Proactive Measures and Responses:
- Enter HWS DEDICATED BABOON HOTLINE 072 028 0008 on your phone and on the phone of your housekeeper, family members who visit regularly, weekend visitors, encourage neighbours to do the same.
- Join your local Whatsapp Neighbourhood Watch group in your immediate area.
- Advise other groups of approaching baboons, only AFTER you have advised the HWS Hotline.
- Be quick to advise HWS of address and time.
- Don’t crowd the whatsapp group with chatter.
- When at home, be aware of which rooms have open windows or doors. The troop does not always return to the same sleep sites, alternating between caves in the reserve, tree canopies on the golf course, never assume they will not pass by occasionally.
- If you are renting your house to tenants ensure they are advised of how to manage the situation, particularly if they have children or pets.
Your Refuse management:
- Know your refuse day.
- Never, ever dump refuse bags on pavements, even on refuse day.
- Only secured baboon proof bins permitted on pavements on refuse day.
- Take responsibility for securing your refuse bin properly. No bags outside of secured bins ever, anywhere.
- Advise your tenants or guests of refuse collection procedures and collection days.
- Get a baboon proof device fitted to your existing bin or buy a bin already fitted with a sturdy device. See our ‘Contacts’ page
- Only place refuse bins outside on the actual day of collection, and close to the normal collection time for you area if possible.
- If you are not home on collection day, ask a neighbor if they would mind sharing their bin that day, if there is space. You can return the favor for them another time. Alternatively, take your refuse to the Voelklip depo near OK.
- Reduce the amount of refuse in your bin. Take recyclables (glass, paper, plastic, tins,cardboard) to Ngomso Lelethu (Unit 12, Mimosa Centre, Mimosa St., Hermanus Industrial 081 400 2741.
Standard procedures at home:
- Set your house alarm when you leave home for any length of time.
- Appoint a close neighbor or friend as key holder. Give your alarm company the contact details of key holder. If no one can access your house in the event of a raid, the baboons may become trapped inside, or may return, leaving faeces and debris to rot. You need to be contactable.
- Smaller plant pots are more likely to be upturned than very large heavy pots, as they search for juicy roots and bulbs, indigenous or exotic, or the grubs under the pot.
- Lock all doors and windows if you are leaving the house. Baboons can open sliding doors and shutters, turn round door knobs, so fit a night plug mechanism to secure.
- The smallest baboon has a head size of around 5 cm, therefore any unsecured gap that size or larger will enable access.
- Mesh screens are good solution, need to be well secured to the window frame
- Avoid leaving domestic pets outside for extended periods of time when you are out.
- Secure kitty flaps if you are not around.
- Beams in the garden can provide early warnings.
- Keep fruit bowls and food items out of sight, away from windows.
- Harvest ripe figs and other fruits from your fruiting trees as often as possible.
- Cover vegetable gardens with mesh
- Pack away your bird feeders, rather plant prolific indigenous nectar producing plants such as Cape Honeysuckle to attract birds.
- Do not leave dog/cat food outside.
- Yolo manufacture secure composting boxes, a great solution for organic waste storage and composting for the home garden. Sizes and colours vary, excellent solution to keep baboons away from your domestic compost store. Visit their website for details: www.yolocolours.co.za
What to do if Baboons enter your home:
- Shouting may cause them to panic and poop so stay calm if possible!
- Make way so they can get outside unhindered.
- Keep pets separately in a locked room until all baboons have left.
- Do not threaten baby baboons or take items or food from them, this may lead to an attack.
- High pressure hoses sometimes work, on wintery days, but in mid-Summer, unlikely to affect them much.
- Remove baboon poop using gloves, paper towel and household cleaner like Handy Andy as soon as possible, poop may carry disease.
- See our ‘Contacts’ page for Cleaning Services post baboon raid.
