The Honey Badger
A few weeks ago we went to a game farm for a chilled weekend in the bush. Out of the city and into the bush is a welcome escape from the rat race and it is literally an hour's drive out of the city.
When the sun sets, the African bush-veld comes alive with sounds and the heavens light up with the Southern Hemisphere's bright stars. Nothing beats an African Sunset!
We walked with rehabilitated cheetah, we experienced the roar of a male lion from a distance 10 feet, we saw rhino up close and the mighty elephant came up to the open safari vehicle to take a closer look at the weird creatures with flashing items attached to their faces. Wild buffalo stared nonplussed as we came past their feeding spot under the thorn trees, while hyena laughed at our funny attire as we drove past the carcass that they had taken over from a leopard.
All these animals are unique, but the one that always impresses me the most is the Honey Badger. Here are a few interesting facts about this interesting creature:
- They look very similar to a skunk...in looks as well as having a gland at the base of their tail, which is used mainly to mark their territory, but in a tight situation, its biological knee-jerk reaction is to drop a stinky!
- They can dig like crazy and they will do it on anything...the ground, a tree trunk, a termite mound, and they have even been known to use tools to aid them. There is a video from The Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in South Africa which shows how a team of honey badgers used sticks, a rake, mud, stones, and pure determination in their attempts to escape from their enclosure!
- Their teeth are crazy strong...they can chomp down with enough force to break a tortoise's shell open!
- Ferocious, fearless, and pugnacious animals aren’t always the smartest, but honey badgers break the mold and are extremely smart!
The one trait that we can all use that the honey badger has, is it's thick skin....and, in order to be successful on-line, it helps to have a thick skin so that you can shrug off some of the comments that you will encounter along the way from some inconsiderate people....
Have you had some sour experiences yet, and how did you deal with it?
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Honey badger was ranked the most fearless animal in the world by the Guiness Book of Records (in 2011 I think) and the SA Defense Force named the Ratel ifv for this lil cutie.
Ratel's skin isn't only thick, it's also so loose, that if anything grabs it it can twist nearly 360° inside it's own skin to attack back. (Mean too - goes for eyes and the nuts and is resistant to snake venom.)
Youtube:
Honey Badger Houdini - Honey Badgers: Masters of Mayhem - Natural World - BBC Two
4 mins - your escape artist. His name is Stoffel. :)
Hey Anthony,
Great story! That sounds absolutely incredible - I've always wanted to go on a safari!
I've never heard of the Honey Badger, they are interesting creatures and there is a lot I can learn from them! I need to work on developing a thick skin, rude comments are tough to deal with sometimes!
Anna
I usually shrug and go about my business, Antonio. If it needs to be dealt with, I deal with it quickly, firmly, and diplomatically, and then forget about it. I like the honey badger.
I have found in my life, I am only troubled if I allow them to bother me. I work at protecting my attitude every moment. If you allow negative to bother you it will affect your attitude. And if they smell blood it can be like a feeding frenzy. Always hold your attitude close and protect it from the negativity that you encounter every moment.
Attitude is a thing that makes a big difference---Winston Chuchill
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Wow, that is some tough badger!
Tough as Nails!