Sunday, April 15, 2012

Animal Signs

Some common Road Signs:


Brown Hyena - near Lüderitz.
I've only seen this nocturnal creature once, a fleeting shadow in the moonlight.


Elephants - Caprivi Strip, Northern Namibia - it seems they could only fit the trunk on the sign.


Feral Horses near Aus.


Tortoise - Western Cape, S Africa.


Zebra - Namib-Naukluft National Park


Warthog - these guys are solid and hitting one of them can severely damage a small car or cause death if the driver swerves and loses control.


Ostrich


Penguins - Cape Town, S Africa
There are also other signs here asking motorists to check for Penguins under their cars before driving off.


Giraffe
I was surprised to see this sign because I was not aware that there are Giraffe in the Namib-Naukluft National Park - I haven't seen any there though.

Kudu
This buck has been responsible for many accidents and deaths on Namibian roads.


Oryx


.
Posted by at
Labels: , , , ,

32 comments:

  1. JoyfulApril 15, 2012 at 8:52 AM

    It looks mighty hot in these photos. I love the animal signs. Do you really have penguins in South Africa?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OneStonedCrowApril 16, 2012 at 5:27 AM

      Thanks Penny - yup, the photo was taken at Boulders Beach, Simonstown, Cape Town - there are also Penguin colonies on the Islands off the coast of Namibia .. see http://www.southafrica.info/about/sustainable/luderitz-penguins.htm

      Delete
  2. fishduckyApril 15, 2012 at 9:36 AM

    Even your signs are more interesting than the ones I see in the city!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OneStonedCrowApril 16, 2012 at 5:28 AM

      Hehe Fran ... wouldn't it be nice to see signs like this in a city?

      Delete
  3. DianeApril 15, 2012 at 12:53 PM

    Apart for the elephant, and the buck I have never seen any of these signs.

    In the UK we had a duck sign in our street, and close by there was a frog sign, apparently the migrating frogs used to cross the road in one particular place during the breeding season. There were also signs of horses crossing, but these are usually where there are race horses out crossing the road to go to a training track.

    Here in France I have only see the buck crossing sign. Australia is great, they seem to have all their animals on signs in one place or another. Diane

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OneStonedCrowApril 16, 2012 at 5:32 AM

      Hehe Diane - could you try get a pic of the Frog sign? ... the buck signs are all over the show but the others are found in specific areas ...

      Delete
    2. DianeApril 19, 2012 at 8:31 PM

      Graham I am not sure that we will ever go back to that area but if I see another frog sign I will take it for you :)

      Delete
    3. OneStonedCrowApril 20, 2012 at 6:25 PM

      hehe Diane - Froggy says "Time is fun when you're having flies!"

      Quark!!! ... :)

      Delete
  4. Hilary Melton-ButcherApril 15, 2012 at 5:23 PM

    Hi Graham .. mostly they all come so fast - I remember not really having time to react - we tried to drive relatively slowly. I know I saw giraffe up in the Skeleton Coast not many, like the elephant - a few specialised ones.

    I'm surprised there's not a donkey sign - saw those in Botswana .. but have never thought to check for a Penguin under a car?!

    Warthogs are my absolute favourite -- I have a few reminders here .. spoke to a friend in Jhb today - and other friends arriving back here for the summer soon ... I love being in touch.

    Cheers and great pictures .. Hilary

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OneStonedCrowApril 16, 2012 at 5:35 AM

      Thanks Hilary - yes Warthog and Kudu are notorious for just popping-up out of the grass on the road verges ... I think most accidents are caused by drivers swerving to avoid a collision then losing control and rolling their cars ...

      Delete
  5. LisaApril 15, 2012 at 5:53 PM

    Long live the animals! See ya.

    ReplyDelete
  6. JoApril 15, 2012 at 6:03 PM

    Good to see you Graham. I love your signs and seeing the sandy surrounds makes me long for our life in the Sudan (now Northern Sudan) Obviously penguins lie in the shade under parked cars? Thanks for sharing. Blessings, Jo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OneStonedCrowApril 16, 2012 at 5:37 AM

      Thanks Jo - yeah, they probably shelter under the cars for the shade ...

