Thursday Doors
For Dan’s Thursday Doors, I’m sharing a few pictures of the treehouses at Jaci’s Tree Lodge from our most recent trip to Madikwe Game Reserve.
You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2024/09/05/welcome-to-pittsburgh/




d’Verse prompt: Just for Laughs
Mich is the host of this d’Verse prompt, Just for Laughs. Thank you, Mich.
Just write to the theme of laughter, wherever that leads you.
Well, my mind always goes in one direction, so today, I’ll introduce you to the very rare brown hyena which I managed to see and photograph during our recent trip to Madikwe Game Reserve.
You can read Mich’s post here: https://mishunderstood.wordpress.com/2024/09/03/grandpa/
I don’t laugh, a song parody

I never laugh
I seldom vocalise
I never laugh
I make grunts and growls and cries
***
Marked as near threatened, I’m rare
So, seeing me is rare
Recognisable due to my dark brown coat
With its long and shaggy hair
***
Some hyenas do laugh, it sounds maniacal
It’s not a real laugh, not happy or joyful
This method of communication is creepy
A loud high-pitched hee-hee-hee
Spotted hyena, loudest animal on earth
***
I live in a clan
Of solitude I’m a fan
A small family group
Is what I like best
***
Clan hierarchy maintained
Our offspring are trained
***
I am a nocturnal animal
Hunting and feeding at night
I cache excess food in shrubs or holes
Retrieving it within twenty-four hours
Being one of my main goals
***
I never laugh
I seldom vocalise
It’s only with family
I ever socialise
***
My communication
Includes aggressive displays
And mock fights
Which my status conveys




In case you didn’t recognise it, this is the song on which this parody is based:
wow, Robbie, what an amazing animal and love the tree house. xxx
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Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed this post.
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I didn’t recognize the song from your poem, but the hyenas are amazing. Fabulous shots!
I like your new glasses, too. It sounds like they must give your super powers. 😉
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Hi Merril, no superpowers but these are better than the ones I had previously. I still can’t wear them for work or painting. I’m glad you enjoyed this poem and photographs.
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Hi Robbie. Well, good luck with them! xx
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You have introduced us to an amazing animal.
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Thank you, Sadje
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You’re most welcome 🤗
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Well done, Robbie. I enjoyed the parody. The Hyena does look like an amazing animal. It’s sad to know they are threatened – I guess, in a way, every animal is.
The tree house looks like a wonderful place to stay for a while. Thanks for sharing your photos.
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Hi Dan, I’m delighted you enjoyed this post. It was so lucky to see this lone brown hyena. They are rare and also nocturnal. This was a late afternoon sighting.
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the drinks cabinet looks inviting; I love the jaunty, thoughtful poem the hyena has written about itself; quite the wordsmith 🙂
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Our hyenas are very literary minded here in Africa.💗
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hahahahahajha
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🤣😂
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Great post! Love the informative poem, and those photos! Wow
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Thank you, VJ, I’m pleased you enjoyed this post.
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You are welcome, Roberta
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Nice doors & building … and thanks for the pic of the lovely couple. Well done using a parody while also providing information about hyenas with good images. Have a good weekend.
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Thanks, Frank. I’m pleased you enjoyed this.
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Terrific photos and poem, Robbie! The hyena should join a punk-rock band. 🙂
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Haha, yes, indeed, Dave. Maybe he could form one with Misty except Misty might become a pre-performance snack.
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LOL, Robbie! 😂 Misty is suddenly more interested in classical music. 🙂
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Haha, have a great weekend, DAve.
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Have a great weekend, too, Robbie!
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Very nice post. That is an interesting Tree House. It must be quite exciting to go on Safari!
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HI Dwight, it is. I am so lucky I can go a few times a year.
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That is wonderful.
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I love the parody lyrics. Hyenas are such strange animals. Your new glasses look great on you.
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HI Timothy, I’m glad you like the glasses. I think I might manage to sing this one. Auntie is sick again and back at my house. When she goes home I’ll give it a go. A much easier song to sing.
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A fun song too.
