(Wild) Life in the Suburbs

In a mere 6 months, I have been fortunate to assist with relocation of a Black-Backed Jackal that found itself roaming the streets across 3 relatively busy suburbs and more recently, a Spotted Eagle Owl that chose a terrible spot to brood.

The Black-Backed Jackal had been spotted a few weeks prior in a neighbouring suburb - I have assumed it is the same one as the sightings stopped once he had been safely captured and released.

He had covered a fair amount of distance by the time we saw him running down the road entering our suburb the one chilly morning in May while on the school run. It was truly the most bizarre thing seeing this wild animal running "wild" in our suburb. We popped a message on the community whatsapp group alerting them to the fact there was a jackal in the area and to please be vigilant as it was clearly distressed and lost. These poor guys often get knocked over by cars - anything but "street smart".

We arrived home after the school drop off and saw he had made his way to our road and was making his way towards us. My initial and only thought was to try steer this little guy into our garden so we could alert the relevant people to come and assist with getting him back to safety. With very little persuasion and a slight detour into our neighbours garden this little guy found a very comfortable spot under some bushes in the front of our garden. We quickly secured our pets and I started making phone calls to find someone to assist us.

I first called the Johannesburg Wildlife Vet, they sent me to the Randburg SPCA, they then sent me to someone else and eventually found myself having gone full circle and still no closer to having someone to assist. Someone in our neighbourhood then gave us the details of Dirk at Wild Serve. Finally, someone who was able to assist us.

After some careful cordoning off of the area and the arrival of a vet from the Muldersdrift Animal Clinic this little guy was safely relocated and released in an area far more suitable to a young black-backed jackal.

For more info about Wild Serve you can view their website : https://www.wildserve.org/home

This past week I came across a pair of our resident spotted eagle owls. I had initially only seen 1 but later in the week whilst out on an errand I saw the female sitting in a very open and precarious spot. Turns out she was brooding and there were 2 owlets that she was keeping safe in this rather unsafe area. Daddy owl kept a close eye on his family from a tree nearby.

Daddy keeping a watchful eye

To give you an idea this mommy owl was sitting in direct sunlight for most of the day - not the smartest place to nest my girl. Someone in the area alerted the team at Owl Rescue Centre who had come out to inspect the scene at the end of September already when it was reported that the owl was thought to be injured (she was actually just sitting on her eggs).

It is a very busy road at the back of the shopping centre with loads of traffic and passersby. Mommy owl was visibly stressed and rather uncomfortable in the heat. It would be safer for the owlets to be moved to a "quieter" and shadier spot to avoid them being hit by cars once they get mobile and hop along the side of the road.

With an eye on grumpy dad who was incredibly unhappy that his family was being moved, Brendan handled mommy owl and the 2 owlets with such expert care.

Mommy in direct sunlight

Needless to say, both mommy & daddy owl were really unimpressed with us. Sadly, there is always a risk that mommy may "reject" the babies and Brendan was on standby to assist if this happened.

For more information relating to the work they do and how to support them, please visit their website : https://www.owlrescuecentre.org.za/

Both Wild Serve and Owl Rescue Centre do incredible work with very little assistance. Should you feel inclined and have the means, please consider donating funds or supporting them in any way possible.

We share the suburbs with many animals, both domestic and wild, and organisations such as these are often overlooked. Please do not put down "eco friendly" rat poison - it does not exist and these beautiful creatures will unfortunately die.

Until next time,

Lara

“There may be days when I can't help an animal in need, but the day will never come that I won't try.”― Paul Oxton

** While there are links to both organizations, this is in no way a sponsored or paid post.