the essential
Last weekend, an exceptional hunt took place in Sauveterre-Saint-Denis. Nine wild boars were slaughtered. During the chase, one of them fled and got stuck in a resident’s fence.
“Is this the Wild West?” asks Claude Jeantet, resident of Sauveterre-Saint-Denis. Last week, an exceptional hunt took place. “We came to lend a hand to the farmers. Around twenty wild boars are hiding in the brambles, destroying the crops,” says Sébastien Courtade, president of the Sauveterre hunting society. When the hunters arrived, accompanied by the dogs who took them out, they fled and managed to escape, passing through the fields and the main road which runs alongside the retiree’s home.
“The behavior of these animals becomes dangerous when they are chased by dogs and death on their heels propels them into a frantic race,” regrets the retiree. That day, one of them crashed into the fence protecting his swimming pool. “The damage could have been more significant. What happens if a person or a car crosses at that time?”, annoys the resident.
A fallow plot at the heart of the problem?
Hunters come once or twice a year to regulate the population. “We warn the residents of the neighborhood when we come. It’s a story for nothing, only one went out and took that direction. It never happens like that,” defends Sébastien Courtade. A message had been sent ahead of the hunt.
The animals take refuge in a pile of brambles located opposite the retiree’s home. An area left fallow for years. “It’s a place that attracts them, they are safe. I invite residents to maintain their land to avoid attracting them. I have no power over that. We are in the rural world, the houses are not always fenced,” says the mayor, Max Laborie, who wants to be an educator.
What solutions?
The small incident has raised questions, particularly regarding the safety of residents in the area. “It’s completely secure, there is no risk, other solutions exist,” specifies the president of the hunting association. A fence could protect the retiree’s house. A cleaning of the plot is hoped. For Claude Jeantet, the principle of hunting should not be called into question, however. “It’s necessary, I’m not against hunting or society. Just, the shots are fired too close to homes. We need to secure the area more, in particular by cleaning the wasteland or cutting the road for the duration of hunting.”
The mayor concludes: “The owner died recently. We have already cut the hedges because it disturbs the passage of cars and school buses. We will see how the rest goes, there are other cases in the municipality where the land are not maintained and which bring back pests.”
