What's a dagga boy?

Search: dagga; dagga boy

Why: Bob has been sending me journal posts about his hunting trip to Zimbabwe, and he keeps saying things like:

We were back on the tracks of four dagga boys early on the sixth day of our safari.

I don't know what that is, but it sounds racist.

Answer: They are old Cape buffalo who have been kicked out of the herd!

They call these Buffalo "Dagga Boys" - they are large old bulls that have been kicked out of the herd and spend all day wallowing in Mud. Dagga means "mud" in Zulu. They have really short tempers - best to stay away. The mud is to get rid of parasites.

I see this:

The younger males not only bred with the cows, but easily defended the herd against predators, so their presence was vital to the group. The Dagga Boys were basically useless and the old bulls seemed to know it.

That's sad. The name "dagga boy" was coined by South African outfitter and hunter Gerhard Vos. If you want to see some pictures of him with dead animals, click here and here.

Source: This guy's site, Po's Peek

The More You Know: "Dagga" is also slang for pot in South Africa. And also, a South African psychoactive plant, Leonotis leonurus, is commonly known as "wild dagga" (or "lion's tail"). You can smoke it:

It is sometimes used as a Cannabis substitute by recreational users looking to evade current laws on cannabis and other psychoactive plants. Leonotis leonorus is not currently scheduled under federal law in the United States. The smoke is reported to have an unpleasant taste and to be an irritant to the lungs and throat.