Wednesday, October 29, 2003
An (almost) uneventful weekend
The more I look on Oryx, the less I understand them. Friday, G. joined for a ride. We saw 4 Oryx peacefully walking northward. Then, they met another 3 in the wadi, as if they set an appointment. Maybe i can find the frequency they transmit this information. "Oryx 3 to Oryx 7, meet me next to the third tree in the 2nd wadi".
the 7 Oryx continued walking north, with one of the males suppressing the other.
The next morning they were 15 in about the same location. ("Hey, we found a great spot with juicy trees, come join").
I like it when the Oryx so well behave that i can see them all at once, without wracking the car by climbing mountains. I've checked in the afternoon, the were still together walking east... towards the Jordanian border again.
I've rushed east as well, to bypass them and make sure they won't become a traditional Jordanian dinner. In one point I've stopped to check on them again but ooops... there was no Antenna in my car. I've searched my memory and found out the last time i remember i had put it on the roof of the car.
Last time i did such mistake the receiver crashed, and it took 6 month and 350$ to get it back from repairs. Not that it was fixed, i run around like an idiot in the desert the whole day, not receiving any Oryx till i found out the receiver didn't work properly.
at the time, my i came shivering back to my boss, with a package of chocolate-chip cookies as a bride. Yet he was quite understanding. It happened to him once as well.
so this was the second time it happened to me, but luckily, the receiver wasn't harmed.
I've seen that the Oryx didn't decide to immigrate at this stage, and went to watch the amazing winter sunset.
the 7 Oryx continued walking north, with one of the males suppressing the other.
The next morning they were 15 in about the same location. ("Hey, we found a great spot with juicy trees, come join").
I like it when the Oryx so well behave that i can see them all at once, without wracking the car by climbing mountains. I've checked in the afternoon, the were still together walking east... towards the Jordanian border again.
I've rushed east as well, to bypass them and make sure they won't become a traditional Jordanian dinner. In one point I've stopped to check on them again but ooops... there was no Antenna in my car. I've searched my memory and found out the last time i remember i had put it on the roof of the car.
Last time i did such mistake the receiver crashed, and it took 6 month and 350$ to get it back from repairs. Not that it was fixed, i run around like an idiot in the desert the whole day, not receiving any Oryx till i found out the receiver didn't work properly.
at the time, my i came shivering back to my boss, with a package of chocolate-chip cookies as a bride. Yet he was quite understanding. It happened to him once as well.
so this was the second time it happened to me, but luckily, the receiver wasn't harmed.
I've seen that the Oryx didn't decide to immigrate at this stage, and went to watch the amazing winter sunset.
Thursday, October 23, 2003
Updates
Hi, I've change the name of the Blog because I've found out that "Chasing Unicorns" is a name of a popular poem and some other stories. Since scaring Oryx is what I practically do, I find it a more suitable name.
By the way, you can add comments now by clicking on the "comments" link below every post. Please comment as you like, it gives me the feeling that somebody bothers to read all I write.
By the way, you can add comments now by clicking on the "comments" link below every post. Please comment as you like, it gives me the feeling that somebody bothers to read all I write.
In search for the ghost Oryx
This is a good month in this region. Many vacations that allow me to take the vehicle for some long weekends in my kingdom. So I did, leaving home on Wednesday, and in my mind the idea of getting a few radio collars that are lying in the desert for some time. These collars belonged to Oryx that decided to die in remote places, which are accessible only by foot. Evening comes fast these days, so not much happened before it got dark and I headed towards Gidronpur- my sleeping site & summer capitol of Assafistan.
A look southeast conformed what before was a vicious rumor.
The signs were clear.
The writing was just there on the wall.
It could not be mistaken.
EL - SHARKIYA, the eastern wind, with clouds gathering in the southeast.
Rain in coming.
When the rain comes from the east, it's not only rain. It's flooding. In the desert, the rain that comes down doesn't get absorbed in the ground. It all accumulates and comes to the main wadies, causing amazing flooding.
Was that the moment I’ve been waiting for ?
To see the flooding of the mighty Paran ?
