Tuesday, May 13, 2008

In defense of jackals

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 I did not intend for my previous post to sound anti-jackal.
Look how majestic this jackal looks!
I was lucky enough to get his picture on a rare snowy day last January.
Love to hear them singing in the evening or night.
One will start and then a group from across the valley will answer and then another group down the valley. . . until it becomes a lively chorus.
Their calls are quite funny.
Maybe someday I will use the camera to record their music and post it as a video. They come right up to my back yard.
(UPDATE:  I did it! Hear the jackals.)


This is a jackal den a few minutes walk from my place.
I saw two parents go in and later observed the pups coming out to play with Mom.
So cute.


A sign from the nature reserve up on the mountain.
It says that the jackal (in Hebrew "tan") is one of the most prevalent predators in the Judean Hills, weighs between 8 and 9 kilos, and has a varied diet of small animals, dead animals, fruits of the season, and garbage.
That is true. I have been up on the street at 5:00 a.m. and saw them scavenging in the garbage bins.
They were surprised to see me.
But jackals don't lose their cool and run away; they SLINK away quietly and quickly. With dignity.
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5 comments:

  1. The jackal looks a bit like a fox in our regions. It 's nice that you took these photos to show what he looks like.

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  2. Shalom Reader Wil,
    Thanks for all your kind and helpful comments.
    Yes, this jackal does look more like a fox but most of them look more like dogs.

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  3. Do you know that last year there was a coyote that went right into the fast food restaurant, Quiznos on a hot day and sat in the open cold drink refrigerator? We also saw red foxes in our village. Amazing to think these animals can live so close to the city. Your jackal must be a lot happier where she lives.

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  4. I didn't take the post as anti-jackal. Mother Nature can be very cruel and everything has to eat..so sorry it was the kittens. They must have been easy prey....

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  5. I never realised that they were quite so much like foxes.

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