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Your treehouse is fascinating, Roberta. The hyenas are amazing! Thanks for sharing these wonderful photos.
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Thanks, Tim. I drag TC on adventures in treehouses and tents. Hehe! I’ve managed to review your book. It’s up on Goodreads and hopefully Amazon. I’ll share to my blog next week.
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My wife convinces me to go on trips or to events that would never enter my near-empty mind, but I sure don’t consider myself being dragged. I love her and want to make her happy. It makes me so happy that such a talented author as you enjoyed one of my books, Roberta! Thank you for the fantastic review on Goodreads! ❤
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That hunched back on hyaena make them look needy, which they aren’t. Love this alone picture.
multi coloured mini multi focal glasses–I have no idea what that means. DDG wasn’t much help either.
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Hi Jacqui, hyenas are excellent predators with a very high kill rate, not needy at all. Multi coloured refers to the frame. mini multi focal is the lenses. I need glasses for distance but not close up. They did a blended lens so that I can at least read a map while I’m wearing them. Ugh, getting older sucks.
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From cheetah cubs to hyenas — we’re getting a neat and educational journey 🙂 And that’s a cool tree lodge!
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HI DAve, you are, indeed, and there is a lot more to come. The tree lodge was awesome.
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I love the tree house, Robbie! What fun. The hyena always reminds me of a supposedly mythical creature, the chupacabra. Thanks for sharing the insight into their existence.
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HI Jan, the tree house was fun. I’m delighted you enjoyed this post.
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excellent shots Robbie and I love the light!
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HI Wayne, I was lucky with the light for some of these shots. It was just going into sundown.
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Great parody and thank YOU for the awesome photos. I have to say, that hyenas are probably not fully understood, but I think they are cute!
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HI Annette, I’m delighted you enjoyed this poem and the photographs. Hyenas are very effective predators with a high kill rate.
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Great post Robbie thank you for sharing.!
Loved the parody
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HI Maggie, I’m delighted to know that. Thank you.
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My pleasure Roberta
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wow… beautifully done , Robbie…
and stunning captures as always 🤍
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Thank you, Destiny. I enjoy sharing these photographs and poems.
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your bond with nature and wildlife comes through strongly, Robbie…🤍🙏
my pleasure 🤍
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Fascinating! I love your new glasses too. xo
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Thank you, DArlene. They are still not perfect, but better than what I had.
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You are so creative, Robbie. I love the door to your drinks cabinet. And, once again, I learned a great deal from your post.
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Hello, Donna, I’m glad you enjoyed this. It was a great place to visit and I like sharing about our wildlife.
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You make me almost pity the hyena! Your glasses look a lot like mine.
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All creatures are really pitiful. At the mercy of people! Thanks, Jan.
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A wonderful photo of you and your husband, Robbie!!
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Thank you, Rebecca. HE is rather a dish, isn’t he – smile!
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Nice new specs! It must have been such fun to stay in that tree house. I’d say your hyena photos do these creatures proud.
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HI Liz, the specs are better than what I had before. Unfortunately, I need glasses for distance but not close up work so it’s glasses on and glasses off. It’s a real pain. These help but I can’t use them for work, reading or painting.
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I’ve done the glasses on, glasses off thing for years. I finally had to break down and get progressive lens with three prescriptions: one for distance, one for the computer, and one for close-up.
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I’ve never spent the night in a tree house, but I think it’d be fun. Hyenas are cool!
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HI Priscilla, I look for these sorts of fun adventures for TC and I to enjoy together. The tree house was great. In Jan, we visited the tented camp which was also amazing.
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Such beautifully colored fur. And thanks, as always, for the informative poem. (K)
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My pleasure, Kerfe. It delights me when my blogging friends enjoy my animal poems and photographs.
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Parody or not, I really like this Robbie.
Your parody just taught me about hyenas.
I know they are wild, but they are adorable cute.
Thank you!
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HI Resa, this was such a remarkable and rare sighting. I am so very lucky to have these photographic opportunities. Brown hyenas are very shy and are loners.
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Wonderful photos of the treehouse and the hyena. It’s pretty spectacular how you captured the wildlife.
