Cumberland County in Southeastern Illinois is a relatively small county occupied by approximately 11,000 people. It was named for the Cumberland Road, aka the National Road, that passes through it. The county seat is Toledo, a tiny village of somewhat more than on thousand inhabitants living on only 0.8 square miles of land. There are only four communities in the county, plus part of two more that are mostly in adjoining counties. It's a perfect spot for a remote Whooper stopover.
Thursday 03 December 2009
News from Operation Migration
Cumberland County in Southeastern Illinois is a relatively small county occupied by approximately 11,000 people. It was named for the Cumberland Road, aka the National Road, that passes through it. The county seat is Toledo, a tiny village of somewhat more than on thousand inhabitants living on only 0.8 square miles of land. There are only four communities in the county, plus part of two more that are mostly in adjoining counties. It's a perfect spot for a remote Whooper stopover.
Tuesday 24 November 2009
Batteries
This whole battery problem is caused by a relatively difficult issue to resolve, and that is the fact that WE destroy our batteries because we over discharge them and, we don't charge them enough before we use them again, which reduces their capacity fast. This is a known problem which is hard to fix because our schedule is what it is and the gaps of time between drives are too short.
This basically means that every few months WE have to replace a whole set of batteries which is expensive. However, Peter Braat is working on a method of charging which will hopefully keep the next set for a year without them being destroyed.
WE have bought a new set and will be picking them up from Nelspruit in the next few days. Then WE will be back to proper three hour drives and night drives as well. Thank you for being so patient and understanding about this problem and rest assured in the knowledge that WE are doing everything within our power to get back to normal as soon as possible.
Monday 23 November 2009
The WE family.
Thursday 19 November 2009
WElcome to Whoo.
Marc does know what age he will keep it until, it may fly when it is fledged and disappear or it may stick around if it has imprinted on Marc. This is a very unpredictable part of the equation. He keeps it in a small box which is about 20 x 25 x 20cm and lined with some kapok like nesting material. It doesn't resemble a nest of the species but resembles the dark hole of a natural nest in a hole in a tree. As Marc is not an adult owl with the ability to teach it of the dangers, it is going to be vulnerable to other predators, both avian ( raptors) mammal ( genets, wildcat, monkeys, baboons ) and reptiles (snakes and maybe white throated monitors).
It poses no danger to Marc or anyone when it gets older. It is almost full size already and its small size means that Marc does not even have to wear a glove when handling it as the talons are not that strong.
Ultimately Marc would like it to function like a wild Scops Owl and still be able to come to him but that is pure fantasy at this stage. At best he hopes that it returns to the wild and forgets about humans and finds a mate and goes on as a wild owl. They are a monogamous species and although quite numerous, they are very special little birds and Marc has certainly lost his heart to this one.
Wednesday 18 November 2009
News from Pix Controller
Friday 13 November 2009
New Cams on Wildearth

The Chehalis Flats are at the end of the Chehalis River that comes from the northwest in British Columbia. This river and the Harrison River contain some of the richest salmon spawning shallows in the world. All five salmon thrive here along with steelhead and rainbow trout. Spawning season is happening right now and thousands of salmon carcasses are being washed down the river system to feed the eagles. David Hancock has set up platforms along the estuary to allow you to watch the eagles and other wildlife feeding on the spawning salmon. In the past more than 1000 eagles have been seen in this area on a single day so these cameras promise to be phenomenal.

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Monday 09 November 2009
A Change of Guard
Above is a picture of Allimo Mahanuke. She is a Shangaan lady from the village of Dixie and will be stepping in for Siphiwe whilst she is on maternity leave. Allimo is married to Pete Marimane who is a well known guide in the area and in fact has guided at Djuma a few years a go. Together they have two children, both little girls. One is called Trudy and is four years old and the other is Tildah who is only eight months. Allimo has bought them in to the WildEarth camp and much to the delight of our crew Trudy often walks around with Tildah tied with a towel on her back - in the true African way.
Allimo is perfect for the job of WildEarth Zoomie as she has a diploma in computing and also loves animals. WE are sure that she will be as calm as Siphiwe when the computers go down and there is panic all around. Good luck Allimo and WElcome to the team.
Siphiwe is just about ready to pop and is very tired these days. Her last day will be Saturday 14th November and WE wish her all the best with the birth of her third child. Siphiwe will join us again next year around March time. Below is a picture of her looking beautiful and glowing.



