Penguins take over 79-year-old’s home

2012-10-10 13:43

Cape Town – A colony of endangered African penguins has ruffled the feathers of an elderly Betty’s Bay resident, whose house is slowly being taken over by the critters.

“They shit all over the place. The other day I had one in here, running around, and it shit all over my bedroom. It just walked through the door and made a mess of my house,” Barbara Wallers told the Cape Argus.

The 79-year-old said the penguins waddled across her back garden, set up nests and kept her up the whole night with their squawking.

Her Stony Point home, where she has been living since 1947, is adjacent to the oldest land-based colony of African penguins in South Africa, with around 5 000 birds.

According to the report, the birds snuck through gaps in incomplete fencing and into enticing gardens.

Wallers had taken to spraying the penguins with fertiliser if they got too cosy. She had also begun walling off bushes with rocks to prevent the birds from digging.

The Overstrand municipality promised it would complete the fencing by January.

– SAPA

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Penguins take over 79-year-old’s home