A midnight snack, but not for me!

For more than 2 years I have been contributing back page articles to this magazine and I have also completed a couple of online courses with them.

My biggest Wildlife Campus achievement to date?

Probably the fact that I started a course with them about 20 years ago…and I have yet to complete it! FGASA Level1. I started it so long ago that the course has changed its name!

This article never made it into the The WildlifeCampus magazine as I had no image of the Genet. Given that the incident took place at 02h00 and I was not expecting the intruder, I am hoping that I will be forgiven for using a stock Google Images genet picture.

One of the perks of being a working travel writer is arriving at your destination and finding a well-stocked snack platter.
I have to say that these platters can often lead to a variety of wildlife interactions, some slightly more nerve-wracking than others.
Picture this…I arrive at my destination to find a delicious platter of snacks comprising both sweet and savory bite-size pieces. While I settled in, I nibbled a handful…for research purposes of course, and then left on a game drive.
Having forgotten to cover the delicacies, I returned to find that ants had overrun the plate, making the food inedible. Score 1-0 to the insects.

Now fast forward several months to a different camp on the same reserve. Do you think that I had learned my lesson about covering platters? Turns out I had not.
In this particular instance, I was staying in a tent and the aforementioned platter had been left, carefully wrapped, on a table on the deck outside.

Remembering the incident with the ants, I checked the plate on my return from the game drive…all clean, so I indulged in some of the biltong and dried wors before heading for dinner.
On my return, I brought the platter into the tent, and I zipped up the fly-screen for the night. As I settled down to do some work, my attention was distracted by scrabbling at the netting…and there, trying to gain access was a Lesser Spotted Genet! For those who don’t know what a genet is, it is “… a lithe catlike omnivorous mammal, which has an elongated body, short-legged, with a long tapering tail, pointed nose, large rounded ears, and retractile claws”.
A loud “Get away”( or words to that effect) from me, caused said predator to leave the deck. I am uncertain if I would have been that brave or that effective had my nocturnal visitor been a leopard or a lion. Score 1-0 to the human…
But, dear reader, it did not end there. Little did I know that was not the end of the interaction.

Innocently I switched off my light and fell into a deep sleep that only the bush can provide. As a result, I did not hear the first scampering of tiny clawed feet across the wooden floor of the tent.
What did wake me was the lip-smacking noise that was emanating from INSIDE the corner of my tent.
I grabbed my torch, and in the powerful beam who should I discover snacking away heartily? You guessed it, the Genet that had visited earlier.

Seeing it was 02h00 in the morning, I am uncertain as to who was more surprised but suffice to say we both reacted in diametrically opposed ways. I stayed on the bed while the Genet headed for the bathroom, only to return a split-second later with what I suppose could be viewed as panic in its eyes.

The scene of the crime…after much CSI type investigation, I discovered that there was a hole in the top right hand corner of the bathroom where the tent roof had been left undone and it was through this hole that my intruder gained access…

It subsequently turned out that it was able to get in but was unable to find an escape route and was therefore dashing back and forth getting more and more agitated with each pass.
All I had to protect myself was my pillow and a Leatherman multi-tool…if it came to hand-to-claw combat.

As it headed off to the bathroom, I unzipped the tent flap, and on its return, it made its escape out into the night. No doubt to tell its side of the story to family and friends.
I did inform the staff in the morning, and their maintenance staff found the hole in the roof of the tent where the critter has entered. I mentioned to the housekeeping staff that the contents of my platter had been decimated by said Genet and they were most apologetic…but none of the snacks were replenished!

Lesson learned and I now make certain that I either eat my snacks on arrival, or I lock them away so that they do not attract animals with teeth and claws.

If you want to do an online nature/hospitality course, this should be your go-to website. Click on the logo above to visit their website and enroll in the course of your dreams.