The lodge lawns are quite large, and in order to save some money and wear and tear on the lawnmower, we came up with a plan B to keep the lawns trimmed. Ntate Tello (the Project Director of the MDT), and Bob (our lodge manager), took up our offer of having their herdsmen bring their herds of sheep to come and graze on the property daily. There was enough grass to keep 60 sheep fed for a month. We decided to invest in our own sheep, and bought ourselves 4 sheep. The children named them Chelsea, Skipper, Chester and Stacey. Thabo named Chester, convinced that his sheep is a boy. Nothing we say will change his mind, even though Chester has no horns.
We also bought ourselves five chicks, hoping to be able to collect our own eggs one day, and also to keep our lonely Guinea Fowl company. Michael absolutely loves Guinea Fowls, and in November last year he brought 4. After letting them loose, a few weeks after they had been homed, sadly the dogs attacked 3 of them. He put the remaining Guinea Fowl into an enclosed area, and the poor bird was alone for a few months. Assuming this Guinea Fowl is a female, she took to mothering the chicks immediately, protecting them and crying like mad whenever she feels any harm is coming their way. Somehow, she acquired the nick name Mother Duck from Bryce, and that is the name that has stuck. It is VERY strange, however, that over the last month, every 10 days or so, 2 chickens mysteriously disappeared and all that was left, was what looked like the stomach left of the chicken. This morning, however, another chicken had been killed but not all of it was eaten. It's hard to understand that a predator can come in so quietly as to not disturb Mother Duck, because her cry is so loud we would have heard her if she were in distress.
A few mornings ago we were very excited to see a Banded Mongoose scampering along a wall just outside our bedroom. There is not much wildlife left in Lesotho, so it's always very exciting seeing something unusual. After some investigation around the cage done by the boys, they came to the conclusion that our cute little visitor could in fact be the vicious attacker on the prowl.
I wrote this story yesterday, but word in the village is that there has been a wild cat that has been spotted. From past sightings, this could be a Civet or a Genet...... so the plot thickens. The boys, this morning, were planning on camping near the chicken coup to see if they can solve the mystery, but with temperatures of -2 predicted tonight, I doubt that is going to happen. Watch this space for more news to follow.