By Ed Grafton
Editor’s Note: The series by Ed Grafton outlining his adventures hunting in Africa in the 1960’s was very well received by our readers. Dr. Grafton has contributed another installment regarding an excursion in the 80’s to Zimbabwe… we hope you enjoy it.
Prelude
In 1982 I was gainfully employed by Glenville State College as Division Chair of Land Resources teaching forest technology classes. In mid-February I received a letter from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Washington, DC. The first sentence read: “You have been selected as a Lecturer in Forestry at Nyabara College of Forestry in Zimbabwe.”
I immediately figured this to be some kind of hoax as I had never applied for a job in Zimbabwe. In fact I did not know anyone in Zimbabwe. To say the least I was totally miffed! Eventually I did call the DC number.
Lo and behold, it was not a hoax. The position was available and they wanted to fill it as soon as possible. I did express interest in the position but needed much more information such as salary, cost of living, housing, and job responsibilities. Further the earliest I could be available would be mid –July about five months later.
Within two weeks I received packages from both FAO and Nyabara College concerning salary, job responsibilities, living conditions and other relevant information. All sounded good. I then met with Glenville State College officials concerning the position. The result was approval of a one year “leave of absence,” without pay beginning in July 1982.
In the following weeks I made arrangements to keep my Christmas tree business operational. I rented my furnished house to David and Janet Boggs. In June I updated vaccinations required and obtained all needed travel documents. I assemble all personal air freight gear which was shipped to arrive in Zimbabwe at the approximate time of my arrival. Air tickets were received from FAO and I boarded a plane in Clarksburg for Rome, Italy.
There was a four day “orientation” at FAO headquarters in Rome. This was mostly a waste of time and could have been completed in a day. Once more I boarded a plane for the long boring night flight across the Sahara Desert. This time for Harare, Zimbabwe.
Martin Rukoba met the airplane. We loaded my luggage and were off on the 160 mile, 3 1/2 hour, ride to Mutare, the largest city near Nyabara College.
At the college I became good friends with Blake Osborne. Blake grew up in Kenya and did some hunting there. The Osbornes moved to Rhodesian, now Zimbabwe, and later moved on to South Africa. Blake obtained his forestry education there. At the college his primary responsibility was teaching timber harvesting and engineering classes.
Rabbit Hunting
Blake’s real outdoor recreation preference was rabbit hunting and game bird hunting. Two weeks into the school term he suffered a mild heart attack. Not long after his heart attack and release by his doctor to resume “light” physical activity he invited me to join him on a rabbit hunt with his African hawk eagles. A mere heart attack was not going to keep Blake down very long. This would be nothing like hunting rabbits in the West Virginia hills with your favorite beagle. The African hawk eagle is known for its great speed through trees and brush to capture its prey by surprise on the ground or in the air.
Rabbit hunting with birds was a very cloudy night adventure. Blake wanted complete cloud cover if possible. If there was enough moonlight and the bird failed to capture the target rabbit the bird may fly and take refuge in a nearby tree. This often resulted in great difficulty retrieving the bird.
The hunt took us to several forest roads in the Imbeza River Valley. My role was to drive the long wheel base Land Rover. Blake stood in the back with the African hawk eagle on his right arm and held a bright spotlight in his left hand. I drove the Land Rover slowly along the road looking for a rabbit in or beside the road. Once a rabbit was sighted Blake turned on his bright spotlight aimed directly at the rabbit. The Land Rover headlights were quickly turned off. If the rabbit stayed in place the bird was release. The hawk eagle would fly directly down the beam of light to catch its prey.
On my inaugural hunt we spotted seven different rabbits. Four panicked before the hawk eagle could be released. The bird hit three target rabbits of which two escaped the grasp of its beak and talons. We came home with one kill for the evening. Blake was happy as this particular hawk eagle was young and still learning the system.
All meat parts of the rabbit were saved and placed in a freezer. The meat would primarily be used for “rewards” to his birds on each successful “hit” on future hunts regardless of success.
