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THE HUNT in the same publication Bruno tells us about the reasons for cropping and docking "Even the exterior form of the Cane Corso was well cared for, and, since the dog was used in various roles, it underwent drastic adaptive changes through the years. The ears and the tail, if left intact, constituted a disadvantage in hunting large and dangerous wild game and when fighting against harmful animals. The experience and the direct observation of this nuisance suggested that the dog’s ears and tail be cut in order to offer less for the an adversary to seize. The tail was amputated during the first week of a pup’s life with a clean cut by an axe or scissors that the mother licked to promote the formation of a scar. The ears, conversely, were cut short in a form of an equilateral triangle around the age of three months, without the use of anesthesia, and disinfected with ashes. The pups were then given the cut-off pieces to eat, fried in a pan, a practice which was believed to heighten their aggression and sharpen their temper." In a fascinating account he later tells us of the preparations and training methods used in the hunt "The Cane Corso’s natural, instinctive inclination to face any animal was accentuated for boar hunting through a simple and opportune training regimen. Adult dogs were incited against the hog while the pups, on a leash, observed the tactics used in the attack. Once the swine had been immobilized by the ear or the snout, the pups where unleashed and goaded with fervor and reassuring energy to instill in them speed and decisiveness and to accustom them to the prey’s quick, violent reactions and them to attack at the most favorable moment, to seize the prey without fail. Another useful exercise was to bring the pups out into the brush and to suddenly throw a young boar or badger, bound, into a thicket, giving the pups the chance to root it out and to vent their aggression by sinking their teeth into a harmless quarry. The Cane Corso, accustomed since the dawn of time to hunting down and fighting bears and wolves and to pounce, lightning-fast, latching itself on to its foe’s jugular until it felt it stop moving, still today retains the genetic heritage of a terrific big-game hunter and an excellent tracker. Therefore it must not have been very difficult to train the Cane Corso to search out a sow that had hidden herself in her lair to suckle her young. The feeding of these resistant and devoted helpers, capable of chasing prey for hours and then confronting it, was thought out with care. On returning from the hunt the dogs were given a large meal consisting of pieces of meat, dry bread, blood, and bones, with the addition of some nut-sized pieces of aged lard to replenish the energy the animals had spent in their exertion and put their fat reserves back into use. Before the hunt, depending on the geographical area, it was common to give the Cani Corsi a light ration of milk and serum mixed with oat bran or corn, sorghum, or barely flour to be sure that the dogs had no lack of sugary substances. Today this mixture is supplanted with a few lumps of sugar. This regimen gave the greatest return in so much as carbohydrates provide chemical energy, facilitate muscle contraction, and exercise their physiological superiority over fats and proteins because they can be put into use more rapidly and with lower oxygen consumption while producing the same amount of energy, thereby diminishing the cardio-respiratory workload. The more experienced hunters, observing the marks left on tree-trunks by a boar’s knife-sharp tusks, which, on adult individuals, could reach 15 centimeters in length, were able to identify with surprising accuracy the weight and the sex of the animal. They even could even localize a boar’s presence by studying the holes dug into the mud of the puddles near the rivers and creeks where the animal had rolled on the ground or the rocks and the tree trunks which it had rubbed up against to free its back of parasites and caked mud. The return of lost swine to the wild or the mating of domestic swine with nearby wild boars favored the formation of little herds of hybrids which were hunted in a distinctive and particular way. Prey younger than six months were called cinghialetti an animal older than six months and with developed tusks was called a porcastro; and the adult was known as a feral hog. Hunting these animals was less risky for the Cane Corso, and it was easier to uncover their tracks. Once they had been overtaken, they were taken down by a precise bite to the jugular in a relatively short time. A hunt carried out with the assistance of two Cani Corsi was wrapped up in an even more rapid and straightforward manner. One of the dogs gripped the cinghialetto or the porcastro by the ear or the snout, as usual, and the other finished it off by seizing it by the throat. The situation was changed when facing adult boars because their greater mass and superior strength put the dogs at a greater risk and sometimes even compromised the outcome of the hunt. Old males often lived in isolation, accompanied by a younger male called a "squire" in hunter’s jargon. They often had the upper hand against a pair of Cani Corsi, despite the exhausting skirmish and the numerous attempts to attack. Such boars called for a different tactic: the use of a pack of Cani Corsi well-accustomed to one another, or first using bloodhounds to flush out the prey and then chase down and hold it, giving the hunters a chance to catch up. The dog-keepers followed the hunters with leashed Cani Corsi, whom they unleashed at the right moment. The dogs then leapt on the prey, keeping it from escaping. The hunters then approached and finished the boar off by running it through with a skewer.