      Delete
  7. AnonymousApril 15, 2012 at 7:40 PM

    I've got your P38 out ready to send, just let me know where magnolia_moon_pie@yahoo.com

    great photos!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OneStonedCrowApril 16, 2012 at 5:38 AM

      Thanks Theanne - I'll send my details to your addy ... :)

      Delete
  8. Coral WildApril 15, 2012 at 8:38 PM

    Some amazing animal signs there Graham. I've seen the warthog & elephant ones myself in Namibia - I really love the warthog!
    We also get a Hippo sign on some of the main roads in the lowveld - very amusing unless one run's into one I suppose!
    Sue

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OneStonedCrowApril 16, 2012 at 5:40 AM

      Thanks Coral - I think the Warthog signs are my favourite too - I've only seen pics of hippo signs ... I certainly wouldn't like to run into one ... :)

      Delete
  9. fishduckyApril 15, 2012 at 10:23 PM

    Hi, Graham--I can't remember if I left a comment last night or not. I wonder what drivers in Los Angeles would do if they came across a "wart hog" sign instead of those boring old octagonal "boulevard stops"?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OneStonedCrowApril 16, 2012 at 5:42 AM

      Hehe Fran - perhaps you should try an experiment and change some signs one night - perhaps some drivers will return home and go back to bed thinking that they're ill ... :)

      Delete
  10. Bill LislemanApril 16, 2012 at 12:38 AM

    "...check for Penguins under their cars..." Are they just being friendly or trying to hitch a ride?

    Your signs sure make our deer crossing signs boring.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OneStonedCrowApril 16, 2012 at 5:44 AM

      ... hehe Bill there are hundreds of penguins waddling around at Boulders Beach ... I think it's true what Jo said above - they seek shade ...

      Delete
  11. davidApril 16, 2012 at 8:51 AM

    Very neat collection here :)
    peace

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OneStonedCrowApril 16, 2012 at 9:25 AM

      Thanks David ... :)

      Delete
    2. davidApril 17, 2012 at 12:34 PM

      And i really like the way you've done the comments ... learning new tricks are you?

      woof! ;-)

      Delete
    3. OneStonedCrowApril 17, 2012 at 1:32 PM

      Hehe ... yeah, it took me awhile to figure out how to do it ... I'm not looking forward to the new interface we're going to be forced to use soon .... it sucks ...

      Delete
  12. AnonymousApril 16, 2012 at 9:41 AM

    When we travelled around southern Africa in 2007/2008 we tried to 'collect' as many of these as we could! And the triangular ones with an exclamation point. We entertained ourselves with elaborate stories as to what the ! could possible mean...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OneStonedCrowApril 16, 2012 at 11:16 AM

      Hehe Tara - yeah, the are quite a few scenarios one could read into that sign ... :)

      Delete
  13. PeggyApril 16, 2012 at 9:40 PM

    Hi Graham, I hav enot been online for a while so had to read through all the posts I missed!Great photos and stories as usual.
    We might all take far more notice of road signs if the powers that be had the imagination to liven them up a bit!
    Our old road signs giving mileage were mostly 'appropriated' eg; 'Blarney 6 miles' and turn up in pubs in all corners of the world

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OneStonedCrowApril 17, 2012 at 8:28 AM

      Thanks Peggy - hehe ... I suppose I shouldn't but I find that quite funny ... people stealing road signs to hang on pub walls ... :)

      Delete
  14. IngerApril 16, 2012 at 10:01 PM

    I love the tortoise sign and also nature in the background of these pictures. Beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OneStonedCrowApril 17, 2012 at 8:29 AM

      Thanks Inger - I've only seen the tortoise sign on one particular road - obviously an area where there are many of these beautiful creatures ...

      Delete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)