Kirk's Dik-Dik.

Not mine, not yours, but Kirk's. I guess we'll have to deal with that. Anyway, Dik-diks are truly appreciated in person as they are the smallest antelopes in the world. They are about 16 inches at most off the ground and way up to 6 kg. Think the size of a small dog. They are generally found in E. Africa.

Being so tiny, they are, for better or worse, prey of all sorts of animals; wild cats, snakes, eagles, hyenas, monitor lizards, you name it. Which means they have to hide really well. They are, for obvious reasons, skiddish and are difficult to see in a close range.

The fascinating part for me is their social behavior. Before I tell that to you, I'll share a story of my experience with them and then tell you. As a warning, it's a sad story.

I was driving through the bush in Kenya trying to get to a location, when I thought I hit a rock. Turned out it was a dik-dik. The first and only animal I've ever hit with a car. A little shaken, I stop, get out, check to see what's going on, and move on. Then, a local in the car with me proceeds to tell me about their social behavior: they live in monogamous pairs for life and live in small territories. Since land and partners is so competitive, if one of the partners die, it is generally too late for the remaining dik-dik to find a new partner or find a new territory, so it lives alone. To deal with this, they often jump in harm's way to committ suicide. This is sometimes in the form of jumping from high things onto rocks but more frequently occurs by offering itself to other animals by not running away when near a predator. I'm HOPING that the one I hit was one that was putting itself in harm's way. Otherwise, I may have killed a dik-dik and led another to suicide. FML.