HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

In honor of Mother's day today I want to share some of my images of mothers and their children. In the animal world, moms work tirelessly to provide for their offspring in a myriad of ways. From providing food, to teaching the basics of hunting (or how to avoid being hunted!), to comforting after a "boo boo", to tucking one in a bedtime, animal moms really get minimal rest (kind of like many human moms!). Both of the images I'm sharing today reflect the 24/7 nature of moms needing to be both wary and supportive to their youngsters.

The first image was taken in Botswana at the Chobe National Park. The herd of elephants had been spending most of this mid winter afternoon in the water and had just emerged as they were getting ready to head away from the river to begin their late day foraging. While elephants are not hunters, they are among the most aggressive of all the animals I encountered on my safaris. In this image you can see that "Junior" is rather oblivious to my presence, but mom is clearly aware of me and her extended ears are a definite sign that she does not take my presence lightly. Thankfully, the ear flap was all she did as she hustled Junior out of harm's way.

This second photo is of a Chacma baboon mother carrying her youngster on her back. Both were clearly tired as there had been a lot of excitement in the baboon troop that day with the nearby presence of a pride of lions. Since lions are one of the most prominent of baboon predators the troop was hyper vigilant and on edge until the lions moved away when a herd of Impala presented themselves as a better hunting opportunity. I call this image "Tuckered Out" as it reflects that total exhaustion that children have when they've had a day full of new adventures and just need mom to carry then off to bed. Indeed this little guy barely moved at all as mom trundled across the savannah with him holding tight to her back.

In homage & respect to all the wonderful moms out there... HAPPY MOTHERS DAY! Thanks for all you've done for your loved ones over the years!