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Tumaren

Ecology and Conservation Observations in Laikipia, Kenya

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Honey Badger or Ratel

Category: Mammals, camera-trap | Date: Mar 21 2008 | By: tumaren

You can use either name. We use Honey-badger around here. Kerry’s 5 traditional bee hives were completely destroyed a few weeks back and all our guys said it was the honey badger and yet we never see him. Then came the camera trap.
While it is not a great picture and we will be working to getter better images of this fascinating animal, It is neat to, at least, get a glimpse of our honey thief.
The Honey Badger is likely the species that together evolved a sympatric relationship with the bird the honeyguide who brings the animal to the hive and eats the grubs and wax after the animal has dispatched the hive. I only say likely above because the honey guide also guides humans and it is thought by some that the honey guide could have evolved the behavior first with early human gatherers. Old Mr. Honey Badger has been around for far longer though than humans and i think it more likely that early humans observed the behavior and mimicked it. The Masai in our area that collect honey that the birds find often whistle and grunt at the bird which they say encourages it. cheers, jc

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8 Responses to “Honey Badger or Ratel”

Honey Badger or Ratel, on 21 Mar 2008

[…] mulligan wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptYou can use either name. We use Honey-badger around here. Kerry’s 5 traditional bee hives were completely destroyed a few weeks back and all our guys said it was the honey badger and yet we never see him. Then came the camera trap. … […]

Paula, on 21 Mar 2008

Looks like aliens, a flying saucer to me :)

sheryl, washington dc, on 21 Mar 2008

Yeah, I’m not sure what you saw in that photo!

s.

Theresa Siskind St Petersburg FL, on 21 Mar 2008

James, it appears you have a lot of thieves in your area, first the potato bandit, now this critter with a sweet tooth. Rumour is the Zorilla is behind all this mischief, best be careful!

James, on 24 Mar 2008

The animal is at the bottom of the imgage. He is black with a wide white stripe on his back. he was moving fast and slightly blocked by a bush. The camera was strapped to a tree from which our hives were still hanging. The honey badger after passing my camera went to the back of the tree then used the camera itself to help him climb the tree and further ruin the remaining hives. We have possibly found his hole now and we are going to try again that nobody will mistake for a flying saucer!. cheers, jc

Wim, on 25 Mar 2008

It’s quite exciting to get a glimpse of a Honey Badger. I once saw one at very close quarters on a Botswanan foot safari. They’re feisty little buggers with quite loose skin and thus hard to get a secure grip on. They’ve a reputation for biting male assailants on their more vulnerable extremities and not letting go (apparently they’re at just the right height when they rear up…) Watch yourself when you’re setting the camera James and no squatting over that hole..!

filmingwild, on 29 Mar 2008

Hi Kerry and James…we had all our beehives destroyed too…but ours were destroyed by human thieves stealing the honey to sell to local brewers…

Fun to see your honey badger photo - our film about honey badgers took 12 years to make because of their elusiveness! It’s called The Meanest Animal in the World? (the question mark being important, as they are actually the most amazing creatures, as you know…)

Hope the bump is growing well, Kerry! :-)

James, on 29 Mar 2008

Hi Tanya,
Many congrats. So sorry I wasn’t in tsavo for the big day.
I’m still working on getting a better honey badge shot. Even tonight I’ve put the camera out again under kerry’s smashed bee hives.

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