The Spittle Tree is also locally referred to as the Raining or Crying Tree as sometimes it can appear to have water falling from it, even in the most driest conditions …

As with the majority of ‘weird’ things, there is a simple explanation (sometimes life can be so boring and practical).

So what is the answer ? Well, if you really want to know … read on …

The spittle bug bores its little way into the trees, and drinks the sap … and then urinates.

Well, we said it was a simple answer … we never said it was a nice answer !!

The last in our folklore series … I do hope you have enjoyed these stories !

Why the Zebra has a Stripy Coat

The Creator originally made all the animals the same. After a while, the animals became bored with all looking alike, and asked if The Creator could do something to help them.

The Creator agreed to help, and spent weeks making many coats and horns of varying styles, shapes and sizes so that the animals could put them on and look different.

When The Creator had finished his work, he invited the animals to come along and choose what they would like. The animals were very excited, and all eagerly rushed off.

All except the fat Zebra, who was too busy eating his dinner. Zebra was well-known for his love of food, and nothing would come between him and his mealtimes.

When Zebra had eventually finished eating, he was extremely full, so wandered slowly along to see The Creator. He passed many of the other animals on their way back home, and was surprised at how different they all looked now.

Elephant had chosen a plain grey coat, but had a magnificent pair of tusks to set the outfit off.

Lion had chosen a lovely sleek coat with a fine mane of hair around his neck.

Rhino, being a bit short-sighted, had chosen a coat that was a bit too big for him, so it looked baggy, and the 2 horns he had picked out were different sizes.

Zebra quickened his pace, his mind going over what sort of coat and horns he would like.

However, when he eventually arrived at The Creator, he was dismayed to find that there was only one coat left, and no horns at all.

The coat was a rather garish black and white striped one but as there was nothing else to choose from, the Zebra had to take it.

To this day, Zebras are still wearing their black and white coats, and you will very rarely see a thin Zebra because they are still always hungry and eating.

A lot of rangers will also try to educate their guests not only about the wildlife, but also about the many different plants that are found in the African bush.

A very popular bush to stop by and talk about is the Magic Guarri bush, or to give it is proper name – Euclea divinorum.

As you may have already guessed from the Latin name, one of the most well known properties of this bush is that it can be used to divine water … don’t ask me how, but if you take a stem off the bush, it will quiver when it gets near a water source. A very handy thing to know if you are ever lost in the bush without water.

And once you have found the water, well, there is nothing nicer than a quick clean of your teeth (providing you have toothpaste of course) to make you feel 100% better. Again, take your now used divining stem, peel back the bark, and the fibrous insides work wonders as a toothbrush.

One final use … if there is a bush fire and you can’t move to find the water needed to put the fire out … well, a cluster of Magic Guarri stems together act as excellent fire beater.

A lovely tale !

The Waterbuck’s White Circle

One very dark night, a mother Waterbuck was grazing near the Tribesman’s wooden hut with her young calf. The Tribesman had been very busy that day, painting his hut white, and had left the tin of white paint outside his door ready to continue his work the next morning.

The grass outside the Tribesman’s front door was particularly lush, and the mother Waterbuck couldn’t resist wandering over and eating it.

Her calf followed her, but unfortunately, because it was so dark, the baby Waterbuck accidentally knocked over the tin of paint, and the noise awoke the Tribesman.

The Tribesman came outside, and saw to his dismay that all his white paint was spilt on the ground.

The Waterbuck and her calf quickly ran off, but the Tribesman was so angry he gave chase and threw the empty tin of paint at them.

The tin landed firmly on the mother Waterbuck’s hindquarters, and left a large round white mark on her bottom.

However, rather than being upset, she was actually very pleased, as the white mark showed up very well at night and helped her calf to follow more easily.

When all the other Waterbuck saw this, they thought it was a good idea too, and to this day, all Waterbuck, even the males and the young calves, have a white mark on their hindquarters.

The Buffalo Thorn tree is also known locally as the Tree of Life.

It is quite distinctive, in that it has a zig zag branch structure with hooks and thorns in pairs together, along the branch.

Locals believe that the branch reflects life, which is never a straight line; the hooks (which face backwards towards the trunk) symbolise the past; and the thorns (which face away from the trunk) represent the future.

The eighth folklore story … just a couple more to go !

Why the Warthog is so Ugly

In the Beginning, the Warthog was the most handsome animal. He knew this, and unfortunately became very vain.

As a result, none of the other animals liked Warthog very much.

One morning, Warthog left his burrow, and wandered off with his tail proudly sticking up in search of food.

He passed Porcupine, who had been up all night foraging for food. Porcupine was extremely tired, and wanted to go to sleep, but he still had a long way to go before he reached his home.

