And so, for the fourth time in a week, the night of 31st December saw us driving ‘the road’, spotlights and head-torches at the ready, main beams on, on the hunt for mammals.
And mammals we found. Somewhat scrawny Savannah Hares bounded across in the headlights, and a pair of African Golden Wolf paused briefly to stare at us before loping away into the dark. At the far end of the road, a Rüppell’s Fox, hyperactive with a white-tipped fluffy brush of a tail, circled the car as we ‘squeaked’ to attract his attention. Bouncing out of the darkness came the wonderful Lesser Egyptian Jerboa, snub nosed and long-tailed like a mini Pokemon character. And at the side of the road, another characterful ball of fluff, the delightfully squishy (and equally un-afraid) Fat-tailed Gerbil, which hunkered down between a couple of pebbles and pretended we weren’t there…
And what about that mythical cat that we’d hoped for? Well, at about 4am on New Year’s morning, a pair of reflective eyes shone back at us from the desert, just at the limits of the torch’s reach, before being lost behind a bush. Some concerted ‘pishing’ from the car, and a ghostly-pale cat stood up, turned our way for one last look, and then slipped off into the darkness… the Sand Cat, maintaining its near-mythical status. Seems a pretty good way to start a new decade to me!