A Grave Business
For almost a century Trooper Cook and Private George rested peacefully about a rifle’s length apart in the Boer War cemetery at Deelfontein. Little ever disturbed their isolated tranquility. The belligerents had come and gone; sounds of battle and suffering had faded. The once-nearby tent hospital was but a memory and the Yeomanry Hotel had silently crumbled away. A distant lover had died, so flowers no longer arrived and the little marble crosses, erected by faraway loved ones, had given up their battle against the elements, and one by one plopped softly down into the dust. Time passed like a never-ending stream until company suddenly arrived.
The nocturnal visitor, a prodigious digger, sniffed around, wiggled his pig-like snout, approved the place and began to burrow. He took up residence at the feet of Trooper A E Cook of Kitchener’s Fighting Scouts, keeping Private J George of the Prince of Wales Light Horse, at a respectful distance for some reason of his own.
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An aardvark hole at the foot of Trooper Cook’s grave at Deelfontein |
The intruder, a stout little aardvark, weighing 65 kg and about 1,5 metres long, was the first newcomer to disturb this ground in over 90 years. Using his powerful claws he excavated a den slap next to Trooper Cook’s feet in plain view for the rare visitor to see. No one really minded his intrusion. Aardvarks, shy, solitary, nocturnal mammals, are termed “the farmers’ friend.” They are masters at finding and eating ants and termites. Their survival is uncertain and the Red Data Book classifies them as vulnerable.
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