Porcupine had an idea. Why not nip into Warthog’s burrow and have a quick nap before Warthog returned? So Porcupine went down the burrow and promptly fell asleep.

Meantime, Warthog found a waterhole, and wallowed in the mud, and then found some good grass to graze on.

Nearby, lying under a tree, was Lion. Warthog couldn’t resist showing off how handsome he was, all covered in mud.

Lion was in a particularly bad mood this morning, and having the Warthog parade around him was just too much to bear. With a great roar he charged Warthog.

Warthog, realising that he had pushed Lion too far this time, panicked, and ran as fast as he could back towards his burrow, with the angry Lion very close behind.

Warthog ran headfirst straight into his burrow, knowing that Lion could not follow him in. Lion stopped outside the burrow entrance and roared angrily.

Porcupine, who had been sleeping soundly, awoke with a start. Thinking that he was being attacked, he stood up and spread his quills ready to fend off anyone.

Warthog was running so fast into his burrow, he was unable to slow down when he saw Porcupine, and ran straight into him.

Warthog cried out in pain, because many quills became stuck in his face and nose.

In haste, Warthog backed quickly out of the burrow again.

Lion, seeing the Warthog coming out with a face full of quills, laughed gleefully.

“Serves you right,” said Lion. “That will teach you to be so vain.”

When the other animals heard what had happened to Warthog, they all came to laugh too, and no one helped to pull out the quills.

Poor Warthog’s face swelled up, and his once handsome features disappeared.

He was very upset, but realised that he had learnt a hard lesson for being so vain. And still, to this day, the Warthog is still ugly – and also always enters his burrow backwards – just in case.

Symbiosis is the act of any 2 (or more) different species living and interacting together, and the African bush has many, many examples of how this works.

For example, a red oxpecker and a kudu have a mutually symbiotic relationship – meaning that both parties get a mutual benefit / positive reaction the relationship. So how can a bird and a mammal have this ? Quite simply, the red oxpecker will land on the kudu, and eat the annoying ticks. The oxpecker has a highly tuned ‘danger alert’ system, and will fly away immediately as soon as it senses danger – thus alerting the kudu to also flee.

An elephant and a dung beetle have a commensalism symbiotic relationship. This means that one party benefits but the other part is totally unaffected by the relationship. In this case, the dung beetle feeds off the nourishment in the elephant’s dung … whereas the elephant doesn’t really care at all about what happens after he has passed the dung !

Finally, humans and mosquitos have a paracitic symbiotic relationship – which is when one party benefits and the other party suffers … I think you fully understand what I mean here !!

More folklore for you to enjoy !

How the Elephant got his Tusks

The Warthog used to have beautiful long ivory tusks, but his friend, the Elephant, only had small, curling tusks. Elephant was extremely jealous of his friend’s tusks, and wanted the tusks for himself.

One day, Elephant saw Warthog out walking, and had an idea.

“Oh, Warthog,” said Elephant, “I have such a problem. I have been invited to a ball this evening, and I am worried that my little tusks will not be grand enough. Can I borrow your wonderful tusks just for tonight, and I will return them to you tomorrow morning?”

Of course, the trusting Warthog agreed to this, and the 2 swapped tusks.

However, when the next morning came, there was no sight of Elephant, and Warthog realised that he had been tricked.

Warthog rushed to find his other friend, the Pangolin. “Don’t worry,” said the Pangolin. “Now you have smaller tusks, you can live with me in my burrow and always feel safe.

And Elephant will be hunted for those tusks, and will never find a safe home to hide in again.”

And to this day, Warthogs still live safely in burrows away from predators, and the Elephant is still being hunted for his magnificent ivory tusks.

The Red Headed Weaver will deliberately make its nest look scruffy and as if the nest has been abandoned … purely to deter predators.

The marula tree … the subject of so many UTube videos, showing elephants and monkeys feasting on the little green fruit that it drops, and then appearing completely intoxicated.

Unfortunately, this is just a myth … whilst the videos are immensely amusing to watch, they are actually just the by-product of some clever editing.

The green fruit are actually completely harmless to animals, and it is not actually chemically possible for the fruit to contain alcohol … it is only the processing afterwards that turns the fruit into the delicious, creamy Amarula liqueur.

And, did you know that the marula tree can be either male or female, and it is only the female tree that has the fruit ?

So next time you are out on a game drive in the African bush, you can amaze your fellow guests with your outstanding knowledge about marula trees. And on the subject of game drives … when you stop for your morning coffee break ask for a shot of Amarula in with your coffee or hot chocolate … it is simply delicious !!!