When The Black On White of Sabiepark Come To Visit, They Can  Also Creep Into Your Heart

Black and white

Sabiepark’s emblem is a zebra head. A large specimen adorns the thatched main entrance. It also appears in black and white on every piece of correspondence (and on accounts!) from that quarter. The zebras of the park probably think that the emblem bestows on them a special status. Maybe they regard the fashionable black stripes on their fat, white bodies as symbols of rank that allow them to qualify for extraordinary privileges.

Nothing else is more at home on your erf than a zebra. Green grass and convenient waterholes are not the only attractions. No, zebras use your property to full advantage. They love a thatched roof as a lazy dog loves its kennel. When the sun is hot, they find shade there, and when it rains, the thatch overhang gives them shelter. The stoep is their favourite living room. One owner was justifiably irate. When her guests from overseas arrived, she found that her stoep was used as an ablution convenience. It had to be cleaned from top to bottom as it looked and smelt like a stable. The hostess first had to shoo away a few reluctant zebras and use garden hoses before she could make coffee.

At Tarlehoet we installed a few chains strategically to keep zebras off the stoep. Not that one begrudges these fine animals their shade when the African sun beats down, but one would rather forego that kind of mess. Make no mistake – the chains of Tarlehoet fulfil a very necessary function.

A lean-to is a popular alternative to a stoep. Our own lean-to of green shade cloth was erected at great personal effort and cost for the benefit of my car. But as soon as the vehicle is moved, the zebras command the space for other purposes. The domestic scene of a zebra kid suckling from its mother under our lean-to is a fairly common sight. And they are extremely reluctant to leave the area where they have have squatted.

Zebras make a habit of bending little trees while they are still young

When there’s an itch somewhere on a zebra body, it nonchalantly moves astride a tree and rub the tummie, a highly-satisfied smirk on its face. Small trees, and their green plastic name tags, often bite the dust after such an itch. At one stage, more than 30 kinds of Bushveld trees were identified on Tarlehoet. Some 50 name tags were mounted. But every holiday new damage can be found. My only sour-plum tree was uprooted – name tag and all. I did not appreciate that. Tokkie was an eye-witness when half a dozen zebras took turns at demolishing a young apple-leaf that we were nursing. Destructive behaviour, that’s what I call it. After that incident, there was no doubt left in my mind about the origin of my nametag losses.

When the zebras of Sabiepark pay you a visit, they can also creep into your heart, mind you. These placid animals can relax around the house for hours. From time to time it is even possible to pat a fat rump by just leaning over the low wall of the front stoep. At other times, they graze almost up against the open back stoep. One particular group made us think that it had made Tarlehoet its headquarters. The constant presence of a dozen or more of these members of the horse family was more a source of pleasure than one of annoyance – despite the fact that one bounder flattened a young buffalo-thorn tree of mine.

CAPTION: SHELTER. A thatch overhang provides shelter in the rain.

A delightful experience began when this “resident” group pitched up for breakfast one morning. Shortly after 07.00 they took a leisurely stroll out of Wildevy Avenue all along the driveway. The “wild figs” which had built up in their intestines during the night, were deposited everywhere. The prolonged visit only ended after the owners had enjoyed their 11-o-clock rooibos tea and rusks in the presence of the honorary guests. This group. including two foals, grazed at least twice around the house. In the quiet of the morning the “squirt-quirt” of their lavish African breakfast of tall, green grass sounded in harmony with the deeper swish sound of the Sabie River.

The young ones took playful bites at one another. Some did exercises. A tiny one sank down for a quiet snooze on a bed of grass. A sublime moment was when two young fellows simultaneously began suckling from their mothers. Those too old to drink from mom, enjoyed the refreshing waterhole and the bird-bath. Litres of water were consumed and we (Tokkie, really) had to carry buckets to replenish the supply.

SHADE. Thatched roofs provide welcome shade on a sweltering hot summer’s day)

Animals are always welcome at your waterhole. Zebras drinking, are extra pleasing to behold. When those striped bodies are so tightly bunched, and the proud necks with long manes form an arch towards the water, it’s like a symphony in black and white. At such times this keen photographer cannot keep his finger off the shutter. Ditto that morning. Enough photos were taken to fill a complete zebra album.

A next visit took place even before breakfast. “Our” zebras arrived at the waterhole just as we were getting dressed. Then something gave them a start. In the bathroom I could hear branches breaking and their hoof beats receding. What could it be? Tokkie thought it was my fault – the noisy way I brush my teeth. Noisy way?

On the way to the picnic spot we often encounter zebras. Tokkie once invited a loner: “You can go to our home if you wish.” He took her at her word. He walked on slowly, all along the driveway in the direction of our home. Suddenly we were completely surrounded by zebras. The rest of the troop had been hiding in the surrounding bush – waiting on such a formal invitation? We turned around immediately and followed them at a distance. It was a sensible decision. This time our guests remained even longer – till long after dusk. They provided precious moments, all around the house. On the back stoep Tokkie was at one stage virtually surrounded. She could not stir – in order to avoid another tooth-brushing fiasco.

Two mothers and their babies decided to enjoy a siesta on the lawn near our new braai-place. Father rolled in the grass and dust – a proven zebra recipe for getting rid of troublesome parasites. Even my fire had to wait a while – an enormous sacrifice, which I would be reluctant to make under normal circumstances.

Alarming Kruger statistics show that between 60 and 80 percent of foals do not survive their first year. For lion, leopard, cheetahs and hyenas they are the softest of soft targets. Why that is the case is not clear. Stallions have a reputation of putting up quite a fight to protect their mares and foals. An angry stallion can kill or maim a lion. He can also use his teeth to very good effect.

One of our little fellows was still very clumsy. He walked “haltingly like a human baby with an oversized nappy”, was Tokkie’s description. On wobbly legs and with knobbly knees, the tiny tot made the acquaintance of the big new world in a strange way. It was intensely studying the strange two-legged creatures at Tarlehoet, while its mother’s swishing tail kept on wiping its face. Then it discovered its image in the shiny black dome of the Weber-braai. It was also fascinated by the paving of the lapa, and obviously non-plussed by the cloppity-clop of its little hooves on the hard brickwork. Fascinating encounter with a lion and leopard

But this was not the end of his adventures of the day. A group of guinea-fowl on the lookout for pips caught its attention. It chased and tried to catch them – just like a playful kitten. The next time the same bunch of zebra visited us, we noticed at once that our little “clown” was absent. Then we remembered how the zebras had brayed the previous evening. And we knew: our zebra baby will never again see its reflection in the lid of the Weber, or chase a guinea-fowl. It had also become a statistic. Leopards must also eat ...