Thursday, January 12, 2017

Poste vingt-deux

I see these little tags placed here and there along the roads that run through the vineyards. I think they have something to do with hunting, organized hunts in particular. From what I observe, these are predetermined stations at which hunters wait for the prey (deer or foxes in our area) that are driven out of the woods.

If you're assigned Poste 22, you stand here.

The organized hunts are few and far between. I think they happen when the hunting officials determine that the population of either deer or fox has gotten too high in a particular area. The individual hunters that we see out back every Sunday are there for game birds and wild hare. From what I see on the internet, the hunting season for hare closed in November, and the pheasant season will close at the end of January. The season for deer, foxes, and wild boar closes at the end of February.

3 comments:

  1. Or maybe that's where the deer or fox ... or wild boar is supposed to stand?

    ReplyDelete
  2. While I wouldn't be the one to go out hunting, culling of animals is necessary at times, even koalas and kangaroos in Australia. Human interference in the balance of nature has really mucked things up for them. We have a huge problem with imported pest species, from insects to large mammals. Cane toads seem to winning their battle, which will only be limited by the border of the tropics, and even then they can adapt with their fast survival of the fittest. Wild camels, buffalo, deer, pigs and horses are regularly culled by professional shooters. I could go on for a long time, but organised non professional hunters play their part too, but I wish they were as highly organised as it seems to be in France.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Keep your head down and the home fires burning.

    ReplyDelete

Tell me what you think!