A few of the million Wildebeests

[jwg]

The Wildebeest (or Gnu) was pretty common. There are supposedly more than a million of them in the Serengeti. They often hung around with zebras and we ran into a migrating set of them at one point - hundreds of them crossing the road. They like to eat short grass and the arid conditions produces lots of that. They need lots of water which is the cause of their migration.

Since these Gnus are not from the Free Software Foundation, they are not subject to CopyLeft and I don't have to provide their source code.




The terrain was different and the younger ones are browner.





This one was wading through a swampy area in Amboseli Park in Kenya.

Comments

[rsc.livejournal.com]

The terrain was different and the younger ones are browner.

And the light was different, too -- we encountered that migration scene right around sunset.

[jwg.livejournal.com]

Thanks. It's fun picking out a theme and a few pictures every day.

And some day we'll actually meet. I do know we'll be in SF next April for Queer Contra Dance camp.

[xlerb.livejournal.com]

I was expecting them to be larger and fuzzier than that.

Or maybe that's just RMS.

[fj.livejournal.com]

You know, "Wildebeest" is such a stupid name for an animal if you are Dutch, because it literally means "Wild animal". It's a generic name for a specific species, and it hurts my head.

[rsc.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've often wondered what the Dutch settlers were thinking when they hit on that name.

[rsc.livejournal.com]

Then again, they're also really stupid animals.

A Gnu

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

A Gnu
Michael Flanders/Donald Swann

A year ago last Thursday, I was strolling in the zoo
when I met a man who thought he knew the lot.
He was laying down the law about the habits of baboons
and how many spines a porcupine has got.
So I asked him: 'What's that creature there?' He answered: 'It's a h'Elk.'
I might have gone on thinking that was true
if the animal in question hadn't put that chap to shame
and remarked: 'I h'aint a h'Elk, I'm a Gnu.'

'I'm a Gnu.
I'm a Gnu.
The g-nicest work of g-nature in the zoo.
I'm a Gnu,
How do you do!
You really ought to k-now w-ho's w-ho.
I'm a Gnu,
Spelt G-N-U.
I'm g-not a Camel or a Kangaroo.
So let me introduce,
I'm g-neither man nor moose,
Oh g-no, g-no, g-no, I'm a Gnu.'

I had taken furnished lodgings down at Rustington-on-Sea,
whence I travelled on to Ashton-under-Lyme.
And the second night I stayed there I was woken from a dream
that I'll tell you all about-- some other time.
Among the hunting trophies on the wall above my bed,
stuffed and mounted, was a face I thought I knew.
A Bison? No, it's not a Bison. An Okapi? Unlikely[, really]. A Hartebeest?
When I though I heard a voice:
'I'm a Gnu.

'I'm a Gnu,
A-g-nother gnu!
I wish I could g-nash my teeth at you.
I'm a Gnu.
How do you do!
You really ought to k-now w-ho's w-ho.
I'm a Gnu,
Spelt G-N-U.
Call me Bison or Okapi and I'll sue.
G-nor am I in the least like that dreadful Hartebeest,
Oh, g-no, g-no, g-no, I'm a Gnu
G-no, g-no, g-no, I'm a Gnu.
G-no, g-no, g-no, I'm a Gnu!'

http://timothyplatypus.tripod.com/FaS/hat_gnu.html

[As usual, I've fussed w the spacing, caps, &c.
 --thnidu, aka Dr. Whom, Consulting Linguist, Grammarian, Orthoëpist, and Philological Busybody]