is so cool, Jack, from my point of view. You live in one of the global homes of exotic animals and to me it would be thrilling to see your hippo.

Here is a story from the Regina Sun Community News paper, dated Feb 17, 2008.

Moose comes to town for a day until it's caught and sent home

A moose that found itself in the unfamiliar territory of Whitmore Park on Wednesday should now be safely back in the country.

The moose was first spotted early in the morning, said Regina Police Service spokeswoman, Elizabeth Popowich - who actually saw the creature herself while out for a run at about 6 a.m.

"I saw something moving that sort of didn't fit into my usual frame of reference," she said. "And then I realized it was a moose. I called the com (communication) center and they'd already had at least one phone call."

Following the early morning sightings, the moose seemed to disappear for a few hours. The next round of calls started late Wednesday afternoon. Among the places the moose visited at that time was Grant Road School, causing some excitement among students.

Grade 8 student Maddy Gordon said she and her classmates were sitting at their desks at about 3:15 p.m. when someone spotted the creature outside.

"It was pretty crazy," Gordon said. "We've seen jack rabbits and everything and dogs, but to see a moose running across our playground was really weird."

The animal ran off soon after and the students didn't get to see how the moose's adventure turned out.

"Our principal told us that we had to come inside and that we weren't allowed out until the moose was gone," she said. "We were all really bummed that we weren't allowed out until the moose was gone."

Conservation officers, with help from Regina Animal control, RPS and RCMP, were able to track the animal and fire several tranquilizer darts into it.

By about 6 p.m., the unconscious moose was being loaded into a truck to be taken out of town, police said.

This isn't the first time a moose has wandered into Regina, and it likely won't be the last, said Art Jones with the Ministry of the Environment. He advised people to always keep a safe distance from a wild animal of any type.

"Stay away from it, don't threaten it and don't make it feel like it's trapped, because like any wild animal, it may get agitated," he said.

I typed this out for you, Jack, because you're a teacher and I thought you would appreciate the school aspect of this article. Also, you might print it off and show your students.

Hey Moosey! Here's a moose for you!

Christopher

28 Feb '08 1:13 pm

Ha, ha, Christopher! Good luck to your moose, I think I'll stick to my tadpoles, all of whom (I sincerely hope) will very shortly be turning into tree frogs.

'The trees are aliiiiiive.... with the sound of treeeee frogs...

And not a single croak - They chirp and 'whistle' like crickets or cicadas.

I saw a moose once wandering onto part of a golf course in - oops, maybe Banff? Can't remember properly, it was long before my darling children changed my name for me, so the experience was fairly impersonal!

Jack, that silly hippo song 'mud, mud, glorious mud' has created a rather cartoonishly romantic, if slightly vaudeville, image of the animal. I can even hear Christopher singing along! But seriously, I'd read that hippos were in real life were very tricky. I hope that all goes well for wildlife and persons using that lake! What will happen to him/her? The swimmers and the hippo?
Cheers,

28 Feb '08 4:33 pm

I'll bet they'd be hard on a garden. Both of them are probably the most dangerous herbivore on their respective continents. When we were in Maine there were many signs warning of moose crossings. Apparently what makes them really dangerous to cars is their great heft and height. I've heard that cars will run into one at speed and take its legs out. Then the animal's body returns the favor by shearing off the top of the car and possibly decapitating the driver and passengers. So I wouldn't want to run into one : ) on the freeway. Then too they're noted for their ability to take out every dog in a dogsled team, kicking them to death. But between the two of them, I'd much rather swim with the moose than the hippo. And if there was one in a position to do me in with malice in its heart, I think I'd prefer to leave this world at the hoof of a moose than the jaws of a hippo.

28 Feb '08 9:52 pm

What a line Mark...

I think I'd prefer to leave this world at the hoof of a moose than the jaws of a hippo

I think I'll stop it at "than..." and use it as an essay topic!

An amusing article Christopher, and another indication that you come from a more organised country than I do... it would have resulted in a litany of bureaucratic bungling here that would have overshadowed even one of Peter Mayle's stories about how things are done (or not done!) in Provence! But at first glance I did wonder what our Moosey had been up to!

Someone put the whole hippo issue into perspective at last night's Rotary meeting: there is a much greater chance of our swimmers being struck by lightening during a storm than of them being mauled by a lone and lonely hippo!

Huh? A Hippo? Hooray!

Huh? A Hippo? Hooray!

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Wildlife Gone Wild!

Hippos and Mooses and Frogs

Hippos and Moose!

Such stuff as poetry is made of...