National Geographic: Lions of the African Night Page #2

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But the ant lion has another strategy

that makes escape almost impossible.

It throws up a steady shower

of sand that dislodges

the ant from the steep

sides of the trap

and brings it once again within reach

of the great jaws.

Now, held securely, the ant is dragged

below the sand to be devoured.

Roars in the night can mean danger

for the pride.

These come from a group of males that

have been trying to take over the pride

and its territory for some months.

But the intruders are shunned

by the pride,

for males tend to kill cubs

they have not sired,

and they always appropriate

and prey killed within their hearing.

So the pride departs

in another direction

and won't relax or resume the hunt

until out of range of the big males.

Dawn finds them safe and asleep,

several miles from the troubles

of the night.

Most nights the pride will walk

about five miles,

but when foiled in their hunt

or to avoid other lions,

they may cover twice that distance.

The unpredictable wrath of this bull

elephant takes the lions by surprise.

There is no point contesting the matter

and the pride moves on to find

a more hospitable place.

A male ostrich sits tight on his nest

despite the steady approach

of a herd of buffalo.

If he deserts now, the buffalo might

well trample and scatter the eggs.

But the approach of a herd of lions

is too much for the buffalo...

and the ostrich also

abandons his clutch.

These eggs are a novelty for the lions

In the excitement of the first rush

on the net,

one or two eggs were smashed

and the contents fought over.

But now the lions are puzzled

and unable to open the others.

There's more fun for a cub

in the futile stalk

and chase of the female ostrich

who had just returned

to the awful scene at her nest.

The remaining eggs are lion-proof

and the pride wanders away

to seek shade

where they will sleep through

the rest of the day.

By late afternoon it is overcast

and cool enough for the lions to stir,

and the younger ones have found

a tree to play on.

But tree climbing is not something

they're very good at.

Lions have an edge when stalking prey

distracted by the chaos of a storm.

This time they have killed

a young zebra.

But even the lions are unnerved

by the fierceness of this storm.

The rain unearths a rainfrog.

Most of the year they are inactive

and remain buried underground.

They emerge only

when the earth is soaked.

The storm has damaged

the tunnels of termites,

exposing the workers and

making them easy prey

for the quick tongue of the rainfrog.

During the rainy season temporary ponds

are formed throughout the bushveld.

About 20 different kinds of frogs

will breed at night in this pond.

Not only frogs are attracted

to the pond.

This marbled tree snake

waits for a meal to come within range.

Most of the frogs will deposit

their eggs in the water,

but there are exceptions.

These golden leaf-folding frogs

are placing a row of eggs along

a blade of grass.

With their hind legs they fold

the blade to form a cylinder

in which the eggs will develop.

By far the most numerous predators

at this pond are the spiders.

They wait motionless

at the water's edge.

When the frog has been subdued,

the spider carries it out of

the water to be consumed.

In a tree over the pond a pair of

foam frogs are making their nest.

With their hind legs

they whip up the foam

in which their young will spend

the first five days of their lives.

The female provides the mucus together

with her eggs,

while the male on her back adds

his sperm to the mix.

Soon the foam hardens on the outside

to a meringue-like crust.

From other nests made

five nights previously

tiny tadpoles are slipping out

and dropping into the pond below

where they'll complete

their development.

It is common for more than one pair

of frogs to make a nest together,

but this group is extraordinary.

About 40 frogs are contributing

to this nest

which, when completed,

will contain about 3,000 eggs.

The pride has come upon a

foraging porcupine,

which the adults have left to

the inexperienced younger lions.

The porcupine has been wounded,

but not badly,

and there is much fight still left in

it as the cubs are finding out.

To succeed they will have to insert

a paw under the porcupine

and bowl it over to expose its

unprotected belly.

But they're not finding this easy

and frequently get stuck with quills.

The encounter eventually

becomes a lesson in restraint.

With more time the cubs may

have succeeded,

but the adults have moved on

and the cubs leave to catch up.

A scorpion clears the sand

from its burrow

before settling in the entrance

to ambush passing prey.

Millipedes are often eaten

by scorpions,

but this millipede has

an escape technique

that makes it almost uncatchable

by any scorpion.

When molested, it flips onto its back

and, snakelike, slithers out of range.

A charge on a wildebeest herd

is imminent

and the younger lions listen

for the outcome.

For the small cubs this is the ultimate

test of their ability to survive.

Only by displaying a fierce

will to take its share

can a cub get enough to eat.

And it is now, when the abdomen

of the wildebeest is torn open

and the choicest portions

become available,

that the competition is keenest.

By the end of such a meal

most of the pride will have

at least some small injury.

But they scarcely seem to

notice their wounds, which soon heal.

Eventually the carcass is dismembered

and the adults and larger cubs have

taken their spoils

into the surrounding bushes

to gnaw on in peace.

The younger cubs now have easier

access to the remains of the carcass,

which they attack with a will.

And even the lame cub has managed

to get a share.

Hyenas and jackals that would snatch

a meal from smaller prides

find this group too formidable.

They will keep their distance

until it's all over.

The lions that have finished eating

groom one another

licking away the blood from each other

and probably renewing bonds

that were battered during

the frenzy of eating.

For it is only at kills that harmony

within the pride breaks down.

There is no hierarchy in a lion pride

all are equal,

and the members compete only at kills.

In harmony again and replete

for a little while,

the pride moves on to find a

shady place to spend the day.

By nightfall this large family

will be hungry.

Impelled once more on their

everlasting search for food,

They will resume again their journey

through the African night.

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