ZABIBU

Mark from Bottletalk appropriately asked “why the fence?”

Here is what the fence looks like, what it is for and why it works.

Being highly intelligent primates baboons always work out a way to get in. For instance our local baboon troop that reside in the valley below, know when it it Sunday. They know that on Sunday there are fewer people around that the vineyard is often quiet and so its a good time for a raid. I think they hear people singing in the church on the opposite ridge perhaps and know its a safe time to head up slope.

This picture of the fence post is taken from inside the vineyard and you can see that without feeler wires its quite easy for a smart baboon to miss the hot wires.

For a while the baboons were able to carefully climb up the fence posts and avoid the lateral wires and then hop over the post for a good feast of fresh carrots, potatoes or ripe fruit. We soon worked out that if we put some feeler wires coming out from the post perpendicular to the lateral ones that this would fix that problem.

But of course they have worked out another way in.

The tree…

They climb to the top of the tree and then take a flying leap and land right in the lettuce patch. I wish I could get that on film for you. Maybe one day I will. The obvious solution now is to cut the tree down but we dont want to do that. And if we did they will only find another way I am sure.

So I guess all of this serves only as a deterrent after all.