On safari this afternoon we set out from camp with the plan of looking for lions. On our way to the area where the lions were last seen, we went around a bend and bumped in to a pair of honey badgers. Honey badgers are very interesting and secretive animals. I will share some interesting facts with you.
Honey badger Mellivora capensis
They are well known for their ferocity. It is a very small animal with the heart of a giant and most other predators will be making a big mistake trying to kill it. They are small and stocky animals weighing in at around 12 kilograms, with very thick skin around the shoulders, most likely an adaption from resisting bee stings.
As its name suggests they love feeding on bee larvae, honey and a large percentage of small animals such as mice, scorpions, spiders, lizards, snakes and some larger mammals. They have strong foul smelling secretions that they use for scent marking and self-defense. They also make use of thanatosis (playing dead) to get predators away from them.
FW de klerk – Kapama River Lodge
26/12/2012
