You may not find it on all the tourism guides being printed about Cape Town, but one of the popular things to do for visitors to the Mother City is to go and feed the squirrels living the the Company Gardens. Most of the vendors around the area sell bags of peanuts and you can easily spot the difference between visitors and locals by those carrying a bag of nuts. The squirrels have become so accustomed to people that even though they are wild they will come and take the peanuts from your hands.
On our visit you could easily see that it was peak holiday season and there were lots of visitors about feeding the squirrels. Why? Because they just didn’t seem too interested in food. The Kidz were a bit disappointed that the squirrels didn’t want to come to them, but we did eventually find a couple willing to do so.
I have a hard time with the thought of encouraging people to feed the squirrels. We discourage the feeding of any wildlife, yet the variety of squirrels seem irresistible to some. And sometimes people get bit. We don't know if the squirrels carry rabies or worse fleas that can carry bubonic plague.I've feed squirrels in the past, but there's a lot of things I did long ago that I don't now. Seems like a perfect teaching/learning opportunity.
They're so cute!! I shall tell my brother of Gaelyn's comment – he feeds them at the end of their garden (not by hand). It's fun to watch their little antics!