Guess what? More
baboons! They are just too much fun to photograph. But I promise
there will be only one more baboon letter after this.
The sub-adult male baboons are so
cool. They strut along as though they owned the bush and as though they
are sure all the girl baboons are watching.
When the troop is feeding, these
young 'soldiers' are posted as lookouts so the rest can relax. They sit on
top of termite mounds in the most casual position and sound the alarm if a
predator approaches. I love the droop of the hands.
The hummocks and many of the islands in the Okavango Delta were formed
from baboons sitting on termite mounds. Their droppings are full of seeds
(many of which need to pass through an animal's digestive system to germinate)
and trees grow on the ant heaps from this. Then soil catches in the roots
and the area grows and more plants appear and pretty soon you have some solid
ground in the marsh.
I can't resist a few more grooming
pictures. Look at who is peeking out between the two adults too.
Oh, that feels so good!
A little more to the left............down a bit..........there, that's it!
And this is my favorite of all the
grooming pictures. You can see that they really know what they are doing,
are methodical, and thorough too.
Maybe we should all take up
grooming each other--it just might solve the world's problems.