If you recall from the local zoo, the warthog is one ugly critter. It resembles something of a wild boar with big warts on its face and huge curved tusks. Not exactly cute.
A family of Warthogs, pausing briefly
Of the many meats we enjoyed at camp, I think the bacon was everyone’s favorite. A little meatier than what we have in the U.S. with a little less fat, it was delicious. Everyone kept asking for extra bacon. Could it be warthog?
Game drive after game drive we’d see these critters, but every time we approached, they’d turn tail and run. All we were left with is photo after photo of a rear ends moving away with a vertical tail sticking high in the air.
Group of Warthogs on the run – note tails up high
A fellow colleague came back after a game drive with a great shot of the skittish warthog…. Okay, it could be accomplished. But we needed a different tactic. After much planning over breakfast bacon, we asked Dominic to help us shoot a warthog.
What we learned is that the warthog will run when approached, but not being very smart, he will also stop and turn around to take a look back. We figured if we turned off the vehicle engine, he would forget that it was there and go back to what he was previously doing – grazing. Voila! Our plan worked to perfection. As soon as the engine turned off the warthog stopped running away and turned around. This provides a brief moment to shoot his face!
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Pausing briefly before turning tail and running.
So the warthog isn’t smart and isn’t cute, but he is entertaining, and heck, if he is what we were eating at camp, he was delicious!
We didn’t have any luck either. When we were there, they had little ones and it was so cute to see them all running away, one adult in fron and one in back with all the little ones in a straight line between them. Tails in air and off they’d go. You got some great shots!!