While I had seen jackals on several separate occasions at the Delta, the resulting pictures were nothing to write home about. Mere “proof of life” photos. (The term our photo host used for pictures that only confirmed the sighting of a particular species and did not meet the desired artistic and photographic qualities.)

I was pleased, then, to see a beautiful reddish jackal walking up to the watering hole on Friday morning while our group was sitting inside the “bunker”. (The bunker was a hidden seating area directly in front of the watering hole; we could see the animals but we were invisible (ish) to them.)

He arrived before the worst of the crowds, approached the watering hole and took a nice long drink.

Once finished, he walked over to a pile of dirt near the watering hole. We could see just the top of him, rolling around, playing joyfully in the dirt.

His joy brought me joy, even if I couldn’t photograph it.