Dr. Hoof Stock

            I found a herd of 3 by the Safari Camp. This included the new baby. I then found a herd of 20 in the pasture before the Lodge. Douglas was grazing the entire time. At one point he followed Toby towards a female, sniffed her, and continued grazing. The two males never challenged each other while I was watching them this morning. We went back later to try to check the new baby, but we could not find it.

–Lauren

            It took me a while to find Douglas this evening. I found a herd of 5 females with Crooked Tail on the Juniper Loop. I found a herd of 12 females by the Safari Camp, and a herd of 4 by the Lodge that contained Toby. I finally found Douglas with Crooked Tail’s herd and they had moved by the Safari Camp. This is the first time that I have seen Toby and Douglas in separate herds. I did not see the new baby, but I thought it was interesting that Douglas was with the herd of mothers. Douglas was grazing next to Crooked Tail. Crooked Tail was feeling quite fresh and they engaged in some playful interaction, knocking horns. Toby’s small herd joined the group and the new baby was with him. Douglas and Toby fought a little bit and Douglas seemed to be exerting more dominance than previously before. Crooked Tail jumped in on the action, but he only fought with Douglas, not with Toby, which I thought was interesting. Later I did notice that Crooked Tail challenged Toby as well after Douglas had walked off and continued grazing. I observed the new baby standing next to a female with no tag, and I believe that she was its mother.

–Lauren

I came out this evening and I discovered a new baby. I did not identify the sex or the mother, but I will try to do that next time I see them. This baby is out of Lucifer, of course. I found both males in a herd of about 16 females by the vet clinic. I believe that there could be more females close by out of my view, meaning that the entire herd might be together. Douglas is grazing and I haven’t seen any interactions with the females or Toby. It’s lightly raining but they don’t seem too disrupted by it. There is still plenty of grass for this time of the year. Neither of the males seem to be bothering the babies at all.

–Lauren

Today I actually found most of the whole herd together. In the trees by the vet clinic there was 19 waterbuck. Douglas grazed all morning. He showed interest in neither the females nor Toby. He followed the herd into the trees at 7:30 a.m.

–Lauren

This morning I saw a herd of 12 females by the vet clinic. I got to watch the calf run and play. Later I found another herd by the Lodge with Toby and Douglas. When they caught sight of my truck they began to walk off towards the woods. They went to a clearing far past the Lodge that was out of view.

            I wonder why the full herd is never together.

–Lauren

The females with calves seem to be the first ones to be disturbed. Whenever I drive up, they are the first ones to walk off. This morning he was grazing and a female approached him and started sniffing him. He was scratching his back with his horns when she walked up, and he pushed her away with his horns. Then Toby confronted Douglas and Douglas backed down like usual. Douglas followed the females into the trees, and went out of view.

–Lauren

            I went out in the evening and saw Toby, Douglas, and another female by the vet clinic. The rest of the herd eventually joined them. Douglas sniffed the female and Toby ran him off. He circled around and sniffed the female again, did a foreleg kick, and mounted her. Toby soon runs him off again. The female followed Douglas and she mounted him, showing that she is exhibiting estrus. A car drove by and disrupted them. They continued feeding while Douglas sequestered himself from the herd. Some females follow him and surrounded him. I got too dark to continue. It seems to me that the females are becoming more used to and comfortable with Douglas. I wonder why Toby is interested in Douglas only when Douglas is interested in a female?

–Lauren

I never saw either male today. I found a herd of about 6 female in the pasture right past the turtle pond, but I never saw either male. I drove around and found another herd of 6 female on the other side of the safari camp. Both calves were in this herd, which is good since we thought they might be missing. I drove back around to where I saw the first herd, thinking that maybe the males had shown up, but that herd was nowhere to be seen. So I then drove back to the herd with the calves. No males spotted. I watched them until they went out of view, about 7:40 a.m.

–Lauren

It was raining this morning, so I did not make it to the park. I assumed that they would be under cover.

–Lauren

            Not much action today. I found Toby and a small herd of females first. Not far away was Douglas with the rest of the herd. He sniffed two females. I saw a calf nursing. They went too far back into the trees for me to see any better. I also saw two raccoons today.

–Lauren