Animal babies

Spring time and the beginning of summer is far and above the most wonderful seasons for me. It means that many species of wild animals are going to be having their babies and they are fascinating and oh so cute!! These Wildebeest always form a protective ring around them. 

 This is the time of year, after the first rains, when grass is plentiful and it ensures that the little ones have plenty of grazing. Outside my gate, there is a watering hole for the animals and it is wonderful to sit on my porch and see the herds with their babies come down to drink and feed on the grass. Last year this mother Warthog had 4 babies but this year, only 3. As soon as they sense any danger, the tails go up and they run off. No, that is not a seven-legged, two-tailed warthog, just two running side by side. J 

 During June and July there is a frenzy of mating amongst the Impala as the males have only about a 6 week period in which to cover all the females in his harem. This means that in November / December, all the little ones are born within a 6 week period and in places where there are predators, only so many can be killed and eaten so most survive to become adults.

 In the cat and dog family, the gestation period is only three or four months so the little ones are born with their eyes closed and are totally reliant on their mothers to feed them. When they are about 3-4 months old, they venture out for the first time. What a big, scary world it must seem to them. Lions

Elephants have on one baby in a four year cycle but they are as perfectly proportioned when born as they are when older.

 Zebra foals have very brown stripes when young and this one was not going very far from its mother.

Have you ever seen a Giraffe baby trying to stand on its feet just after birth? It has to be one of the funniest sights as those legs are so long, they do not seem to want to go where the baby wants them too. LOL!! At 2m (6’) they are the tallest babies around.

Please follow the links for more information on each species.