Yes, it's that time of the year again. Since three or four weeks the hunters are on the loose again in their relentless frenzy to kill innocent, beautiful wild animals just for the fun of it. They justify themselves by saying that they're the proud inheritors of a 'beautiful tradition'. Well, twothousand years ago they believed that the gladiators were also a 'beautiful tradition' but eventually the human race grew out of it, at least to some extent because we're still blood-thirsty animals. Just look at the success of the tabloids and these websites full of 'sensational news'. The more blood, the bigger their success. Will we ever become true civilised beings? When I look at these idiots who're roaming the countryside over here these days, I doubt it. Of course, in Italy it is a requirement for a hunter to have an IQ under 30 so that may explain some part of their behaviour. And we shouldn't take away the hobby of the poor, demented ignoramusses. They too are entitled to a bit of fun. But there are limits.
Just before the hunting season started we had a friendly chat with one of the local forest guards. The man took our case very seriously, moreover because we're now running a B&B and we wouldn't want our most honourable guests to get shot. The forest guard was going to have a word with the local hunters and, surprisingly, it did seem to work. They always maintained a safe distance from our property and we weren't even bothered anymore by their dogs. For the first couple of weeks though. Because this morning we hit the jackpot again. I already saw it coming... Dogs were running closer and closer to our house. First in our woods at the far end of our field, then in the woods below our field. These dogs usually run in circles because that's the pattern a hare makes when it's trying to escape. I didn't see the hare popping out from between the trees. But six big dogs were suddenly running towards us, barking like mad. Christine still tried to chase them off the gentle way, with little success since the dogs were just everywhere and didn't pay any attention to her shouts and gestures. So I took out... THE SECRET WEAPON! Following the advice of my closest Italian friend, I got me one of these: the humble football horn! :-)
The blaring noise scared the living wits out of those dogs and they ran off ten times faster than that they had first appeared. But... I had barely let go of the 'blast' button when we suddenly heard a furious hunter shouting at us from a small open space behind our field.
- "You imbeciles! You bastards! I'm going to sue you! I'll have you! You dirty sods! Stick that horn in your wife's *ù§!&£µ, you , !àèaji)!éù$^$iipu (not for senitive readers...) ... ù$'àço-à:;é'!ç ... µù*£$^[; ... "
And so on (for the next five minutes or so). Then the well-educated gentleman called his dogs back (which were still in a kind of shock I presume) and went away, still shouting very rude words. Obviously I should have been more understanding and forgive him the fact that he was breaching the law at least tree times: hunting within 100m of an inhabited house, hunting with more than 2 dogs per person (he was alone) and art. 649 of the Italian law code which prosecutes disturbance of one's rest at his/her home.
But then we also heard him shouting at someone else, a bit further on. Eager to know who we were dealing with I jumped on my scooter and rode along the road which goes uphill behind our house and then runs parallel to our land. There I saw his mates, posing on the middle of the road with their guns as if they were the local generals. Or perhaps my new friend had left so many valuables in his two cars that he needed four armed men to protect them. This was in fact another breach of the law: hunters are not allowed to carry an assembled gun less than 100m from a house or 50m from a road. These men were carrying loaded guns ON the road. At first a bit of fear crept in me that they would perhaps try to stop me. But fortunately they stepped aside as I approached and I drove past, trying to have a glance at their licence plates. When I rode up the next hill, I could just see their mate arriving with his dogs, which he put in the dedicated trailer and off they went. Probably to harrass somebody else.
That's the sort of people we have to put up with during the hunting season. And you know what's the most shocking thing of all? In Italy you are NOT allowed to stop a hunter from entering private land! A hiker, a biker or anybody else you can throw off as you like, but a man wearing a gun you can't! Unbelievable, isn't it? And you know whose fault this is? A guess anyone...???
Dear old BENITO MUSSOLINI!
In the twenties or thirties (somewhere) he passed a law that allowed men wearing weapons to roam freely across the country, private property or not. The goal of this law was to stimulate 'heroism' and to create a national sense of 'war'. Isn't it astonishing that even today Italian hunters are still using a law from Mussolini in order to defend their interests? People who'd swear they'd kill every fascist they'd come across, but at the same time try to prevent the laws of Mussolini to be changed or deleted. Now do you believe me about this IQ below 30?
Well, we're confident that these prats will from now on think twice before they come too close to us again. They spend years training their dogs and they will not risk that this training is completely overturned in a matter of seconds by our horn. When you're dealing with idiots and you've tried talking and being nice to them for a year without result, this is the sort of thing to do. It's the only languge these savages understand.
In the meantime, we're getting ever more visits from the local wildlife, as if they sense that there's a safe haven for them at our place. Especially a mummy roe deer with her calf is visiting us every day now, early in the morning and in the evening. She's also getting ever less shy and I already managed to approach them to about 15m without scaring them off. A couple of days ago, they even came right next to our house! These two pictures were taken with my mobile and through the side window, so please forgive me the bad quality. And you can't see the calf on them either (though it was there!). But just to show you in what a stunning place we're living!
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