We now turn our attention to the hunting of Badger, for this we enlist the services of Alfonso Comer. MR Comer is an old-time Cane Corso passionate from S. Paolo di Civitate, near Foggia. At the conference of the Civitella Alfedena MR Comer spoke about the use of the Cane Corso with pigs, L’Orsa later published this in 1990. In addition to the breeds uses with pigs Mr. Comer describes the hunting of badger "These nightly habits favored encounters with wild animals that would normally sleep during the daylight hours. The badger spends the day sleeping in deep underground tunnels that are practically inaccessible. But at sundown, it exits its den, leaves the forest and heads for the fields to eat. Badger meat is willingly eaten, noted are the curative capacity of its fat for any form of arthritis; the skin is sold to make brushes and horse harness. The hunt starts pretty late, around 10:00 pm, in order to give the badger enough time to distance itself from its den. It's useful if there is some light form the moon in order to see where you are going. You would need a couple of scent hounds to find the tracks and follow it, and naturally a Corso to take the animal. The farmers were not the only ones to practice this kind of hunt but also other passionate that would borrow the dogs for the occasion. Upon leaving the village we would begin to follow a predetermined route that would basically be a large circle and at the end of the night would bring us back to the starting point. The direction of the course was established based on the prevailing winds, because the badger has a great sense of smell. On very calm nights the chances of getting anything are slim. We would then walk the outer limits of the forest and hopefully we would encounter the tracks that the animals used to get to the vineyards or the cornfields. The segugi run silently and ahead, often out of view, while the Corsos remain close to the men. There is a need to steer wide of the masseria or you would have to face the fury of the guard dogs. Here, the Corso takes off silently toward a point in the darkness that only he knows: he heard the whining coming from the scent hounds, the segugi, and that to him is a clear message. The men do nothing; they hurry to the point where they observed the Corso disappear and by the time they get there all is finished. The badger is a robust and combative animal and has a strong defense but the expert Corso knows where to grab him and dispatch him in an instant." We return to Dr. Bruno to learn about the breeds specialized hunting of Porcupine, Bruno writes "In areas where the environment has remained unchanged, where the Mediterranean woodlands and brush still exist, there lives even today an animal typical to the region, to which man dedicates the attention of a venerated, ancestral practice. The porcupine is one of the most sought-after resident of this environment both for its exquisite meat and because its characteristic quills can be used in traditional crafts to make bracelets, ornaments, and jewelry boxes. Until a few years ago, this animal, considered pest for several different types of crops, and was hunted all year round. Although today it is illegal to hunt this animal, in many regions of Italy, it is clear that it is poached during some seasons. In the Tuscan-Latium Maremma there are people who truly specialize in hunting for this rodent, called "spinosa" (spiny) in their dialect. Legal protection, the desertion of the countryside, and a lack of dogs have recently favored the numerical revival of this species, even in the south-central regions of Italy. The porcupine, therefore, lives throughout the south, reaching Versilia on the Tyrrhenian side and Molise on the Adriatic. The porcupine is a rodent that is characteristic of Italian fauna, and does not live in any other European country. Perhaps it is of North African origin, imported by the Romans who appreciated its meat and had many and various uses for its quills. With a withers height of 15 to 20 centimeters and a weight of 15 to 20 kilos it is the largest rodent in Europe after the beaver. Its presence is concentrated through all of Sicily: from the slopes of Mount Etna, to the promontory of S. Vito lo Capo, and in the forests of Ficuzza, Santo Pietro, and Gran Michele. The Sicilians have hunted the porcupine from time immemorial, using the help of "u cursicieddu", the local name of the Cane Corso. We should not be deceived by the affectionate pet name, however, because these were subjects to be respected: a withers height superior to sixty centimeters and a weight of about fifty kilos. Imposing dogs, suitable and trained for this particular kind of hunting. With ears cut and the tail amputated at the eighth vertebra, they were imbued with a fierce temper, exceptional power, and a furious attack, often giving no thought to their own safety, whatever the adversary. Breeding programs were conceived not only for this specific employment, but also for a large number of other jobs that were not dissimilar from those in use in almost all of the rest of Southern Italy. The morphology was adapted to the climate and the terrain without being separated from a notably developed sense of smell. The porcupine is a nocturnal animal; it spends the day resting in its den, which it builds to a discrete size and with a convenient entrance, and then begins its activity after sundown. It moves through the vegetation, treading out little paths along its way, which, starting from its den; it sprinkles with quills that reveal its presence. The ancients believed that the animal could shoot its quills like arrows to defend itself, while in reality the phenomenon is due to a periodic renewing of its coat, which is subject to the same natural molting process as other mammals. It likes to live in peaceful solitude, and knows, when need be, how to defend itself vigorously, using both offensive and defensive tactics. It puffs and grunts, arches its back and stiffens itself, presenting its opponent with the sharp points of its quills. In the forest of Santo Pietro, near the Caltagirone, this animal was hunted both by local enthusiasts and those coming from the foot of Mount Etna and other Catanese zones. Once the presence of the porcupine in its den had been ascertained, "u cursicieddu" was goaded and urged to enter. To please its master, the Corso entered, with the impetus of its strong and generous nature, seized the prey, mindless of its quills, and held it. The hunter, holding on to the stump of its tail, pulled the out the dog together with the porcupine, now clenched in its teeth. Hence the practice cutting the tail at the eighth vertebra stemmed from the need to offer the hunter a better hand hold for this maneuver. But often the dog’s impetus, its insensibility to pain, and its bite from which the prey could not escape gave rise to serious injury to its eyes, which degenerated and resulted in blindness. |
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