Leopard and Porcupine
by Robert Shepardson
(DeBary, Florida, U.S.A.)
No meal here
Suprised by a leopard.
We had always heard that the chances of seeing Leopard in Etosha were slim, and while in previous visits we had seen them at the Halali water hole after dark, we had yet to get any good photos of Etosha leopards.
That all changed in September of 2011...
On this trip we had three close encounters with these cats two at the Goas water hole and one in the middle of the road between Goas and Halali. This one was a large male that let us get some good shots before moving into the bush.
One morning we drove directly to the Goas water hole from Halali in hopes of seeing a repeat of a leopard that we had photographed late the previous afternoon. My wife had just said wouldn't it be nice if it came out of the bush and walked in front of the car. when I said Leopard. She thought I was kidding. Right on the side of the road, which goes around about half the hole, was a young female, just lying on her back. She posed for us for several minutes then moved across the road disapearing into a depression. I then started to move our vehilce to a better positon when a porcupine exploded out of the hole with the leopard in hot pursuit. The chase lasted for about 25 meters with the porcupine displaying and presenting its rear to the young cat. The leopard raised one paw touched a quill and then stood beside the porcupine for a minute or so before walking away. The cat was young not dumb.
Unfortunatley it happened so fast, with the car in motion, that there are no photos of the initial encounter. We did take a few, through the bush, as it was standing close to the porcupine, but the pictures in our minds will never be lost.
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