Exploring the fauna of Melville Koppies
MELVILLE – Head on over to the Melville Koppies Nature Reserve for a Sunday morning of hiking excitement.
“We’ll be back,” was a comment from a recent visitor to one of Melville Koppies Nature Reserve and Heritage Site’s Sunday open mornings.
Before lockdown, visitors had a choice of doing a gruelling 8km hike through the reserve or a more leisurely 4.5km guided walk. Now you have the freedom to roam the koppies in your family group, or with groups of friends, along its many paths at your own pace, stopping, listening and seeing when you want.
Pretend you’re David Attenborough and scan the grasslands for the domed mounds of earth, the homes of the snouted termite. These unassuming mounds hide an intricate story of cooperation. Locked down in their mound during the day, worker termites head out at night, cut grass and bring it back inside for the baby termites. Soldier termites defend the colony from attack while one queen termite (with the help of a number of kings), churns out eggs on a daily basis for decades. Young termites escape the lockdown after a summer thunderstorm as flying ants, the lucky ones find a mate and live to create another mound. The unlucky ones come to a squishy end, often under your foot in your house or as a tasty morsel in a bird’s gullet.
Listen out for the raucous of the helmeted guineafowl and if you’re lucky you’ll see them. Get down on your haunches on the dusty paths and see if you can spot signs of their dustbaths – shallow depressions in the footpaths with their tell-tale footprint. Look where you’re walking and adjacent to the path. If you’re really lucky you’ll spot one of the very shy tortoises that trundle across the grassland.
Why not visit the Koppies for own adventure on 4, 11, 18 or 25 October. Arrive from 8am and be out by 11.30am. Pre-book and pay. R80 for adults, R40 for scholars. Email names and cell phones of your group to wendavid@mweb.co.za or 011 482 4797 for more details.
