This blog is usually about how wonderful life is in the
region – but once in a while I have to take off my rose-tinted glasses and
admit that there are certain things that are not so perfect. Sangliers, to be precise.
I have always been aware of the existence of Sangliers
nearby – there are often footprints in the garden, strange noises in the
forest, and we are regularly woken early by the sound of gun-shots from the
local hunters. There are often articles
in the local paper about vineyards being ravaged by these wild pigs, or funny
stories about a mother sanglier and her babies appearing regularly on a beach
nearby and being fed by tourists. But
these animals can weigh 80kg, and while under ‘normal’ circumstances they keep
themselves to themselves, when they feel threatened, they can attack.
We usually take the dogs for a good walk towards the end of
the afternoon, they wear ‘high-vis’ jackets and recently I found collars with
flashing lights – and as night falls and we can hardly see them, it is very
funny to watch these flashing lights running around the vineyards as they try
to chase rabbits. We will not be doing
that again. On Tuesday both dogs
disappeared into the woods having heard noises.
Bo, the young dog soon ran back to us in a panic, but we could hear
Loulou, the border collie, barking frantically.
After what seemed an age, she responded to our calls and we got her back
to the house where she collapsed exhausted and out of breath on the terrace. They were both covered in mud (as usual!) so
I started to clean her with a towel and noticed a wound on her stomach – not
really bleeding, but a hole in the skin, which obviously needed stitches. The emergency vet confirmed this, and said
she thought Loulou had probably just got herself snagged on a stick or a rock,
but that she would need to be anaesthetized while the wound was cleaned and
closed. The next morning I collected a
very sleepy looking dog, with TWO enormous sticking plasters on her body. The vet told me that they had found a second,
more serious wound on her thigh, with muscle damage, and that her injuries had
definitely been caused by a Sanglier.
Last year the hunters killed over 13,000 sangliers in the
region, which means there are at least double that amount roaming around and I
have no intention of meeting any of them. Luckily, with plenty of antibiotics,
rest and TLC, Loulou will be OK, but we have learned a valuable lesson. Walks will be during daylight hours only.
