“One of the domestic workers came to my gate and called me to come look at two porcupines that were trapped,” said Mr Brandus van Jaarsveld, a resident of Highveld Park.
The two porcupines had been snared in the field just east of Alphine Street, close to the cabbage patch.
JP Henn, one of the neighbours, assisted with freeing the animals. “We had some difficulty freeing them but managed to release both of them using a pair of side cutters to cut the cable snare,” said Van Jaarsveld.
Upon freeing the pair, one of the porcupines made a dash for it and ran off into the field to seek shelter, the other remained in the field. It had been hurt by the snare and according to Van Jaarsveld, was bleeding at the neck where the snare had caught it.
“We see the veldt as an area where the animals should still be able to roam freely, but lately the number of animals has dwindled,” continued Van Jaarsveld.
Both Van Jaarsveld and Henn remained with the porcupine that was injured. Some time had passed before Van Jaarsveld had to leave for work. He added that it was important to save both porcupines, believing they were a mating pair.
It is suspected that someone set the snares to catch other wildlife and the porcupines happened upon them.
“We find a lot of traps in the veldt. On a regular basis we go out and clear the traps placed around in the veld, the wildlife is disappearing from the area,” said Mr Chris Botha, a resident from Seekoeiwater Plots.