Every year, when such a flooding occurs, the Paran is unreachable because of flooding in other wadies that prevents access to Paran.Is a flooding to come, I’m there to see it and I can't come back until it's over - just perfect. The only problem with flooding is for those that happen to be inside the wadi when it comes. To these unfortunate souls who are in the right place but in a very wrong time, there are usually no problems anymore.
But for the fortuned souls who happens to be just above the wadi in time of flooding- the most spectacular sight is promised.
Anyway, there were only clouds at the time.A few hours later, the first drops came. I've rushed everything into the car, but that was it. No heavy rain- no flooding.
The next morning was still cloudy. In order for a flooding to start, it doesn't necessary need to rain in the same area.
Rain can fall down in distance regions and the water comes flashing down the wadi. The collars were on the other bank of the Paran wadi in a cliffy part. Therefore I hesitated whether to go and search for them. But suddenly the clouds disappeared and it became another normal hot day. So I went for it. It was a beautiful walk, and I didn't need to do too many ups & downs till I got to the collar. It was near a hyena lair, with many skulls and bones around. There were skulls of Ibex, Camal, and the poor old Oryx that his collar brought me all along.
The way back to the car seemed a lot longer, I've suspected somebody moved it just to have a laugh.
Friday was very successful; I've found a group of 2 Oryx getting suntan in the main Paran wadi, another single male Oryx who, upon seeing us (Me & N. who was there all along) climbed a hill to make a show off. I think he had his eyes on N., and to avoid conflict, we went away.
In the afternoon we went on to find the rest on the population. On the way, we met G. an old desert dweller, and his mate M.
G. & M. are amateur archaeologists that were looking at a pre-historic site when we met them. They joined us in the search of the living Oryx. Walking with archaeologists is a different adventure. Every 10 meters or so they stop and admire a piece of rock. When asked, they explain " this is made for worship" "that is used for prayer" "this is a pagan symbol" as if the ancient didn't have anything else to do but worship rocks all day long. Yet we did find some nice rock carving and flint tools. We
Just came to see a pair of Oryx when G.'s mobile rang and scared the Oryx away. It was his daughter from India on the line.
Some weird connection talking with somebody in Rishikesh from the middle of the desert.
We walked a bit farther, climb a hill, came down, climb another, walk down, (M. had enough and walked back) climb the thierd and here they are, 18 lovely Oryx under Acacia trees.
It just become dark when we reached back to the car, M. waited there with tee & dates.
We spent the night somewhere in east Assafistan, and first thing in the morning saw 2 groups (7 & 2 Oryx), and spent the rest of the day searching for the rest, got to weird places, climbed mountains but didn't find a trace. So I got a mission for the coming weekend.
A look southeast conformed what before was a vicious rumor.
The signs were clear.
The writing was just there on the wall.
It could not be mistaken.
EL - SHARKIYA, the eastern wind, with clouds gathering in the southeast.
Rain in coming.
When the rain comes from the east, it's not only rain. It's flooding. In the desert, the rain that comes down doesn't get absorbed in the ground. It all accumulates and comes to the main wadies, causing amazing flooding.
Was that the moment I’ve been waiting for ?
To see the flooding of the mighty Paran ?
Every year, when such a flooding occurs, the Paran is unreachable because of flooding in other wadies that prevents access to Paran.Is a flooding to come, I’m there to see it and I can't come back until it's over - just perfect. The only problem with flooding is for those that happen to be inside the wadi when it comes. To these unfortunate souls who are in the right place but in a very wrong time, there are usually no problems anymore.
But for the fortuned souls who happens to be just above the wadi in time of flooding- the most spectacular sight is promised.
Anyway, there were only clouds at the time.A few hours later, the first drops came. I've rushed everything into the car, but that was it. No heavy rain- no flooding.
The next morning was still cloudy. In order for a flooding to start, it doesn't necessary need to rain in the same area.
Rain can fall down in distance regions and the water comes flashing down the wadi. The collars were on the other bank of the Paran wadi in a cliffy part. Therefore I hesitated whether to go and search for them. But suddenly the clouds disappeared and it became another normal hot day. So I went for it. It was a beautiful walk, and I didn't need to do too many ups & downs till I got to the collar. It was near a hyena lair, with many skulls and bones around. There were skulls of Ibex, Camal, and the poor old Oryx that his collar brought me all along.
