Makana parks and recreation manager Kevin Bates has called on residents to help his department get rid of cattle egrets nesting in Grahamstown.
Makana parks and recreation manager Kevin Bates has called on residents to help his department get rid of cattle egrets nesting in Grahamstown.
He's asked for residents to contact his department the minute they see the birds settling in a tree.
Bates told Grocott's Mail this week that the birds cause havoc with their litter they leave below their nesting sites, and bird lice.
He said there were trees more than 50 years old in the city, and no matter how much of a nuisance the birds are, his department won't cut them down.
Bates said members of the public were complaining about the mess and health hazard the birds present. “We have received calls from the public complaining about the smell the birds bring to the town."
There was an outcry recently when municipal workers trimmed branches off trees where the egrets were nesting.
The SPCA intervened when members of the public complained that chicks were falling to their deaths. The solution, Bates said, was to get rid of them before they started nesting.
National youth development organisation the President's Award, which has its head office in Grahamstown, has been deluged by droppings from cattle egrets nesting above their New Street building.
CEO Martin Scholtz said they had notified the municipality about the large flock of cattle egrets which had moved into the big oak tree outside their offices.
He said he had asked for a municipal team to assist in their removal, due to the large amount of excrement being deposited on to their office roof and walls.
“If the birds remain in this tree for any length of time, we will soon have a bigger health and safety issue on our hands,“ said Scholtz.
In the past, operations to get rid of the birds has been met with criticism by the SPCA.
Bates is adamant they are not trying to harm the birds, however. He says they simply need to get rid of them before they get a chance to nest.
The SPCA was not against this, he said, provided the chicks weren't hurt or killed.
"We don’t want them to settle in. That is why we need the public to help us locate these birds wherever they see them,” he said.
Bates said they would use fire fighting equipment to spray the birds out of the trees.
He urged the public to report sightings of the birds to 046 603 6072/93.
