Are you a professional marksman? Then Joburg needs you to help deal with its dassie population problem.
The City of Joburg announced last week that the culling of dassies would start before the summer months to contain the animal’s numbers.
This week, city spokesman Nthatisi Modingoane said culling would probably start within a week or two.
“We are still finding marksmen and are also conducting studies on the dassies we wanted to relocate, and to use for food for zoo animals, because it has come to our attention that some of them are diseased. If we move them, this could cause health and environmental problems in other areas,” he said.
But in the interim, residents in Mulbarton, Bassonia, Glenvista and Mondeor say they and their pets are being terrorised. They say the dassies are not only destructive, but also terrorise small dogs and cats.
The Dagher family of Mulbarton says everyone thinks the dassies are cute and cuddly. “To the contrary, they have been making our lives miserable for years, and they are increasing in number and getting bolder,” said Stephan Dagher.
The family is forced to keep the windows of their home, which faces the koppies, permanently closed, which is an inconvenience during summer months.
“But they are now so bold that they find their way in and we often find mounds of mess on our floors. Even worse, they urinate on our wooden deck outside and this has caused it to rot. We have already replaced it once and have to do it again soon,” he said.
The thatched lapa outside their pool is also constantly being ripped apart by the dassies, who use the grass for their nests.
“At any given time, we have 10 or 20 lying on our patio. We have to keep our poodle indoors because they are so bold now that they charge and chase her,” Dagher said.
Most of their outdoor plants have been eaten away, so it is impossible to keep a good garden, said mother Anita.
Harold Atkinson, who lives on the Glenvista koppie, says he has a serious problem with dassies invading his property and causing damage.
“I am hoping you can alert the professional people to our problem and our location, so they can help sort out the overpopulation of dassies,” he said.
Hein Kerkovuis says the Bassonia area is also affected.
“The dassie colony in our area lives only a few metres from my boundary wall. What started as a isolated dassie in 1984, has now increased to a few hundred.
“My garden is not what it used to be; not even my dog can keep them away. It appears that the dassies have turned the tables and are chasing the dog,” he said
. - The Star