The way back to the car seemed a lot longer, I've suspected somebody moved it just to have a laugh.
Friday was very successful; I've found a group of 2 Oryx getting suntan in the main Paran wadi, another single male Oryx who, upon seeing us (Me & N. who was there all along) climbed a hill to make a show off. I think he had his eyes on N., and to avoid conflict, we went away.
In the afternoon we went on to find the rest on the population. On the way, we met G. an old desert dweller, and his mate M.
G. & M. are amateur archaeologists that were looking at a pre-historic site when we met them. They joined us in the search of the living Oryx. Walking with archaeologists is a different adventure. Every 10 meters or so they stop and admire a piece of rock. When asked, they explain " this is made for worship" "that is used for prayer" "this is a pagan symbol" as if the ancient didn't have anything else to do but worship rocks all day long. Yet we did find some nice rock carving and flint tools. We
Just came to see a pair of Oryx when G.'s mobile rang and scared the Oryx away. It was his daughter from India on the line.
Some weird connection talking with somebody in Rishikesh from the middle of the desert.
We walked a bit farther, climb a hill, came down, climb another, walk down, (M. had enough and walked back) climb the thierd and here they are, 18 lovely Oryx under Acacia trees.
It just become dark when we reached back to the car, M. waited there with tee & dates.
We spent the night somewhere in east Assafistan, and first thing in the morning saw 2 groups (7 & 2 Oryx), and spent the rest of the day searching for the rest, got to weird places, climbed mountains but didn't find a trace. So I got a mission for the coming weekend.
Tuesday, October 07, 2003
This weekend was a long one, as a holiday came on Monday.
Friday evening i managed just not to see a big group, as it was getting dark too soon. We spent the night at Gidronpur, my summer capital. This time I. and best-of-dogs S. joined me. Some time at night S. Started chasing something. Seconds after, on a nearby hill, a dark shade of two canine figures stood out. S. was one of them. We called her back, and turned on torch (first time i ever took one to the field with me). a pair of yellow eyes peered at us. Then it climb down the hill, and went directly to the water jerrycan, and started to chew it. It was a white wolf. The white wolves are so rarely seen in this region, that nobody believes they really exist. (including myself, until i saw one).
Wolves are nice. Wolves are cute. Wolves sometimes carry Rabies.
therefore i roared at it and it run away.
Next morning i received a signal of one female Oryx. This is always suspicious,
since the Arabian Oryx, as the name may imply, is a Muslim animal. As such, never a female would walk alone, no accompanied by her husband/brother and on rare Occasion, her son. Therefore, anytime i receive a single female, i know there would be more, and hopefully, a new-born baby Oryx.
So, got closer, parked the car, started walking, and as it more-frequent-than-random happens to me, i got directly on the trail the Oryx went before.
then suddenly i sew one on a hill. The Oryx, on the other hand, suddenly so me. He had a clear advantage, as it only needed to recognize my species, and i need to recognize it's gender. As it recognized me as a clear non-oryx creature, and went away, i followed, and sure enough, there were three of them (yet no new-born). Satisfied we walked back to the car. This all has happened in the western side of Assafistan, in it was time to drive east to meet the other population.
Later in the afternoon, i got to see a big group in a wadi, about 300 meters from where i stood with car. i saw they got frightened, and quickly pulled out my telescope to count them. But contrary to any other observation i saw they started running......... towards me. That was strange. They run full power in my direction, getting closer and closer and i started to be afraid. Maybe the decided to put an end to this weekly disturbance, to group together and kill me with their sharp horns. As they were getting closer quite fast, i made sure i can jump to the car. But the Oryx, a peaceful herbivore, didn't have these vicious plans in mind. Instead, they walked pass-by us. Looking at us from about 3 meters! And kept on walking. 16 of them !
on the way back we saw an eagle-owl- another first-timer for me.
these 16 Oryx broke to a group of 10 and a group of 6 the next day, and i came back without anymore adventures and with no (apparent) damage to the car.