I was the Land Rover driver for several more rabbit hunts before departing Zimbabwe. During the remaining months we probably had a successful kill ratio of around twenty-five percent. The most unusual was one night with a full moon without complete cloud cover. The very first encounter went as planned. The hawk eagle rapidly flew down the beam of light hitting the rabbit. However, the rabbit escaped. There was enough moonlight for the hawk eagle to see a nearby tree. It took flight and landed on a branch some twelve feet above the ground.
Blake uttered a few choice words before we headed to the tree. He tried in vain to entice the bird to come down within arm’s reach. Finally he said: “Let’s go and leave the worthless bird here.” We boarded the Land Rover and started to return home. Then Blake said: “Let’s stop at the ranch house and tell them we lost a bird.”
We had been hunting on a local cattle ranch. We went to the house and visited for a half hour or so. The rancher and Blake decided they might retrieve the hawk eagle by climbing a ladder to get closer. By tying a strong cord around the front leg of one of his rabbit awards, and tossing it to the bird it may take the bait. If so, by carefully pulling on the cord the hawk eagle could be reeled in sufficiently close to catch it.
Returning to the “treed” hawk eagle everything worked to perfection. Blake climbed the ladder. He pitched the bait to the hawk eagle. The bird took the treat formerly in its bill and Blake pulled it close enough to attach the leg tether. He placed the hawk eagle on his arm and descended the ladder. All ended well and the hawk eagle would fly again soon.
Game bird hunting
I only managed one game bird hunt with is German shorthair bird dogs where you actually shoot the bird with a shotgun. We traveled to a nearby farm estate. Blake located a good prospective habitat for francolin and guinea fowl. The dogs were busy scouring the area for birds when suddenly Blake yelled: “Grab the dog and get in the rover, mamba!” Meanwhile he was round up the other dog and got it to the Land Rover as quickly as possible.
Once man and dog were safely in the vehicle he said: “I saw a mamba about to chase one of the dogs.” Now the panic was understood. The venomous black mamba snake is known to chase man or beast when disturbed. At the time three was no anti-venom treatment for the bite. Many people and animals died from its bite. Blake in obvious relief said: “That’s enough for this day.” We did call it a day and headed for home.
While relaxing at Osborne’s after this episode Blake talked of an experience when a young many in Kenya. A black mamba snake chased him. This explained his concern of leaving the hunting area in such a hurry. We then enjoyed some delicious food. Later we watched the antics of their pet rock hyrax. This small animal not much bigger than a raccoon was classified as a close relative of the elephant.
Blake invited me to go on true falconry hunt at a local farm. He had a friend who trained peregrine falcons. The farm had excellent habitat for snipes. Snipes do well in low lying swampy habitat. Blake took his German shorthair dogs for locating and flushing the snipe. Once the dogs were on point the falconer would ease the falcon into positon. The falcon would be released and fly in circles above the specific area.
When the falcon was in the right spot, it was signaled with a loud whistle. The dogs would flush the snipe. When flushed snipes usually fly vertically upward. The circling falcon, spotting the snipe would dive downward at great speed for the target prey.
On this day I was a nearby witness with Blake. It was amazing to see the reaction of the snipe. Apparently the snipe spotted the falcon quickly. It immediately stopped its upward path and dived straight down hitting the swampy ground with a loud splashing noise. The falcon missed this time.
The dogs put the snipe on point again. Following the same routine the bird was flushed a second time. The same action played out again with the snipe spotting the falcon and diving straight down to the safety of the swampy ground. The falconer called the falcon saying: “that snipe deserves to live.” They headed to another location. Blake and I returned home. This was yet another unique African hunting experience.
A few months passed and Blake kindly invited me to a wild game dinner. The primary entrees were game birds from various hunts. It was a wonderful experience to enjoy the delicious food and visit with the hunters and farmers where they carried out their sport.
Devoted to Braxton County, West Virginia