BioniKat to the Rescue

 

Dassies and elephants...

A most fascinating fact is that these relatively small animals are closely related to elephants.

"As early as 1798, hyraxes were grouped with elephants based on similarities in their skulls and feet, although they now have their own order, Hyracoidea. As well as having common gene sequesnces, hyraxes and elephants share eye-lens proteins and amino acid sequences in their blood haemoglobin.

Hyrax social structure is remarkably like that of elephants. their close-knit colonies comprise several related females and their young. When young males reach maturity, the dominant male forces them out to seek their own territory. Male conflict is surprisingly aggressive, especially in the mating season when the size of the males internal testes (a feature shared with elephants) increases twenty-fold, presumably matched by increased testosterone levels.

So these animals are plentiful where I live on the edge of a green belt nature reserve. They love rocky outcrops and since our green belt plummets to a river, there are plenty of rocks. Needless to say, these little guys do venture into the gardens of the residents on the edge of the green belt. My opposite neighbour has just posted a message on our neighbourhood watch group asking for help to get one of these furries out of his roof where it has taken up residence.

We have a permanent resident also living in the storm water drain as the end of our cul de sac and is sometimes to be found sunning itself on our driveway.

A few weeks ago, our German/Belgian Shepherd, River and her Toy Pom boyfriend, Cheeky were kicking up a heck of a racket at our palisade fence bordering the green belt. I thought they had a cat cornered but when I approached saw a rather aggressive Rock Hyrax (Dassie) on the other side of the fence atop the short wall challenging this big barking dog to a fight. Even as I approached, it didnt move and I had some fears that it might have been suffering from rabies. My son, Dael came to help and ended up throwing a tennis ball which he picked up in the garden at the fence. Obviously seeing this missile coming its way broke the Dassie's aggressive trance and it went bouncing away into the bush. 

My research on the increased testosterone levels of these small creatures during mating season which is now being Spring leading into Summer has thrown some light on the weird behaviour where a small mammal was not afraid of a large dog snapping at it through the palisade fencing but was standing its ground fearlessly.