I Found the Desert Mouse My Squirrel Voiced in Dune

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]Literally right in front of me is a fenic fox. These foxes are specialized for life in the desert. And in the summer, they almost never drink water.

[00:00:12]Join me for a week in the Sahara Desert, where I've brought the DJI Osmo Pocket 4 to help share what I see with you.

[00:00:25]The Sahara Desert is the largest hot desert on Earth. Temperatures can exceed over 45 C in the day.

[00:00:35]Some dunes can reach over 160 m high.

[00:00:41]Wind is constantly reshaping dunes, meaning the landscape is always changing.

[00:00:49]Despite harsh conditions, the desert supports life, adapted to the extremes.

[00:00:56]Welcome to the Sahara.

[00:01:04]Over the years, I've been sharing my adventures online. I've been sharing all the amazing wildlife I see and hopefully bringing you a little bit closer to the natural world. I really like to make my videos cinematic, but this comes at a cost. weight, having to need a tripod, an extra camera, a microphone. And the truth is, I wouldn't be a wildlife photographer if it wasn't for you watching these videos. So, it's really important that I do share these stories and share the wildlife I get to see. But the truth is, I've missed plenty of wildlife shots. Just trying to set up an extra camera and try and get the behind the scenes. But now, I have a solution.

[00:01:43]This is the DJI Osmo Pocket 4. It has a gimbal. It's very compact. This is the microphone which is tiny. And this is all I need. This is it. And this means I can focus on the wildlife photography.

[00:01:56]So, let's take it into the Sahara and see how it does. In the afternoon, we set off for our first session in the Sahara. When we were arriving here this morning, I was so excited seeing the dunes from a distance.

[00:02:12]I've wanted to come here ever since I discovered my squirrel recordings were going to be in the movie Dune.

[00:02:20]And yes, later in this video, I find the famous desert mouse.

[00:02:28]And shortly, we found our first fenic.

[00:02:31]She's hiding behind the rock.

[00:02:36]Fenic foxes are nocturnal, so spend most of the day resting.

[00:02:43]After a bit of patience, Miss Fenick was up.

[00:02:49]It's showtime.

[00:02:54]With those big ears, fenic foxes have exceptional hearing.

[00:03:01]They rely on acute, precise hearing to detect prey beneath the sand.

[00:03:13]These amazing ears also help dissipate heat and help cool the fenics in the Sahara heat.

[00:03:27]They actually have many adaptations for surviving the Sahara. They have thick fur between their paw pads to protect their feet from the hot sand.

[00:03:45]They also have specialized kidneys.

[00:03:49]In the summer, they almost never drink water.

[00:03:53]So all their water intake is taken from their diet.

[00:04:05]Like all foxes, fenex raise cubs in a den.

[00:04:10]Fenix dig two to 3 m into the sand.

[00:04:15]These dens not only offer a safe place for the cubs, but also somewhere to escape the Sahara heat.

[00:04:56]It is our first evening in the Sahara Desert and we saw our first fenic box.

[00:05:02]He's around a year old and it was amazing because well I mean it's the first fenic we've seen. We first found him sleeping and he was just behind some grass and he got up and he started walking around and it was amazing seeing him do that very typical fox uh behavior where they the head left to right and they are listening into the ground for prey. We are now next to another den. We're about maybe 50 meters away and there's lots of fresh tracks and fresh digging. Hopefully, we will see a fenic. It is still quite bright even though the sun has set. So, I think we'll give it a bit longer.

[00:06:03]We called it an evening and headed back to our accommodation just in time for the stars to fill the sky.

[00:06:21]Heat.

[00:06:38]Heat.

[00:06:44]Heat.

[00:06:58]Heat.

[00:07:12]There's something about the Sahara that feels almost unreal.

[00:07:18]A place shaped by wind and time.

[00:07:24]Where the landscape is constantly shifting yet somehow feels timeless.

[00:07:31]It's harsh, vast, and often silent.

[00:07:36]There's a certain magic here.

[00:07:44]We're only just beginning our time here, searching for wildlife.

[00:07:49]There's still so much to see.

[00:07:57]But let me show you how some of these shots have been possible.

[00:08:08]For this video, I'm of course going to be filming with my usual camera and lens, but for the vlogs and for the behind the scenes of me walking around and filming from the ATV, I'm going to be filming on the DJI Osmo Pocket 4, which I'm currently filming with. And I thought I'd share a few of the features that are important for me. So, it shoots in 4K and high frame rates. This is really great for detailed and sharp shots. It also shoots in 10 bit DLOG.

[00:08:42]This is really good for post-processing.

[00:08:44]So, when you're editing, you can get more colors and more information in the shadows and highlights. And you're just more flexible for getting a certain color look. It also has really good low light performance. So, the sun set about maybe 20 minutes ago, and I'm sure you can see me very clearly.

[00:09:20]Did you get that? That was a Chisman gerbble. A wild gerbble. It also has a threeaxis stabilization gimbal. So, this means I don't need to set up a tripod and it is just stable. This is really important for when you're trying to get cinematic footage. Just being stable is a game changer. As you've seen, it's really compact and portable. It's tiny.

[00:09:45]I've been using this little satchel and it fits in there and I can fit all the extras as well inside. And yeah, it's so small. It also has built-in storage. You don't know the amount of times I have gone out and forgotten to bring an extra card. And that means I can't film myself because there's not an extra card. And it has 107 GB of internal storage. So, if you forget your micro SD card, no problem. It can film directly on camera.

[00:10:14]So, those are a few of the features that are important for me, and I'm excited to test it out in the Sahara this week, and hopefully share my experience photographing wildlife.

[00:10:31]Some of you may know that several years ago, one of my baby squirrel recordings was in the Hollywood movie Dune.

[00:10:40]In the story, the desert mouse, based off a jaboa, is seen as a creature wise to the ways of the desert.

[00:10:51]So, tonight we're looking for the jaboa and other small gerbles that call the Sahara home.

[00:11:00]First, we found the fat tailed gerbble.

[00:11:03]These gerbles have a prey response of sitting still when shined with light. We spent a few minutes with each and let them run off into the night.

[00:11:19]We also found the cheeseman's gerbble.

[00:11:25]And then after an hour of searching, we found the jabboa.

[00:11:30]It almost feels full circle to see it in real life.

[00:11:35]At only around 10 cm in length, the jaboa can reach 15 mph and can travel 6 miles each night.

[00:11:46]The jaboas were a little shy, so I couldn't capture their long legs.

[00:11:53]I hope you've enjoyed the first part to the Sahara. Thank you so much for watching. Thank you to my patronons who support my work, and I'll see you in the next video.