Deer we have, many deer, eating up our vegetable gardens. and the Aussies have wild camels tearing up their toilets tanks and springs.
but the Corsicans have REAL problems. 10,000 roaming cattle, and many more pigs on a tiny island.
"Nearly every day, the herds damage village property and frequently cause serious road accidents. Last year, authorities had to stop air traffic at Figari airport in southern Corsica after pigs invaded the main runway. Last month, a bull tripped off a cliff and landed on the terrace of a bar. In their attempts to end the stampede, mayors from towns across the island have called in veterinarians, military police and the central French government -- all to no avail.
Now they're turning to Bastien Rossi for help.
Mr. Rossi and his 26 colleagues in Corsica are so-called lieutenants de louveterie, literally, lieutenants of the wolf hunt. The elite guild of sharpshooters was created in A.D. 812 by King of the Franks and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire Charlemagne to protect people and crops against wolves and other wild animals. A millennium later, another emperor -- the Corsican-born Napoleon Bonaparte -- officially codified the tasks of the lieutenant de louveterie. Since then, this prized security force works voluntarily and is entitled to carry guns after taking an oath.
"We are the wise men of the countryside, making sure farmers, hunters and villagers live in harmony," says Bernard Pointiér, head of France's national association of wolf lieutenants. Today, fewer wolves wander around France than they did in Napoleon's time, but the louveterie has stray foxes and wild boars to keep them busy year round..."
you would think Imperial Wolf Killers would be neat to have, and dependable, but it seems they are French, and won't stoop to shooting cows.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126084249817291493.html