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HI Edward, I am a very patient but fast photographer and I have a fairly good camera and iphone.
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Excellent job!
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Thank you
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That was a fun and delightful poem, which taught me about the brown hyena, an animal I did not know about before. It is so interesting that some hyenas don’t laugh. Well, like your poems says, the ones who do doesn’t really laugh. Hyenas are interesting animals.
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Hi Thomas, hyenas are one of my favourite predators. I’m really pleased you enjoyed this post.
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While I enjoyed the poem, I was quite taken with the treehouse, your new glasses, and of course the great song from Mary Poppins. Thank you, Robbie.
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Hi Jennie, I’m very happy to know that.
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😍
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What a cool house. It’s downright fascinating. Robbie — you’re rockin’ those new glasses! Hugs.
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Thank you, Teagan. I do like the glasses and they do help with distance. I can’t wear them for working or painting.
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A couple of things: for some reason I had to subscribe again, the reason I haven’t been getting your posts. Two, love this as always. Third, my wife and I are planning our Safari and cannot wait to visit your country!
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Hi John, weird about the subscription – I haven’t changed anything 🤷♀️. Madikwe is a great place to visit. It’s my favourite reserve in SA
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Your description of the hyena made me glad I was seeing him from this distance. He doesn’t seem snuggly. That tree house, on the other hand, is snug as can be. I’m trying to imagine what it would be like to settle down on pillows while suspended mid-tree. That would be a new perspective on life for sure!
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Hi Maureen, thank you for visiting. I’m glad you enjoyed this post. Hyenas are not snuggly. The tree house was great.
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beautiful & informative – you’ve made us all into hyena fans ❤
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Hi da-AL, I am very pleased to know that.
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I have always found hyenas tp be a bit scary….
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Hi Bjorn, they are scary but they are also fascinating and beautiful animals.
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Great parody, Robbie and enjoyed the pictures as always… I’ve always puzzled as to why hyenas, and it may be less pronounced in the Brown as opposed to the Laughing, have shorter back legs which makes their backs sloping. When they run, which they seem to do well, it does give them a lolloping gait and its just not very usual amongst 4 legged animals not to have legs the same length – these are the things that keep me awake at night lol!
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I am delighted you enjoyed this song parody. With regards to the short hind legs, you might enjoy this traditional African folk tale about that very thing: https://www.theafricangourmet.com/2015/04/hyenas-hind-legs-shorter-African-Folktale.html
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CHEERS to the treehouse, the drinks cabinet, your wonderful glasses, all the photos, the animals, the music ~~~~ Tons and tons of CHEERS!
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Hi Helen, thank you for your lovely comments. Cheers to you.
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Robbie, I appreciate your insights into the ways of the brown hyena. What a beautiful being with a big presence.
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Thank you, Lisa, I am delighted you enjoyed this poem.
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You’re welcome. You paint a picture of them beyond the superficial stereotypes.
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I’m really happy you appreciate my descriptions of our wildlife.
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Love the post Roberta, the tree-house sounds romantic. the hyena less so, resilient and resourceful, and I believe fearless (thus dangerous) but not a pretty sight (a friend often says that God must have run out of aesthetics by the time of making the hyena) 🙂
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I think that hyenas are rather beautiful. They are my favourite predator. Their interesting build makes them really fast and fit for purpose. They are very stinky though.
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Ha, I guess someone had to love them 🙂 I guess their lifestyle lends to smelly?
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It does as they are scavengers.
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Ain’t nature grand?
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Yes, incredible. I like scavengers. I enjoy vultures and Marabou Storks too.
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Love the poem, Robbie. The brown hyena has become “real” to me now: they do not laugh but they have personality for sure.
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That is an awesome treehouse, Robbie. Hyenas are an odd looking animal, and always depicted in movies as a little crazy. You are so lucky to have seen them in person. I enjoyed your song parody. I know “I Love to Laugh” but I had to play it while singing the words to your song.
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Hi Carla, I am delighted you enjoyed this post. The hyena in this video looked a little wild. He was having a bad hair day.
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He sure was, looked a little crazy to me.
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Yes, he did
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