Peter from Westville has gone to extreme measures to keep monkeys out of his house. The monkeys broke the twin of this vase and some Swarovski crystal when they came in the last time.Photo: Lauren Rawlins Peter from Westville has gone to extreme measures to keep monkeys out of his house. The monkeys broke the twin of this vase and some Swarovski crystal when they came in the last time.Photo: Lauren Rawlins
Durban - They come in through the narrow burglar guards. They use nearby trees to access windows on the first floor. And they’ve raided the vegetable gardens.
Westville resident Peter Ring, 83, said it was not burglars who have infiltrated his home and caused such mayhem, but monkeys that regularly invade his yard and home, causing expensive destruction.
“I have had enough of the monkeys coming into the yard and destroying everything I have inside and outside my home, and I have now had to devise a system to stop them from, at the very least, entering my home,” said Ring, a retired electronic engineering lecturer.
Ring has made a specially designed frame that sits flush against his window, and which incorporates a fly screen and chicken mesh wire.
This frame contraption is latched to the inside of his windows and doors.
He has been having monkey problems since he moved into the area, situated near a nature reserve, in 2005.
“They come in troops of up to 13 with a strong male, and kept coming into the house. When I made the first design they quickly squashed their way through, so I made these sturdier frames, and for now they have deterred the animals from coming inside,” said Ring.
He has had to cut down all his pawpaw trees, is not able to grow cherry tomatoes anymore and cannot attract birds to his home as the monkeys broke seven bird feeders by jumping on to them.
“They also broke my late wife’s Swarovski crystal ornaments bought from Europe and valued at about R24 000, and they broke one of a pair of genuine Dutch Gouda vases valued at R14 000 when they dashed inside from the dining room window,” he said.
Ring said that part of the problem was that people were feeding monkeys and attracting them to the suburbs.
“While people may enjoy feeding the animals, they do cause problems. However, they have been given instincts to enable them to forage for themselves,” he said.
Steve Smit, from Monkey Helpline, said shooting monkeys was illegal, and people needed to know that there were other very successful methods to deter monkeys from entering homes.
“Keeping fruit and other food concealed when monkeys are about and keeping doors and windows shut are some of the ways to stop monkeys from entering the house,” said Smit.
He said using mesh or insect-proof screens were also good.
“Many companies have started doing this… so there is no need to take any malicious action against monkeys,” said Smit. - Independent on Saturday