“A baby springok named Missy is the luckiest Bokkie in South Africa,” wrote Jenni Baxter in an article that was published on 1 March 2020 on www.sapeople.com. “She has been saved not once, but twice, by a Stilbaai farmer who has the hugest heart.”
Baxter tells the story that started on 23 October 2019 when Alison Bryant, who has a herd of 11 springbok (along with various other animals) had bought a few new pregnant ewes for her 72ha farm on the banks of the Goukou River outside Stilbaai. There was, however, tragedy when the ewes began to lamb as the farm’s dominant springbok ram attacked and killed them!
Alison told SAPeople that Missy was luckily still wet from birth when she saw the ram attacking her and she ran into the camp and saved her. She then explained how it then took her every two hours to get Missy to suckle from a bottle with a mix of milk and egg yolk. Little Missy got stronger, but earlier this year there was more sad news when Alison discovered that Missy had fractured her pelvis and that her back legs were paralysed.
Missy in her room. (Photo: Alison Bryant Facebook)
Missy was moved back to the spare room in Alison’s house on the farm and needed care 24/7. According to Alison’s Facebook posts, Missy needed to be contained for six to eight weeks for the hip to mend. It is not clear as to how she injured herself and Bryant thinks that she was maybe too close to the two Damara lambs and a Dorper and that the she might have been butted, causing her to fall and fracture her pelvis.
The little injured springbok was initially kept in a dog bed as she suffered form pressure sores and a raw left knee before Alison created a sling for her. Missy has grown and has been eating well and according to the vet, her fractured pelvis should heel as she is still young. “The vet has suggested she stays longer in the sling during the day so that her front leg elbows/knees can recover,” Bryant told SAPeople.
Missy in her new sling, the stretchy red bandages that I use for the horses works like a dream – Alison Bryant (from Facebook)
Bryant is the owner of Stonehouse Lodge, a private farm that specialises in olives, game and studrooi-poenskop cattle. Visitors can book self-catering accommodation at the lodge (sleeps up to eight guests) or at the White House Cottage. The olive estate contains over 5 000 olive trees of the cultivars Kalamata, Mission, Frantoia, Leccino and Coratina and the farm produces Extra Virgin Olive Oil that are hand picked and cold pressed.
@dejongha posted this special photo of a ‘Blue Sea Dragon’ spotted at Stilbaai.
Here are some more information: Glaucus atlanticus, more commonly called the “blue dragon,” the “blue angel,” the “sea swallow,” or the “blue sea slug,” is an unusual mollusk devoid of a shell. The brilliant blue and silver markings provide contrasting camouflage for the creature through counter-shading, allowing the Blue Dragon to be camouflaged both above and below. The vivid colors also warn of its extremely venomous nature. Common for slugs, the Blue Dragon has a singular muscular foot and rhinopores that provide sensation. It spends most of its life floating upside-down on the surface of the water due to a gas-filled sac in its stomach. These tiny nudibranchs can have up to three sets of long, black cerata (appendages on either side of its body) which can be utilized for respiration, digestion, and protection from predators by storing venom.
Typically only an inch long in length, the miniature creature has never been documented to grow more than 1.2 inches and is usually very slim and sleek. They reproduce as hermaphrodites, as they all have both female and male reproductive parts, and both mating partners will produce egg strings. These eggs are typically laid on drift wood or the carcasses of their parents’ kills where they grow and develop air sacs of their own. The Blue Dragon is in no danger of extinction as the population thrives in every location. Accustomed to tropical, warm waters, the Blue Dragon can be found along the coasts of South Africa, Australia, and parts of Europe. This tiny sea slug is well-known among divers, swimmers, and surfers in those regions because while small, it packs a mean punch. (www.reefnation.com)
This is such a striking photo by Bertus Preller – we thought we will share it for everyone who already miss Stilbaai…
The photographer (@bertus_preller) posted the photo with these words:
The more often we see the things around us – even the beautiful and wonderful things – the more they become invisible to us. That is why we often take for granted the beauty of this world: the flowers, the trees, the birds, the clouds – even those we love. Because we see things so often, we see them less and less.
Joseph B. Wirthlin
Iemand wat jy ken het ‘n oupa en ouma in Stilbaai…
This is such a sweet photo – and showing that age is just a number.
Look after your parents and grandparents – and enjoy the time spent together… – in Stilbaai
📷 @willem_g4l (Willem Engelbrecht) – You don’t stop having fun when you get old… you start getting old when you stop having fun…
To feed Stilbaai’s special ‘inhabitants’, the eels that have been living at the Palinggat Homestead in the freshwater pond for more than two decades, is quite a unique activity when in Stilbaai.
The Palinggat Homestead is also a historical building and it is here where Stilbaai Tourism / Information Centre is situated. Here you will find the Archaeological Museum; the school museum; the Country Shop and the Thyme to Relish Restaurant as well as lots of information.
The eels are being fed every day at 11:00 (excluding Sundays) and visitors can join in the experience for a small fee.
