A Walk on the Wild Side

Let me take you for a stroll through the neighbourhood. As you leave KEP walking

along the track to Grytviken one comes across Weaners sprinkled liberally all along

the track. These lardy sausages are so sweet. They will either stay fast asleep as you

walk past them with their eyes very tightly shut, very fast asleep or they can look at

you with their big wet eyes, generally lolling on their side. They can also take great

umbrage at your daring to pass by them and those that do will rear up as round as their

fat bodies will allow them and lean precariously towards you with their mouths wide

open. Now this is meant to be threatening but since they have no teeth or they have

tiny stubs and they quite often blow raspberries at you while they are doing this all

you can say is “awww” and walk by smiling. I watched one yesterday wake up from

its nap and need a scratch, it was on its side so it tried to roll onto its back but had

forgotten it was on the slope of the beach and so rolled over and over until it hit the

water. It looked so disgusted and embarrassed that I had to stop what I was doing in

the boat house and sit down I was laughing so hard.

Now is the time that they are beginning to learn how to swim. This involves lying

in the shallows with their backs showing. They then put their head underwater and

blow bubbles. Once they have mastered the underwater bubble blowing they propel

themselves along the bottom with their flippers touching the substrate with their

whiskers feeling everything. It reminds me of nothing more than a small child playing

in the shallow end of the pool. When there are a number of them in the shallows

this results in ‘Weaner soup’ with bodies bumping gently into each other and lots of

bubbles being blown. It is a very sweet sight. I was at Penguin River yesterday and

there was a Weaner ‘paddling pool’ where they were learning and playing. I crouched

at the side of it and one braver chap than the others came over to see what I was and

blew bubbles at me from practically underneath my feet.

As you continue along the track if you are lucky you will see some King Penguins

walking, stiff backed, towards you. They will let you get quite close and one has to

resist the urge to shake them by the ‘hand’. They begin to panic a little as you get

about 3 feet from them but once you are past they continue in their stately way with

only a few worried backward glances. Because of the time of year, along the track are

also to be found Furries lying either side spread amidst the weaners. The ones on the

track are generally quite sedate but I would not venture anywhere beyond Grytviken

on a beach without a bodger. This fact can make your choice of route to Penguin

river and beyond a difficult one. You can either take the boggy, hilly path up into

Brown Flats and cross safely there or you can take the route along the shore. Brown

Flats does have its own animal difficulties though. There are Antarctic Terns nesting

among the grass there and if they think you are endangering their nests (and they can

think this from a very long distance away) they will come and dive bomb you. They

will either perform a ‘dirty protest’ and poo on your head or they can actually hit you

with their beaks. They have been known to draw blood but it is mainly the swooping

and calling right next to your ear which is unnerving.

The other choice, along the beach, can be a nerve-wracking one. To get anywhere

either on the beach itself or in the tussock that grows along it you have to really have

your wits about you. Why? Have you ever been charged at high speed by a huge

and incredibly vicious cross between a Pitbull and a Wolf which is roaring like an

underfed lion while you are trying to keep your footing on a slippery stepping stone,

trying not to step on an oversized pug, waving a stick at said vicious dog and keeping

an eye out for its younger, faster, brother on your other side while actually trying

to make progress through an area? No? Then you can have no idea what it is like

standing on a tussock, trying to watch your feet so you don’t step on a weaner, being

charged at by a big male Furry who DEFINITELY doesn’t want you in its territory

while trying to keep an eye out for the teenage Furries who like to sleep in the tussock

and don’t like to be woken. The only time you really have to watch out is if you don’t

see one in time in the tussock or if you think that the big male you just past may want

to catch you up from behind. It can be an exhilarating experience to say the least.

However the Furries aren’t all bad. I walked to Grytviken two days ago and saw a

heavily pregnant female on the side of the track. Half an hour later when I came back

I heard a great mewing and calling and saw that she had given birth to a small bundle

of slightly damp black fur which was mewling away asking to be fed. It was the

sweetest thing. I passed it again today and it is already twice the size it was on Friday

and a little more adventurous. It played hide and seek with me while the mother just

lay watching. This is a great time for births and everyday now will see more and more

of these little ones appearing and I for one plan on losing my heart to each and every

one of them.

Hide and Seek

Cuddles with Mum

Underwater Weaner

Weaner playing with my camera (video)

King at Grytviken