Friday evening i managed just not to see a big group, as it was getting dark too soon. We spent the night at Gidronpur, my summer capital. This time I. and best-of-dogs S. joined me. Some time at night S. Started chasing something. Seconds after, on a nearby hill, a dark shade of two canine figures stood out. S. was one of them. We called her back, and turned on torch (first time i ever took one to the field with me). a pair of yellow eyes peered at us. Then it climb down the hill, and went directly to the water jerrycan, and started to chew it. It was a white wolf. The white wolves are so rarely seen in this region, that nobody believes they really exist. (including myself, until i saw one).
Wolves are nice. Wolves are cute. Wolves sometimes carry Rabies.
therefore i roared at it and it run away.
Next morning i received a signal of one female Oryx. This is always suspicious,
since the Arabian Oryx, as the name may imply, is a Muslim animal. As such, never a female would walk alone, no accompanied by her husband/brother and on rare Occasion, her son. Therefore, anytime i receive a single female, i know there would be more, and hopefully, a new-born baby Oryx.
So, got closer, parked the car, started walking, and as it more-frequent-than-random happens to me, i got directly on the trail the Oryx went before.
then suddenly i sew one on a hill. The Oryx, on the other hand, suddenly so me. He had a clear advantage, as it only needed to recognize my species, and i need to recognize it's gender. As it recognized me as a clear non-oryx creature, and went away, i followed, and sure enough, there were three of them (yet no new-born). Satisfied we walked back to the car. This all has happened in the western side of Assafistan, in it was time to drive east to meet the other population.
Later in the afternoon, i got to see a big group in a wadi, about 300 meters from where i stood with car. i saw they got frightened, and quickly pulled out my telescope to count them. But contrary to any other observation i saw they started running......... towards me. That was strange. They run full power in my direction, getting closer and closer and i started to be afraid. Maybe the decided to put an end to this weekly disturbance, to group together and kill me with their sharp horns. As they were getting closer quite fast, i made sure i can jump to the car. But the Oryx, a peaceful herbivore, didn't have these vicious plans in mind. Instead, they walked pass-by us. Looking at us from about 3 meters! And kept on walking. 16 of them !
on the way back we saw an eagle-owl- another first-timer for me.
these 16 Oryx broke to a group of 10 and a group of 6 the next day, and i came back without anymore adventures and with no (apparent) damage to the car.
Hardly even started the blog and I'm late in updating it already...
two weeks without extraordinary events, except that for the first time in the area i met a snake, which tried to frighten us by posing its neck as if he was a Cobra. This didn't have much effect since i wasn't really frightened and my friend R. Was frightened anyway by it's presence.
5 oryx in west Assafistan and a group of 16 in east Assafistan was the loot of this time. (the east is the area of the release detailed below, west is where Oryx been roaming for the last three years)
the week after i saw 20 in the west, and a group of 13 + a group of two in the east.
two weeks without extraordinary events, except that for the first time in the area i met a snake, which tried to frighten us by posing its neck as if he was a Cobra. This didn't have much effect since i wasn't really frightened and my friend R. Was frightened anyway by it's presence.
5 oryx in west Assafistan and a group of 16 in east Assafistan was the loot of this time. (the east is the area of the release detailed below, west is where Oryx been roaming for the last three years)
the week after i saw 20 in the west, and a group of 13 + a group of two in the east.
Wednesday, October 01, 2003
A week after the release, I went looking for the beasts. I received most of them quite close to me at dusk, on Friday, but couldn't see them, I was too dark.
So on Saturday morning I went there again. I started searching for them with the radio transmittor from a low pile of sand, about 5 meters high. Most of them were in the direction of the old enclosure, yet suddenly I heard a sound unmistaken. Sound of death. [here is the time to tell, that all the info. I gain from the radio collars is bip, bip, bip in a constant frequency. If a collar doesn't move for 5 hours, it doubles the frequency, generally means the animal carrying this collar is dead and therefore is called death signal.]
the death signal was weak, and came from the east.
