Fur flies on SA farm
2008-01-16 11:44
Bloemfontein - Stinker the meerkat has taken the moral high ground as rumours of incest, jealousy and broken hearts rage among the inhabitants of a Free State game farm, where he swans around every day on the back of a warthog.
Stinker and Madam, a warthog who's wild about Springbok rugby, are bosom pals.
In fact, he sprays Madam's young to mark them as his own (hence his name). In his book, anything with an aerial for a tail is a blood relative.
Wants to attack young warthogs
The problem is Stinker's sister, a meerkat with three legs and a stumpy tail, who is deeply resentful of Madam's brood.
Francois de Wet of Lebenstraum private nature reserve at Boshof said: "Sussie cannot stand them. Her behaviour changes dramatically if they come into the garden.
"She rears up on three legs, to attack and bite them - it's got so bad that we're keeping her inside the house until the warthogs are a bit bigger."
Sussie's actions stem from her own dark tale of secrets, scandals and jealousy.
She and Stinker were the only survivors of a litter that workers brought in from the veld a year ago. Madam befriended them.
Madam, of course, also has a tale to tell. She was raised by a boerbull bitch named Minki, after model Minki van der Westhuizen.
Love struck twice at Lebenstraum in November last year.
Madam's pining for her wild, hog-riding boyfriend grew so feverish that she didn't even support the Springboks in the World Cup Rugby final.
She eagerly awaited his arrival each morning as she downed her porridge and milk.
Then Sussie, who lost her tail and a leg when someone drove over her, became pregnant in what Francois hinted was an incestuous relationship.
Madam and Sussie both had their litters in November, but after three days, Sussie did not return to her litter.
He suspects that she or Stinker may have killed the baby meerkats.
Stinker does not respond to Sussie's scorned fury. For him, Madam's three little ones are as good as his own.
When they come to visit, he sprays them and rides around on their mother's back.
De Wet said: "Riding on his hog, scratching her back and grooming her is his biggest pleasure, and her biggest delight.
"Stinker considers it his duty to be on the lookout for danger and to keep an eye on the children's table manners, seeing as Madam is, after all, a pig and not so hot on table manners," said De Wet.
His wife, Sandra, suspects that Sussie is jealous, because Madam was her friend, too, although she has started to relent a bit towards the young warthogs.
Another one who knows all about broken hearts is a sheep named Orky, who just lies in the sun all day observing the unfolding tales of love.
Returned to the veld
His own love for a rejected oryx gazelle was rudely interrupted by an auctioneer.
The gemsbok that he and Madam raised has just been returned to the veld.
Orky and the tame rooikat named Seuna possibly will have to console each other, because his mate died after aborting her litter.
The only one with his nose in the air, able to rise above all the intrigue, is Stinker.