I always feel that it is such a privilege to live close to animals. About 5 weeks ago Donald Mouton from Fairview contacted me to say that well-meaning people had picked up a baby buck they believed to be abandoned, and brought it to him. Now, as many people will know, mother antelope hide their babies in bushes and shrubs while they go off to browse. So, the probability is that Rudolph (as he is called) was taken from his hiding place. Baby Rudolph was a little bigger than a maltese poodle and only a day or two old (or less) at the time as he did not even have any teeth. The long and the short of it is that Rudolph needed a mother. My daughter Coral is fabulous with animals, and together she and I have managed to rear Rudolph with the kind help and wonderful supply of goats milk from Donald Mouton and Fairview Wine Estate. The chemical formulation of cows milk is unsuitable for antelope, so without this, Rudolph would not have survived. It is so interesting to see how he has adapted to his human family, and although the sharp flight response is innate to him, he has become very relaxed and comfortable. Hes taught us so much - if neither Coral or I are in the herb garden where he spends his days, Rudolph hides in the shrubs (as he would obediently do with his mother - and will only come out to browse when we are with him. So, in order for him to learn to nibble and learn to browse and graze - one of us needs to spend time with him. He is meticulously clean, and has his own specified toilet areas - and was house trained within days. Interesting too, is that Steenbok are the only buck that flush their toilets - he scrapes sand all over his dung and urine. It turns out that he is a baby Steenbok, and will mature to around 80 cm.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 09:04:30 +0000
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