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Rudy enjoying some cuddles |
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To the right (first 2 pictures) you'll see our favorite random event within the last two years. This is Rudy the wild boar that Valentina, our horse trainer, found abandoned. She found him when he was only one foot long and stripped the way young wild boar are. She brought him up on milk and Pavesini (an Italian breakfast cookie). He followed her around as if she were his mother. On his own he started doing "wild boar things" such as digging with his snout for roots of plants and eating the snails that he could find. When anger he would squeal and charge head on into whatever annoyed him. When he started getting his tusks he became extremely dangerous for anyone or anything that by chance annoyed him. So we had to finally decide to find a new home for Rudy. One night Valentina left the stall door in which he slept open and he, by himself, picked up and left. We haven't seen him since, even though there was one night when there was a wild boar under our window in the villa eating snails who wasn't afraid at all of the dogs. More information in a later news letter will update those who don't know about wild boars and the farm's relationship with them.
Check out clips of the life of Rudy! Check out the movie here.
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Third picture down is a fulminated pine tree...in other words struck by lightning. Since the thunderstorms we experience are large, long, and beautiful with daggers of lightning that stagger the purple sky, our trees (being the tallest things in the area) are major targets for lightning bolts. When lightning hits a tree it wraps around it in a spiral manner and leaves scars like those that can be seen in the picture. The tree, more often than not, dies because the electrical current is so high that it just kills it (like it would kill us). A tree has more chance of survival if it is struck on the side and only a branch gets hit. In this case the whole tree was damaged and therefore it died. Another news letter will explain the chopping down process that must take place once a tree dies. If we do not take them down they are subject to develop diseases that can then spread and kill other trees in the area.
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The last picture on this page is of a very low pine tree. Most of our trees are tall because they fight with other trees for light. This tree has ideal conditions to grow in. It is in a wetter area of the property (tends to be marshy) and it has a whole field to itself. Therefore it is still low to the ground and its mushroom top has a large and bushy diameter. Most of our other trees have flat (or relatively flat) tops that aren't "full" because they need to be selective among their branches such that they can get maximum exposure to light.
back to news page! |
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