People are different right? Even a big guy can be scared of little things. In the animal world, it is the same theory, no matter how big they are, they can be hilariously freaked out by little things. You have probably seen a baby elephant or a rhino cub being excited to play with a bunch of birds, but have you ever seen a baby hippopotamus gets scared by a bunch of birds? Well, you are about to witness that story.
The baby hippo was enjoying his infinite freedom when those oxpeckers landed on its back. At first it was okay, but then suddenly baby hippo wanted the guests to leave. When those oxpeckers refused to leave early, the baby hippo started to go berserk. That is the funniest part of the story.
It was a hell let loose situation for the cub. Soon, the baby was terrified of these uninvited guests and started yelling his lungs out. The more he freaked out, the more those oxpeckers pecked its back worsening the situation even more. The hippo cub did everything possible to make them leave. It was like “Go away or I’m telling mom”.
It ran as fast as it could, tried rolling on the ground and twisted its body around but nothing seemed to work. Hilariously, it tried to scare off the birds by fake running into the water. Eventually, the birds got tired chasing the hippo, gave up and stopped whatever they were doing and flew off.
It is a well know fact that these Oxpeckers and Hippopotamuses have a nice mutual relationship which benefits them both in an amazing way. The oxpeckers feed on ticks and other small insects that lives on the back of hippos and gets rid of them. But the baby hippo thought these oxpeckers were his enemies and tried to scare them off, in a very funny way to watch.
Photographer Marc Mol captured these beautiful and rare moments on his lens at the South Luangwa National Park in Zambia. He was surveilling on a group of hippos when he noticed this cute little baby hippo struggling with those oxpeckers. So he did what any other photographer would do, capturing the moments.
Marc Mol described the scene as quoted below,
“I was at first astonished as to what was going on, seeing this baby hippo running towards me and the safety of water, and then realized it was a small flock of Ox-peckers that were the culprits. It was very amusing to witness, I had a real laugh when I realized that I had captured something a little different and yet very amusing.”
The photos that Marc uploaded to the internet instantly went viral. Many people sympathized about the baby hippo but couldn’t help laughing at those hilarious photos. The hippo and the unwelcomed oxpeckers made quite a scene.