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Hi All, I stay in Faerie Glen in Pretoria. I am fortunate to have a Genet who lives in a bamboo palm in my back garden. We first spotted her six years ago - eating dog pellets out of my dog's bowl. Since then, sightings have been scarce (on average 3 times per year). Then all of a sudden two weeks ago she appeared with a kitten / cub (?). She lay on the brick wall outside our kitchen (at dusk) not at all perturbed by our gawking faces through the window. After a while she set off with the baby presumably to hunt for supper. Yesterday while at work I had a frantic phone call from my wife - the baby Genet was in my daughters bedroom on the curtain rail, it had probably spent the night. (fortunately my daughter was away for the evening so we had no fun and games)

My wife opened all the windows and a door which leads to the garden but our friend decided to spend the rest of the day on the curtain rail, peeing on the curtain from time to time. It eventually left as it got dark.
Please could someone tell me more about these beautiful animals.

nice story...

but maybe not for the Genet... I don't know

Melman do you have?

Hi Picnic, I do have a few pics - should I send them to you or post them somewhere.

you can post here... please

Oh, you are so lucky...enjoy this creature while it lasts....

Melman, I see you joined some time ago, but this is only your second post.

From MM, a very warm welcome.

Firstly, I am very How wonderful to have such a beautiful creature so close.

If you enjoy reading, Kobie Kruger has written about raising a young genet in her second book. She is the wife of a retired Kruger ranger and her books are well worth reading.

Genets, from as much as I know, are more related to mongoose than anything else. They are noctural, secretive and eat almost anything our domestic cat would enjoy.

Hi All and Happy New Year too!

In the 1990's I had a different experience with a genet in Johannesburg.

I was driving to my office in Braamfontein through the CBD via Rissik Street and had to stop at a red traffic light adjacent to van der Bijl Square bus terminus (now Ghandi Square). This must have been at around 07h30 and the traffic was heavy.

When the traffic light changed and the vehicle in front of me pulled away, I noticed a genet right in front of my VW Caravelle. It had a broken back leg and was bleeding onto the road.

I got out to see what I could do. The genet hadn't moved and allowed me to touch it and stroke it. I decided to take the injured cutie to a vet and picked it up to put it into my car.

Big mistake! In no time at all the genet bit my hand and I dropped it with fright. It didn't know I was only trying to help.

The genet ran under my car and jumped up into the undercarriage. I could see its tail hanging down but wasn't about to pull it out and get bitten again.

I decided to continue to the office very slowly and try to get help for the injured cutie once I got there.
I had parked my car but could find no trace of the genet. It had jumped off somewhere en route.

The matter was reported to the SPCA who told me they would look for the genet. I also reported the bite to the District Surgeon and had to have a course of anti-rabies injections over a few weeks.

The SPCA vet told me that there was much more wildlife in the cities than was generally believed and that genets are common visitors.

It makes me think of the leopard that was hit by a car and killed on the highway in Pretoria, also a good few years ago now.

Regards,

Digby.

sad story... a lot of wild animals lost in the town... big town

and some years later, no rabies for you, that is great

there is people who have a wild animal at home, like Genet or other in big town ?

There is a substantial genet community in the Northern suburbs of Pretoria. As well as bush babies and an increasing variety of birds such as grey hornbills, lesser kestrels and black shouldered kites.

The highlight of last year ... a Gymnogene coming for a quick visit.