The annual three-week long breeding season of the impala, also called the rut, begins toward the end of the wet season in May. The males begin preparations for mating in March, (good to get in a head start, think of the anticipation) including gonadal growth and hormone production, resulting in greater aggressiveness and territoriality. (Typical male high on testosterone.) Males undergo several physical changes as well, such as darkening of the coat due to greasy secretions from the sebaceous glands, (a little bit of hair gel) thickening of the neck and acquiring a musky odour, (deodorant, maybe not too appealing to us). The rut is also influenced by the lunar cycle, with most mating taking place between full moons. (Now that’s what you call the bewitching hour.) Here are a few portraits I took…
Remember the Moffatts Lyrics or Manfred Mann???
There she was just a-walkin’ down the street
singin’ do what daddy did to mommy to get me (do-wah diddy-diddy down diddy-do)
snappin’ her fingers and shufflin’ her feet
singin’ do what daddy did to mommy to get me (do-wah diddy-diddy down diddy-do)
She looked good, LOOKED GOOD
she looked fine, LOOKED FINE
she looked good, she looked fine
and I nearly lost my mind
Before I knew it she was walkin’ next to me
And last years ram still growing his horns…
The Photographic Journey of bulldog. 