Rooi Els' baboon troupe

No art pic this - today's Blip is about nature. While out walking this morning, I found the troupe on the road, unfazed by the human presence, minding their own business.

The numbers in the troupe vary and can creep up to 30-odd, depending on the availability of food and how many baboons consider themselves candidates for the job of alpha male. The leopards that live in the mountains above the village also keep the population in check...

Here, you can see ten and there are doubtless a couple more rummaging in the bushes. The few chacma baboon troupes that inhabit the False Bay coast are unique in that they forage on the shoreline and eat whatever molluscs they can pluck from the rocks in addition to their usual fare. Nice eh?

Not at all. These are wild animals and residents and/or visitors forget this when they feed them and take their holiday snaps. These animals are quite capable of letting themselves into a house - a couple of males can easily lift a sliding door from its frame, or will hop through an inadvertently open window - and then the trashing begins. They will open and sample everything from larder to deep freeze. If it is edible, consider it gone. Not edible, or not sufficiently interesting? Simple, drop it on the floor and strew it far and wide.

Disturb them and they will retaliate by voiding their bowels. Everywhere, then spreading the mess over the walls and furniture. Want them out of the house? Open all the doors and windows and encourage them gently. The last thing you want is 75kg of alpha male showing you how dominant he can be...