Hanging with Bambi

December 1, 2009 - 9:42 PM by Jessica

We headed out today to Nahal David, David Stream, one of the two year-round streams in the Ein Gedi National Park, on the eastern border of the Judean Desert, on the coast of the Dead Sea. The ‘we’ was myself, baby boys, and two friends visiting from overseas, Bruce and his almost-ten-year-old daughter Ronit. The goal of the trip was for Ronit to swim — or float — in the Dead Sea, something she’d been waiting to do. I suggested the add-on activity of Nahal David, since it’s an easy walk (or so I remembered), and has a couple of waterfalls.

It was fairly easy, although it was my first time hoisting and carrying one of my boys on a carrier on my back, and climbing up and down stone-hewn stairs and slippery slopes. What was phenomenal was the wildlife we saw along the way. On our way in, as we tried to slip past the MASSIVE group of high school girls on a school trip, we spotted a few ibex among the trees, or as the teenagers called them, “Bambis.” Funny, those Israelis.

But better yet, on our way out, after having frolicked in one of the waterfalls and bypassed the school groups, we came upon a whole family of hyrax, a guinea pig-like creature, all of whom were sitting on large boulders and just staring at us. According to Wikipedia, the word ‘rabbit,’ or ‘hare’ was used instead of ‘hyrax”‘many times in some earlier English Bible translations because European translators of those times had no knowledge of the hyrax (Hebrew שָּׁפָן shafan), and therefore no name for them. There are references to hyraxes in the Old Testament, particularly in Leviticus 11, where they are described correctly as lacking a split hoof and therefore being not kosher. It also details that the hyrax chews its cud, however this observation is due to the habit of the hyrax chewing without having ingested anything, resembling the chewing of cud (the hyraces studied by the Hebrews may have been in captivity). Hyrax tend to make chewing motions when they feel threatened. I would guess that they felt threatened when they were in captivity.

Moving on from the hyrax, we came upon another, well, herd, of ibex, just wandering around, even on the path where we humans were trodding. They’re smaller than deer, although the dads of the herd are bigger, with longer horns and this great ‘goatee’ that would look great on a human (which, hey, is probably why humans have adopted goat hair growth). In Israel, ibex are almost as ubiquitous as deer are in the States, although they don’t wander through our backyards. Even so, I don’t think I’ve ever been this close to one.

Nature. It’s a good thing.

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