|
"Willersdorf" BO LA MOTTE |
|
Proudly South African
Specializing in early season southern hemisphere export blueberry's.
Exports to the northern hemisphere from mid October.
|
The South African Blueberry Company
est. 1992
Delivering quality "early to fruit" blueberry's when most needed.
Bo La Motte Farm
A courtesy provided by the South African Blueberry Company - Franschhoek South Africa
|
Conservation at Bo La Motte
The South African Blueberry Company has a well developed conservation area, which is demarcated in the green area below. Additionally, the entire farm is protected by a high voltage electrical security fence shown in blue. Apart from security, the fence keeps predators out and creates a refuge for wildlife within.
Demarcated green area allocated to conservation.
Effectively, just under a third of the farms land mass has been set aside for indigenous mammals, fowl, reptiles, fish and insects, as well free range farm animals/fowl.
The farm has two manmade dams, one fed by a stream and stocked with trout. The other "above" is reserved for ducks and geese, both wild and domestic. Subsequent to the dams constructions, a family of migrating Egyptian geese and indigenous Cape yellow bill ducks have flourished, each species now numbering over twenty.
____________________________
In earlier times, herds of buck roamed this land, as well as giraffes, zebra and Cape buffalo. At the same time, lions, leopards, civet cats, cape fox and jackals hunted in the valley. In fact this valley was known as Oliphantshoek, or "Elephants Corner" by hunters. The last female and calf were seen leaving the valley in 1836. The images that follow represent species spotted on the farm since 1990. A small population of leopards survive in the surrounding mountains.
Click a thumbnail to enlarge.
From top left, Egyptian geese, Indian Runners, Cape yellow bill ducks, and both Chinese and domestic geese live together with pairs of Australian and European Swans.
European Swan
No less than 200 peacocks live in the area, the bulk of which have made the farm their base.
Guinea fowl and Francolin add to the indigenous bird life.
Owls, Hadada Ibis, Martial eagles and farm chickens all claim the front lawn or fly over it. A Cape Robin was christened Narcissus, as she pecked at mirrors inside the house. Note her chick being fed on an African basket in the kitchen.
This is Fatso, born of a farel cat who's relations sorted out Narcissus. Fatso is grown up and makes a real impression on the creatures that follow.
Elephant shrew, squirrels and rabbits.
Rainbow trout are stocked in one dam, while a large amount of Koi fish have been hatched in the other.
Inspired by trout farming, African Fish Eagles have worked their way down the SE African coastline. Their unique call brings cheer when heard over the farm.
Amphibians
A very young Kristofer spent hours capturing leopard frogs, African clawed frogs platanna , and toads. He took glee transferring them from one location to another.
Reptiles
There are mole snakes, cobra and puff adders. We have a rule that snakes are NOT killed, which unfortunately works only half the time. Both the cobra and puff adder seen here were observed for a period of time, then released to the wild.
Other reptiles include a variety of lizards and the Cape chameleon.
There are water terrapins as well as two types of tortoises, including the Cape Mountain.
Insects
A large colony of scorpions has flourished, due to the outer electric fence and the subsequent absence of baboons who traditionally consider them a delicacy. This lady only gave birth once Kristofer had confined her to a jar.
A dung beetle recycles faeces to make her nest.
Mammals
A Zebra stallion named Vuyu, meaning happy in Zulu, represents the farms contribution to South Africa's ongoing Quagga program. His mate Zebbie was bottle fed in the Northern Cape. This is Zebbie looking for a carrot in the kitchen .
Creatures Living Outside the Fence... (sometimes in)
Cape fox, civet and two species of mongoose have been live trapped on the farm, as we felt they would be better off living outside of the fence. As a result, there was a rabbit , which in turn invited a welcomed population of predator birds.
Porcupines and Baboons live on the outside of the fencing. Initially the porcupines did not accept that their range of habitat was suddenly been blockaded. As a result, hundreds of quills were collected along the outer fence line.
The day the current owner stepped foot on the farm, it nearly landed on a Duiker. Startled in an overgrown vineyard, it sprang and sped off up the mountain. Duiker tracks were often seen in the berry fields.
We hope you have enjoyed the visit to our mini animal kingdom...
If you would like to view a fantastic webpage showing South African birdlife, click here.
|
