The Wild Dogs of Africa 1.24.10

The wild dogs of Africa
Monday afternoon after work I walked down to the Lilongwe Wildlife center which is about 1 mile from the college. When I arrived I discovered that the talk was at the Lilongwe Nature Center across the highway and up the hill about another ½ mile. I was quite early because I was told not to walk the road after dark. There is a restaurant in the nature center where I thought I might get a bite to eat but it was full with a raucous private party. The waitress seated me far away from everyone and only offered drinks so I had a Coke- the ubiquitous drink of Africa.
When I went to the room about 20 minutes before the starting time the speaker was there trying to get an electrical cord long enough to plug into his computer and projector and a working surge protector. I was hoping to meet some new non college people at this event as well as learn about the dogs. Soon a few other people came, most sounded British. I introduced myself to several of them but no one introduced him/herself to me. They continued to talk to one another and ignored me. A German couple talked to me briefly but that was it.
The talk was very interesting. The dogs are also known as painted dogs and Cape hunting dogs (Lycaon pictus). There are very few of them in the entire world. The pack in the national park in the north of Malawi which contains 7 adults and 10 pups may be one of the largest. The speaker was a retired British engineer who has been living in the park and studying the dogs for the past two years. Little is known about their behavior beyond their remarkable ability to kill what they chase. They catch their prey 90% of the time. Lions catch their dinner only 10% of the time. The prey for the dogs, which weigh 40-80 pounds, is mostly antelopes, rodents and birds by they also will pursue wildebeests and other large animals when they can. Like all true dogs they hunt and live in packs, share food and rearing of pups. They are characterized by big ears, multicolored patchy coats, and white tails. (See photo lifted from the web). They have only 4 toes on each foot. They are endangered so everything that can be learned about them is important. I think they are lovely and I had never seen a picture of one nor heard anything about them.
Unfortunately when he finished talking about the dogs he shared pictures and information about the deadly snakes and the lack of antivenin in the country. The pictures gave me nightmares. I also started looking carefully when I walked through grass. Apparently black mambas can rear up and move simultaneously and they are fast. Cobras and adders which they also have here can move only when their heads are on the ground. Mambas will kill you within minutes. Yeech what a way to go!
When I came out it was pouring rain in huge globs as it does here in Africa and it was pitch black. My taxi driver texted me but he was at the wrong place. We found this out when he called and wanted me to walk to the road. (He couldn’t understand me on the phone and I had to text my instructions to him earlier in the evening). The nice Malawians who work at the park told me "no I couldn’t walk out to the roadbecause it was dangerous. They had me call him back so they could tell him where to come in Chichewa. We made it home and I was very grateful. His name is Saidhu and he is on my good guy list and will be my driver of choice from here on out. He speaks perfect English in person, drove as safely as anyone in Malawi, and did not charge me an arm and a leg because I am mzungu.