Periodically, family quarrels erupt. There is much growling and shouting, but little else. Peace reigns once again and the nightly bait-site ritual takes its usual course.
The reason for the quarrels seems to lie in a persistent animosity between Big Man and White Back. In human terms, the ‘Uncle’ is an old bachelor who stays on with the family rather than starting a family of his own somewhere else. During post-denning time (after mid-July), he is the main presence around the bait-site. During this second half of the summer, Big Man and the Mother are hardly ever seen there. The reverse situation is true for denning time (May-July). The two dominant adults are then the main presence, while White Back is rarely seen. It is his appearance during denning time that triggers Big Man in a big way.
The dramatic fit that unfolds follows a regular pattern. Big Man senses White Back prowling in the vicinity of the bait-site and rushes to chase him away. The sounds of violent quarrel would then be heard off-frame. Big Man would cackle in a fit of rage, while White Back would retreat to a safe position on the riverbank. From there he would return fire by shouting at his adversary. The shouts are brief loud bursts, repeated every few seconds. (A detailed presentation of this form of jackal vocal activity is given in: Konstantinov, Y., I. Acosta-Pankov, and N. Spassov (2024). Long- and short-range jackal (Canis aureus L.) vocalizations: a new approach based on stationary observations of a non-captive family group. North-Western Journal of Zoology (Submitted May, 2024).
While White Back goes on shouting from a safe distance, Big Man returns to the bait-site and resumes his interrupted dinner. From time to time, he would growl menacingly at the shouter, but hold back from another chase into the dark. The incident is over.
In the clip below, the usual sequence unfolds, but with some variation: this time Big Man is eating at the bait-site together with the Mother. Her milk-bag is seen to be still slightly hanging – only a month has passed since she stopped breast-feeding her pups.
In the clip, the quarrel begins with a shout from Big Man in the direction of the bluff overhanging the bait-site. White Back is sensed to be coming down from there. After the opening salvo, the breeding pair dashes in the direction of my father’s tent. It is clear that my father is sound asleep nearby, as we can catch a brief snippet of his snoring on the recording. The snoring, which normally I don't praise, demonstrates the level of trust they share. Two different species peacefully coexisting: a human and jackals.
But back to the tiff. Upon contact, more shouting is heard, until White Back beats it down to the bank. While his indignant shouts are heard from somewhere by the water edge, the two dominant adults trot back to the bait-site and resume their dinner. Here Big Man, in his still enraged state, pushes the Mother aside for no apparent reason. White Back’s disgruntled shouts continue coming from the bank. The Mother takes the rough shove with patience and then both of them are seen to be eating side by side. After a few seconds, Big Man turns in the direction of the shouting and growls threateningly. In the end, there has been a lot of noise, but no fighting. That is the way of such quarrels.
It is noteworthy that the Mother takes Big Man’s side in the quarrel. There is some mystery here. From mid-July on, it is White Back who oversees the behaviour of the newborn cubs while Big Man is almost entirely absent in this period. Thus, the Mother’s reasons to be shouting at the cub-caring Uncle remain unclear. The reason may be sought in the lasting bond between the dominant pair, and Big Man’s impatience with another senior male around. Some indications in this direction are provided in this same clip. Of the three senior adults, in the age-bracket 6-7 years of age (Mother, Big Man, White Back), only the breeding pair can be seen eating together. (For analogous tension between the breeding pair, on the one side, and a helping adult (female), on the other, see: Pecorella S., M. De Luca, F. Fonda, A. Viviano, M. Candelotto, S. Candotto,E. Mori, and O. Banea. (2023). First record of allonursing in golden jackal (Canis aureus, L. 1758): a case of double breeding and communal denning within the same social unit. European Journal of Wildlife Research 69: 3 (43).
Quarrelling between the dominants on one side, and a solitary White Back, on the other, has occurred regularly over the years. Invariably, it happens in the denning period – including at its very end, like in the clip above. Both parents are regular bait-site visitors all this time. The latest altercation takes place in the night of 3-4 June, 2024. With slight variations, the event unfolds in the usual way.
At 22:36:08 Big Man is seen eating at the bait-site, right under the cameras and with his back half-turned to it. This shows his acceptance of the cameras – he is not bothered about them:
Instead, Big Man is evidently interested in the remaining food and related scent. The last visitors to the bowl, six minutes before that, has been White Back accompanied by the junior adult Round Ears.
Fifteen seconds afterwards Big Man is still munching over the bowl. Then his patience with White Back’s presence somewhere close in the bush comes to an end. He picks up his trail and follows it in a brisk trot in the general direction of the river. Eleven long seconds elapse with neither of the adversaries caught by the cameras. Then suddenly from the direction of the path leading up to the den the Mother comes flying – evidently meaning to join Big Man in the pursuit.
A minute later, the couple returns to the bait-site, but only in a few seconds, down they rush again. Evidently, contact with White Back had been made and the usual cackling and shouting of the quarrel follows. The quarreling parties themselves cannot be seen – they are off-frame, down on the bank:
Finally, the dominants trot back to the bait-site, there is the usual shove and growl of Big Man towards the loyal Mother (why so?), and then they are seen to be eating peacefully together. The row is over. From beginning to end it lasted a little over a minute.
