Odi the lizard slayer

The weekends are usually pretty relaxed around here. So far, I've been quite happy to just stick around the volunteer house and sit and read in the garden - mainly because I'm pretty exhausted from all the activities of the previous week and need to gather my energies for whatever is in store in the week ahead.

But on Sunday we even had some live game capture in the back garden. Odi, one of the dogs, caught his own rock monitor lizard. There were no helicopters or dart guns involved. He just took it in his mouth and ran under the table with it. Once we'd persuaded him to put it down, the lizard played dead. The relocation exercise was pretty straightforward - the game ranger got a spade and scooped it up into a crate and then let it go on the other side of the garden fence. Job done.

The lions were busy over the weekend too. They succeeded in killing three black wildebeest. We found the carcasses this morning, one of which was a calf that was only born last week. The bottom of its legs was all that was left. There was a carcass of an adult by its side and we can only assume it was the calf's mother who was attempting to protect her young. That's the lions' meals taken care of for the week.

Maintaining the carnivore spirit, we're planning to light another braai tonight and cook some ribs.