After the destruction of the veld (see last pics), I went to see the extent of the damage. I found this poor snake in a bush. It was cold with a frigid wind, so in its rather damaged state it couldn't go anywhere.

My heart breaks. Some days it's hard to carry on in the face of the relentless and mindless removal of the veld and all the damage it does.

This section was cleared because otherwise the grape-harvester machine can't turn easily (apparently).

It removed the barbet nest, two mouse colonies, the grysbok's favourite bed and a bokmakierie nest. Not to mention the plants and lichens, of course...

I went back to check on the snake about 2 hours later and he hadn't moved. The next morning he was gone, so I hope he survived this.

The digger then went on to make a new road through the veld so that someone could sink a borehole and go the 20 m on a quad so that they don't have to walk. This removed 500 year old guarris etc. But that's another story, and I'm trying to have a good day today...