mongoose – Christian Sperka Photography | Blog & Site

2020-08-012020-08-01

THE EVENING POST – THE SMALL CARNIVORES

Most of my carnivores pictures are of Lions, Cheetahs and the occasional Leopards. Hyenas and Jackals also often featured in my posts.

But there are many more little hunters on Thanda. This is a picture of the smallest member of the order carnivoria, a Slender Mongoose, which one usually only sees sprinting across the road. This one stayed a bit for a photo shoot.

Have a good evening 😊

And in case you are interested this is a list of all 16 carnivore species on the reserve:

Order: Carnivoria

1 African Lion

2 Leopard

3 Spotted Hyena

4 Cheetah

5 Brown Hyena

6 Caracal

7 Serval

8 Honey Badger

9 Black-backet Jackal

10 Side-striped Jackal

11 White-tailed Mongoose

12 Water (Marsh) Mongoose

13 South-African Large Spotted Genet

14 Banded Mongoose

15 Striped Polecat (Zorilla)

16 Slender Mongoose

Have a good evening!

#Christiansperkaphotography @christiansperkaphotography #thandasafari @thandasafari

2016-02-222016-02-21

Little one …

One of the little mammals – a Dwarf Mongoose! I took this picture in 2011 at Kruger National Park.

To view more of my Dwarf Mongoose images go to http://www.sperka.biz/sg11

20110630 - CS2_6420 - E - 05

The Dwarf Mongoose (Helogale parvula) is a small African carnivore belonging to the mongoose family (Herpestidae). It has a large pointed head, small ears, a long tail, short limbs, and long claws. It is much smaller than most other Mongoose species (18 to 28 cm, 210 to 350 grams) and it is Africa’s smallest carnivore. The soft fur is very variable in color, ranging from yellowish red to very dark brown.

2014-10-142014-10-14

A heron, a band of mongoose and the king of Pakamisa

Sometimes a drive from the Pakamisa lodge to the horse stables can turn into a nice game drive. I first encountered a band of mongoose running across the road and I managed to take a picture as they quickly disappeared into thick bush.

Then I had my first ever sighting of a Black-headed Heron perching on of the stable fences.

And last but not least we encountered a beautiful, dark and very large male Giraffe. His name is Rufus and he is considered the king of Pakamisa 🙂

2012-08-25

Trails Guiding Course – Walk No.1

Well, I did it!

Everyone – that knows me – knows that walking is not my forte. But I enjoyed my first Trails Guiding Course walk and I not even too tired. We tried to find Rhino or Buffalo but were not successful tonight. Nevertheless we saw a beautiful small flower (Impala Lily) and a group of the smallest predator on the Sabi Sands Game Reserve (Dwarf Mongoose).

PS: All pictures on the walks are being taken with a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS-10. I do not carry an SLR on the walks. Also, if you like to know more about the Trails Guiding Course go to http://www.africanaturetraining.co.za. A great experience, even if you do it for fun and not for professional reasons.

2012-03-26

Curious!

[View all Pictures of the Week 2012]

I took this Dwarf Mongoose picture many years ago at Ngala Private Game Reserve, South Africa. It gave me a curious look before disappearing in the bush.

More about Dwarf Mongoose:

The Dwarf Mongoose (Helogale parvula) is a small African carnivore belonging to the mongoose family (Herpestidae). It is the smallest mongoose and it is Africa’s smallest Carnivore. The soft fur is very variable in color, ranging from yellowish red to very dark brown.

The Dwarf Mongoose is primarily found in dry grassland, open forests, and bush land, up to 2,000 meters in altitude. It is especially common in areas with many termite mounds, their favorite sleeping place. The species avoids dense forests and deserts. It ranges from East to southern Central Africa, from Eritrea and Ethiopia to the Transvaal in South Africa.