I started riding along the wadi eastward, to find out how did this female Oryx managed to kill itself.
everywhere I stopped to search, the direction was eastward. As I was getting closer to the Arava highway, I thought she might been run-over.
not.
when I got to the highway, the signal came very strong, still from the east.
the border between Israel & Jordan is 500 meter east to this highway. I went there.
for those of you reading this blog, if any, and are not familiar with borders, I shall tell now, that right next to the border fence (you may imagine a huge fence. No it's just four liners of barbed wire.) the is a blurring trail, that keeps track of anything that step on it. Instead of treks of Oryx I found foot treks of a human, that crossed the border to Jordan. I stood there to examine it when an army jeep came streaming towards me, I went toward the jeep and told them- " good timing, I need you to tell me when did this guy cross the border"
the officer looked at me as if I just came from mars. Show me your i.d he demanded, getting out of the jeep with a gun. I did.
on his demand, I told him what I was doing and why I'm there.
I had to repeat the story three times.
every time I'm surprised that people believe I'm trekking Oryx and not accusing me for espionage.
the treks were not new (hoary to the border control !).
but the signals of the dead oryx came not from the wadi, but a bit sideways.
a check from another location confirmed- it came from the Jordanian army post near by. Then I met another Israeli army jeep, with a nice girl who told me she saw the herd by the border the other evening, and 2 oryx - one with transmitor and the other without, crossing the border just next to the Jordanian post.
apparently the Jordanian soldier had a good meal that night, a meal worth 22,000 $ from the flesh of one of the rarest mammals in nature. I don't blame them, they didn't know what they were eating. I just want the collar back.
afternoon I saw the rest -1, 16 Oryx next to the other road. Sat on my car and watched. Except one guy how knew me from before, nobody stopped to look, and missed their once-in-a lifetime chance to see Arabian Oryx in the wild.
summary:
Oryx seen: 16
damage : 2 dead oryx across the border.
So on Saturday morning I went there again. I started searching for them with the radio transmittor from a low pile of sand, about 5 meters high. Most of them were in the direction of the old enclosure, yet suddenly I heard a sound unmistaken. Sound of death. [here is the time to tell, that all the info. I gain from the radio collars is bip, bip, bip in a constant frequency. If a collar doesn't move for 5 hours, it doubles the frequency, generally means the animal carrying this collar is dead and therefore is called death signal.]
the death signal was weak, and came from the east.
I started riding along the wadi eastward, to find out how did this female Oryx managed to kill itself.
everywhere I stopped to search, the direction was eastward. As I was getting closer to the Arava highway, I thought she might been run-over.
not.
when I got to the highway, the signal came very strong, still from the east.
the border between Israel & Jordan is 500 meter east to this highway. I went there.
for those of you reading this blog, if any, and are not familiar with borders, I shall tell now, that right next to the border fence (you may imagine a huge fence. No it's just four liners of barbed wire.) the is a blurring trail, that keeps track of anything that step on it. Instead of treks of Oryx I found foot treks of a human, that crossed the border to Jordan. I stood there to examine it when an army jeep came streaming towards me, I went toward the jeep and told them- " good timing, I need you to tell me when did this guy cross the border"
the officer looked at me as if I just came from mars. Show me your i.d he demanded, getting out of the jeep with a gun. I did.
on his demand, I told him what I was doing and why I'm there.
I had to repeat the story three times.
every time I'm surprised that people believe I'm trekking Oryx and not accusing me for espionage.
the treks were not new (hoary to the border control !).
but the signals of the dead oryx came not from the wadi, but a bit sideways.
a check from another location confirmed- it came from the Jordanian army post near by. Then I met another Israeli army jeep, with a nice girl who told me she saw the herd by the border the other evening, and 2 oryx - one with transmitor and the other without, crossing the border just next to the Jordanian post.
apparently the Jordanian soldier had a good meal that night, a meal worth 22,000 $ from the flesh of one of the rarest mammals in nature. I don't blame them, they didn't know what they were eating. I just want the collar back.
afternoon I saw the rest -1, 16 Oryx next to the other road. Sat on my car and watched. Except one guy how knew me from before, nobody stopped to look, and missed their once-in-a lifetime chance to see Arabian Oryx in the wild.
summary:
Oryx seen: 16
damage : 2 dead oryx across the border.
