WHITE RHINOS
| © Copyright 2007 Eric Wilson All rights reserved |
The earth literally shook as the rhino charged. How we escaped that first charge I have no
idea, but somehow we managed to lose the rhino in the thick bushes. Frantically we looked
for a tree to climb but there was nothing to be seen but head high bush. Suddenly we heard
and felt the rhino charge again, with a terrible crashing of bushes it had located our scent
and was coming our way.
Again we managed to lose the beast due to it's very poor eyesight, but each time we lost it it
would circle us, find a scent direction and charge us once again. I would never have imagined
a rhino would be so persistent. What had we done to make it so determined to kill us? ( I
learned later that this bull was one of the last survivors of poaching and had developed a
deep hatred for humans ) We were armed, but the idea of shooting the rhino was both
repelant and dangerous in equal measure, but what was there to do? each time the rhino
charged we were pushed into thinner and thinner bushes and it was only a matter of time
before we were out in the open and at his mercy.
There was little time to think, we ran for the open to get there first giving mark time to position
himself to shoot. With Mark down on one knee I ran a little further ahead and couldn't believe
my luck to see a dried out river bed with a steep bank. I called to mark just as the rhino broke
out of the bush in a terrifying charge. I could see Mark thinking "Can I make it before he's
upon me?" and then he sprang to his feet running as fast as he could to the river bed,
leaping down to where I was with less than a second to spare. A cloud of dust erupted above
us as the rhino, thwarted, took a terrible revenge upon a tree stump as we ran across the
riverbed and escaped up the other side. In one careless moment of bravado we shouted at
the rhino to release our tensions, it raised it's head as if to say 'I'm not beaten yet' and ran
along the riverbank searching for somewhere to cross. Our eyes raced ahead and to our
horror there was a perfectly crossable section a hundred yards further along!
We turned and ran without looking back until we were exhausted and fortunately we never
saw him again. It was an experience I will never forget, and one that hardly left my mind as I
painted this picture.
idea, but somehow we managed to lose the rhino in the thick bushes. Frantically we looked
for a tree to climb but there was nothing to be seen but head high bush. Suddenly we heard
and felt the rhino charge again, with a terrible crashing of bushes it had located our scent
and was coming our way.
Again we managed to lose the beast due to it's very poor eyesight, but each time we lost it it
would circle us, find a scent direction and charge us once again. I would never have imagined
a rhino would be so persistent. What had we done to make it so determined to kill us? ( I
learned later that this bull was one of the last survivors of poaching and had developed a
deep hatred for humans ) We were armed, but the idea of shooting the rhino was both
repelant and dangerous in equal measure, but what was there to do? each time the rhino
charged we were pushed into thinner and thinner bushes and it was only a matter of time
before we were out in the open and at his mercy.
There was little time to think, we ran for the open to get there first giving mark time to position
himself to shoot. With Mark down on one knee I ran a little further ahead and couldn't believe
my luck to see a dried out river bed with a steep bank. I called to mark just as the rhino broke
out of the bush in a terrifying charge. I could see Mark thinking "Can I make it before he's
upon me?" and then he sprang to his feet running as fast as he could to the river bed,
leaping down to where I was with less than a second to spare. A cloud of dust erupted above
us as the rhino, thwarted, took a terrible revenge upon a tree stump as we ran across the
riverbed and escaped up the other side. In one careless moment of bravado we shouted at
the rhino to release our tensions, it raised it's head as if to say 'I'm not beaten yet' and ran
along the riverbank searching for somewhere to cross. Our eyes raced ahead and to our
horror there was a perfectly crossable section a hundred yards further along!
We turned and ran without looking back until we were exhausted and fortunately we never
saw him again. It was an experience I will never forget, and one that hardly left my mind as I
painted this picture.
Oil on board
24 x 16 inches
24 x 16 inches
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