Life With Animals in Rural Italy

Life with Animals

Living in rural Umbria for some months has been a great experience. So much art and cultural history, as well as all the natural scenic wonder.  But I want to give the animals here some credit too. I rarely write about animals, but they've been important companions to my life here, especially on my walks along these hilly country roads. 

The best things in life aren't things.--Art Buchwald

I'm a city girl and claim no affinity with Jane of Tarzan fame. Furthermore, this is no jungle. But, living in this fairly secluded rural area has brought me much closer to animals on a daily basis. Nothing special, you may think. But it has been special for me. The birds and animals have become part of what makes this place come alive for me. 

Birds and Fowl  

First off, there have been the songbirds in the morning that brighten the day. I hardly see them, but love hearing them daily. If I don't hear them, I know something is up. like an upcoming storm or too many hunters in the area. There stillness tells me so.

chaffinch and rooster

There are the chickens, geese, and even turkeys that inhabit the several fenced yards along my country walks. Some creatures show up walking freely about, just as I am. The two chickens below were taking their walk on the grassy verge across from mine. On my way home, this rather fancy pheasant stopped for a snapshot in front of our patio. 

pheasant in front of our patior-

Four-Legged Friends and Foe

A short distance from the house are meadows abundant with grazing sheep. Spring is a prime time for viewing the new lambs. A lovely pastoral sight that is  also functional, given this region's renowned lamb dishes. Other meadows are grounds for grazing goat, but they tend to rebuff my human approach. 

 Then, there are the geckos that live  in and on the patio rocks, darting fast as a flicker across them. Sometimes they venture inside the house. I once found one gaily swimming in the kitchen sink and,  quickly as I could,  moved it outside where it scurried off. Sitting on the patio, I enjoy watching them as they dart in and out among the the pots of cacti and geranium. Some are a very bright, iridescent lime-green colour. Others are striped with dark diamond shapes. Not only are they very quick, they also seem shy. But, if I sit quietly at the patio table,  I can see them stretching  their necks and looking about, seemingly unaware of this big hulk of shade who's blinking her eyes while she looks at them curiously.

There are many dogs, of course. Everyone has at least one. They used to bark as I passed, but now most of them know me. Mostly I love the dogs here. They’re so…. Italian, with names like Cuciolo or Pipo. If I don't know their real name, I give them one. I call the little orange scruffy one up the road Scruffy, and his more silent companion is Harpo. Then there’s the beautiful white dog further on, whom I call Lily (though she’s male). In contrast to these family dogs, the hunting dogs here  are another story. I don’t see them as often as I hear them yowling during hunting season. They don’t just bark; they yelp and moan and bay, and I imagine them caged when not on the hunt, hungry, and possibly mistreated. The law in rural areas, such as this, is that hunters have right-of-way during the season, so they, their dogs, and rifles are permitted on private"land. A whole mess of spent cartridges can be found after hunting season.

There are many cats as well as dogs. Most here are well-tended, unlike the hundreds of  sorry-looking cats I saw hanging out in Rome’s Coliseum. Cats are particularly useful for homes here, given their rodent-hunting skills., and who does't like watching them move always in  their own graceful stride? 

In it's own category of special animal is the porcupine. Have you ever seen a live one? One night, on the path beside our house, I saw two porcupines in full regalia! They were right in the headlights of our car as we very slowly drove down our unlit, rocky path. I wish I'd had a camera with me. They were terrific-looking animals, much larger than a skunk, and had their quills splayed out.  The two porcupines dashed quickly out of sight, making what sounded to me like hi-pitched rasping-chirping  sounds. I'm glad to have seen them and to have done them no harm. I found some of their quills on the road next day. They are horizontally striped ivory and brown, and I'm going to keep them. 

porcupine quills

 I've learned is that the porcupine (porcospino in Italian) doesn't shoot its quills, contrary to folklore. Having few natural enemies, other than humans, it flees rather than fights. But it can bite, claw and even charge backwards, using its quills simultaneously as weapon and shield. Considered solitary nocturnal creatures, adults live in pairs with their litter. They're protected by Italian law and don't have to pay taxes.

One of the most famous and dangerous animals of this region is the wild boar, or cinghiale. They live  in the woods all around us. You can hear (or imagine you hear) them tearing up the ground at night. During the day, you can certainly see evidence of their digging up roots and rocks. Big overturned rocks are all along the path from our house all the way  up to town: signs of their up-rooting activities. You can see the damage they wreak on land, trees;, and even the prominent stone fences of this region. They do hunt down truffles, though, and they're also a source of good sausages in this region. The photo at left (taken before the earthquake) is a boar-replica from Norcia, a town famous for its sausages. To the right is a photo of an actual cinghiale.  

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Introducing Balthazar

Several times, I heard a donkey braying as I walked down paths from the piazza in our village  of Morruzze towards the next village of Acqualoreto. I'd never seen him until one day when it began to rain  as I trekked back home alone. I felt rather miserable and the path seemed much too long. I heard his braying get louder and louder as I made my way up it. . After turning at a bend in the road, there he was, sticking his neck over the wire fence lining the trees and and bobbing his head up and down as if saying, hi there, you made it!

my Balthazar

I walked over, never having made the acquaintance of a donkey before (though I have met some asses). Seeing a stack of hay under wraps on my side of the wooden fence, I grabbed a handful and held it up to him. He lipped it up from my hand very gently, given those big donkey-teeth. It was raining more strongly now. So, I  told him I couldn’t hang around to feed him and had to walk up uphill if he wanted to keep me company. 

Don’t laugh! He did, and he followed me all along the path until I reached near the piazza, where  our roads diverged. He brayed as we lost sight of each other, and I knew he was a friend. I named him Balthasar, after a donkey made famous by Bresson in French cinema (Au Hasard Balthazar). Like his namesake, I think my Balthazar must have a good deal of empathy.

Snakes and Scorpions

Among the few other animals here that can be dangerous to humans (including some of the two-legged hunters!) are some snakes, including vipers and asps that are hard to see in the tall grasses. My neighbour told me of once having been bitten by a viper, her leg swelling with great pain. Her advice was to wear thick rubber boots, as she does in the tall grass.  Otherwise, I think the snakes want to avoid us, too. We don’t have much to talk about.

 I’ve also seen  scorpions here. and in the house, unfortunately. These tended to be small, (less than two inches long). But who wants to test out just how much harm a small one can do? So I never put my slippers on without shaking them out first, just in case. Like other insects, they are rather fascinating to look at: their shape is so unusual, making me think of them as more aquatic than terrestrial.

Food for Thought: Truffles

Umbria is rich in truffles, as its many cinghiali know. Locals debate whether white or black truffles are better. Aren’t these debaters fortunate to even choose? If you find yourself in possession of a truffle, bow down to it, then store it in rice for a few days, as the Italians do (not the 'bowing down' part). Its aroma will permeate the rice, giving you double value. They say to cook black truffles, but eat white truffles raw (exquisite shaved thinly over pasta).There are truffle festivals in Italy, mostly in the fall (truffle season). Click here to read more.

More Creative Life News

You can read and see more about Italy at Creative Life News here. plus other travels and creative adventures by this itinerant artist at Creative Life News here

 @ janetstrayer.com