Mongoose man concerned about illegal fires
Whilst Durban's "Mongoose Man" is happy that two new babies were born last month, he is concerned with the illegal fires that are encroaching their natural habitat.
DURBAN’S Neil Friedman, affectionately known as The Mongoose Man, is terribly concerned about illegal fires that have threatened the lives of his beloved fury wild beachfront creatures.
Friedman, no stranger to Durbanites walking the beachfront promenade, has been caring for the mongoose population for more than a decade on the old Snake Park beach area, the last of the original dune vegetation which once covered a large part of Durban’s beachfront.
Describing himself as an animal lover, Friedman said he started feeding the mongoose and later the cats that moved to the dune bushes from Mini Town, 13 years ago.
The animals await Friedman’s daily visits with anticipation. Sparky, a young ginger cat greeted Friedman as he arrived to feed the animals, while the mongoose peeped out of the bushes as he neared with food. By the time Friedman got to the other side of the dune, another pair of cats and birds flocked to him.
Friedman said he used to take care of 13 mongooses in the bushes, which bred and gave birth to two or three babies every September, but poachers had left him with just four adults last year. Initially there were no new babies, but last year three new babies were born in August and this year two more were added to the family.
“I only saw the new babies early in October and they seem to be quite healthy,” he said.
The animal-lover said he worried about his animals, cats, mongoose and birds because people were once again making fires at the boundary fence of the bush on the beach side. The fires, he said, spread over to the dune and bushes where he feeds his menagerie and where he has two bird feeders and bird baths, home to hundreds of birds.
“Fires are illegal, yet people continue making them and I’m worried that someone will burn the whole bush down. The cats wait for me in the same area were it was burnt so I was scared that one of them might have been injured,” he said.
“I am also concerned that the municipality has removed the gate on the road side. I now have to climb over the fence to feed my animals and fill up the pond with water. I’m worried that one day I’m going to slip and impale myself on the fence! I just hope the gate will be replaced soon,” he said.
Friedman said he had not missed a day of feeding the animals since he started and that the daily routine had become part of his life. “I haven’t been on holiday in 13 years! My conscience won’t let me stay away from my animals because they rely on me. Rain or shine they need me,” he said.
