Kudus love rose petals. I know this because I have seen them. I have an old uncle who owned a game farm near Nylstroom some years ago. His wife fenced off a 400m2 rose garden using an 8 foot fence – to no avail. The kudus cleared the fence with ease. If you were patient enough to chase them for a time by day, they simply seemed to return at night.
Here it appears to me that there are two kinds of people – those who try to protect roses from kudus, and those who grow more roses to try to sustain more kudus. I fall into the second category. In fact I love the graceful kudu, and indeed so many of our other bushveld animals. Can you image living with warthogs and kudus patrolling your front yard?
For us city-dwellers that dream is not possible. In a way, that is why we watch birds. They are our closest urban link to the wildlife that we are blessed with. And here, I share my personal imagery. Our special (daily) attraction is the pair of African grey hornbills that obviously live nearby and choose to share our feeders. I see the grey hornbill as our “urban kudu”.
These birds are amazing. They literally call us if the food is low. That sound is described by many as a “rusty gate”. I cannot agree – it is much more ethereal, and reminds me of some type of haunted whistling noise, that is difficult to describe but easy to love.
They eat like horses (rather kudus…), especially in breeding season. Naturally that is not a problem – their favourite is Elaine’s Birdgrub, and that is easily replaced. If I use the rose analogy, my belief is “put out more feeders”. I also realise that we need to remember that the African grey hornbill prefers the NON pigeon proof feeders…
