Weary Caracal

Gallery: WildlifePosted July 25, 2011198 views8 comments

In October 2010, I made a short trip to the Kalahari desert, which included a stint in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. On this particular day we had no less than 2 separate caracal sightings, of which this was the best photographic sighting. I had never seen one in the wild before in my over 20 years of regular visits to the African wilderness.

This particular cat was walking next to our vehicle for more than a kilometer on her way to have a drink at a waterhole. This is her weary and cautious approach to ascend the rocks lining the waterhole. She was looking a bit thin and had a bad gash on her back - seems like she's had a tough winter but hopefully the summer months and coming rains helped her gain in strength.

All comments welcome. This was taken at about 9am.

Techs:
Canon 7D with 100-400mm L IS USM @ 235mm
f7.1 @ 1/1000 SS @ ISO-400

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Nicolaus Wegner on July 25, 2011 at 9:29 PM

Great photo of a hard to find creature Morkel. Those guys have the coolest ears ever!

Registered on February 21, 2010, 133 Posts, 1509 Comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on July 26, 2011 at 12:35 AM

Interesting photo, different image I think from most small cat photos. I have never seen a wild one (never been to Africa) but have cared for them in a zoo. Nice to see a wild image, good job on getting this photo. Thanks for sharing.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Anand Narayanan on July 27, 2011 at 2:56 AM

Congrats on the sightings ! Youve caught her in a dynamic pose befitting this awesome cat !

Registered on October 25, 2009, 110 Posts, 835 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on July 27, 2011 at 10:32 AM

We seldom see caracal images and that alone makes this interesting! I love the ears. I find the jumble of lines created by the weathered logs to be a bit of a distraction, but there is nothing you could do about that. I hope you caught several good clicks!

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on July 28, 2011 at 1:06 AM

A rare sighting, your image certainly captures the harsh environment and struggle of the cat well. I find the image a bit centered here.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Watkins on July 28, 2011 at 2:43 AM

Morkel,
This is the second time I have seen this and to me it still looks "odd", particularly the colours of the Caracal, which seem to me to have "suffered" from S/H.

It never ceases to amaze me that when you get a special sighting circumstances are difficult.

Registered on December 15, 2010, 1537 Posts, 4877 Comments

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on July 28, 2011 at 5:47 PM

Thanks for the comments, folks.

Ken - I refrain from using the S/H tool these days and will rather do selective levels layers. Will have a look at the RAW again as this was processed last year.

Registered on March 22, 2011, 385 Posts, 2068 Comments

Comment posted by Ajit Huilgol on July 29, 2011 at 10:58 PM

The only time I've seen a caracal has been at night. I just love these cats. Do you know that we have caracals in India, too?

Registered on December 19, 2008, 302 Posts, 2055 Comments