Lamb killer in the Karoo

It was a Friday evening and we were sat in the bar enjoying a couple of drinks. We live in an area where the main agricultural practice is sheep and goat farming so the conversation quickly took the line of how things were going in farming.
One of the guys in the group has not long been back on the farm from university and he brought up that he was losing lambs every night to either a jackal (Canis mesomelas) or a caracal (Felis caracal).
We discussed what the carcasses were like when he found them in the morning. Most of the lambs were eaten from the back end, where the prime cuts were taken but the crime scene was very neat and tidy.
This pointed in the direction of a caracal as a jackal kill is incredibly untidy which this was not. Lots of solutions were given to sort the problem out which was very kind but he would have to choose.
As the evening came to a close I asked the farmer what he was doing the following evening. He replied that he would be at home as he had nothing on. I offered if he would like to go out to his property and see what we could do to sort out this problem he was having. He was very grateful and we agreed that I would be there at 17:30 for dinner and we would then go out around the property when the sun had gone down.
The next day I got my kit together in preparation for the evening ahead. The swivel seat was attached to the back of the pick-up, spotlights checked, batteries in the predator caller changed, bullets and rifle packed. We knew it would be late and rather chilly so winter clothing brought out. It doesn’t matter what you look like when doing this job as nobody sees you so fashion statements are irrelevant. Warmth and comfort are number one.
As time got closer I started my way out to the farm. Only about 20 minutes from where I was living. The BBQ was on and the meal would be lamb chops. The finest in the world I believe coming from this part of the Karoo in South Africa. The sun started to fade and the time was getting closer to leave. A flask of coffee was made and some bits to snack on as we could be in for a late one.
I climbed on the back of the vehicle and put the rifle into its vice which held it in position. A spotlight fixed underneath the arm so that where the rifle pointed the light would too. The farmer climbed in and drove as he knew the target areas.
Driving out of the yard I started scanning with the hand held light for a glimpse of eyes shining in the dark. Mountain reedbuck(Redunca fulvorufula), a genet(Genetta), some kudu(Tragelaphus strepsiceros) but no predators yet.
We drove down to the area where a lamb had been killed the night before. Finding an area which gave us a 360 degree open area so we had good visibility of anything which may approach.
I climbed off the back of the pick-up and went and put the caller out. Returning to my seat I sat quietly for about 15 minutes letting things settle down after our disturbance. I had decided to use a food call for the caracal hoping that the sound of a squealing rabbit would entice this night time killer out of its hiding place.
Pressing the button on the remote the eerie sound of a caught rabbit rang out in the darkness. Putting on the spotlight I swivelled my seat round lighting up the area around. Nothing so the light was put off again. A couple more squeals and I span again. This time at a distance in the thicket to the mountain side of the caller I caught a glimpse of an eye flash. Was this the culprit coming in? It was too far to say at the moment so I turned the light off and continued to call. Spinning again with the light I saw the eyes moving closer. This had to be a predator as nothing else would be so inquisitive over a prey call.
Through the scope I checked. I could see the tufts on the top of the ears. It was a caracal. Coming in stealthily. I told myself to wait until it came closer. It had no idea that we were there. Slowly it moved forward approaching the caller.
It was time. Possibly 100 meters away. I could see it clearly through my scope. I tracked it as it walked in. Then it stopped just for a second and this was my chance. Cross hairs on the shoulder, I pulled the trigger. A hit and the eyes vanished. It was down.
The farmer who was in the cab was unsure what was going on and when I told him he couldn’t believe it. He walked out to the spot I lit with the spot and he returned with a big female caracal.
We loaded it and I took another anti-histamine tablet as I am allergic to cats and they make me sneeze which I don’t find useful when trying to hunt them at night.
We drove again scanning with the light to another spot where there was a chance that another caracal was living. We sat again and the whole process started once more. I thought I would use the same call as it worked the first time.
Within minutes of calling another set of eyes appeared approaching the caller. Surely not another caracal. In it came. Just as sneakily as the first one.
Through the scope I could see by the way it moved that it was another one. Again I waited until it was closer. As soon as it was in range I fired and we had number two in the bag for the night. This time the farmer had been able to watch the whole thing as it approached from the front of the vehicle.
Both were good sized females. One weighing in at 13kg’s and the other 15kg’s. Both in very good condition which was to be expected as they had been living on a diet of fine lamb.
The farmer had a break for a while but we both knew that others would move in and the losses would start again. We would just have to keep our eyes out and expect that we would be out again in search of this beautiful but deadly predator.