Diferencia entre revisiones de «LA CAZA DE ALIMAÑAS/en»

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La voz alimaña deriva del latín ''animalia'', plural de animal. No deja de ser paradójico que este término tenga la acepción popular de animal perjudicial para el ganado, cuando en algunas lenguas romances el étimo latino ha derivado en nombres con los que se designa a animales domésticos.
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The word alimaña (vermin) come from the Latin ''animalia'', the plural for animal. It is still paradoxical that this term has the popular usage of animal harmful to the livestock, when in some Romance languages the Latin root word has formed the basis of nouns used for domesticated animals.
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In the past, the shepherds did not usually hunt and they often found it difficult to get rid of the vermin that killed the animals in their flocks. That was reported in Allo (N), where they did not recall shepherd hunting and if the vermin appeared, there was little the shepherds could do as the only weapons they had were their crook.
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In Urkabustaiz (A), they explained that the shepherd’s weapons were a knife, a staff and an obedient dog. They never carried a gun.
  
Antaño no era habitual que los pastores cazasen y a menudo tenían dificultades para deshacerse de las alimañas que les causaban bajas en los rebaños. Así se ha constatado en Allo (N), donde no recuerdan que saliesen a su caza y si se les aparecían en el campo tampoco podían hacer gran cosa, pues no llevaban más armas que su cayado.
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When the shepherd did carry arms, the reason was more to defend themselves from attacks by vermin than for a love of hunting.  
  
Los de Urkabustaiz (A) señalan que las armas del pastor eran la navaja, la vara y un perro obediente. Nunca llevaban escopeta.
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In the past, the shepherds in the Sierra de Izarraitz (G) sometimes had a muzzle loading gun.
  
En los casos en que los pastores llegaron a portar armas lo hicieron más para defenderse del ataque de alimañas que por una afición cinegética.
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In Eugi (N), they said that there were usually no weapons on the farmsteads unless they were hunters. However, one of the people surveyed said there was a pistol at home to protect themselves from the wolves.
  
En tiempos pasados los de la Sierra de Izarraitz (G) portaban en algunos casos una escopeta de un cañón de las de avancarga.
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A shepherd from Roncal (N) said that they generally did not have weapons, although he remembered that in the early 20th century, some shepherds did have a revolver in their backpacks, but, according to him, it was just to say they had one and for target shooting. Shepherds could not carry a rifle as they were not allowed to kill game.
  
En Eugi (N) señalan que generalmente no había armas en las casas a no ser que fueran cazadores. De todos modos en el domicilio de uno de los informantes había una pistola para protegerse de los lobos.
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In Ayala (A), when there was a wolf around, the odd shepherd used to carry a rifle on his shoulder, but that was not common.  
  
Un pastor de Roncal (N) señala que generalmente no solían tener armas aunque recuerda que a principios del siglo XX algunos llevaban revólver en la mochila, pero según él era por decir que lo llevaban y para tirar al blanco. El pastor no podía portar escopeta pues tenía prohibido matar caza.
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The Sierra de Aramotz (Belatxikieta-B) shepherds did not use rifles until the 1960s, but they were gradually introduced subsequently. Some people in the Sierra de Anboto (B) did remember having taken one to the mountain.
  
En Ayala (A) cuando andaba el lobo algunos solían llevar la escopeta al hombro, pero de todos modos era algo raro.
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The owner-shepherds of Sierra de Badaia (A) were armed, but had their rifles hidden on the mountain. The shepherds would be accompanied by a hunter from the village when red foxes stalked the lambs or kids. In the early 20th century, when a wolf was hanging around, the villagers would go up the mountains with their rifles.  
  
Los pastores de la Sierra de Aramotz (Belatxikieta-B) no utilizaron escopeta hasta los años sesenta pero con posterioridad a esta fecha se ha ido introduciendo su empleo. Algunos de la Sierra de Anboto (B) sí recuerdan haberla llevado en el monte.
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The shepherds would also sometimes seize the opportunities to hunt off the land where they were working and thus supplement their food.
  
[[File:FIGURA.png|RTENOTITLE_FIGURA]]
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In general, they were not hunters in the Bardenas (N). They caught rabbits at a time when it seems there was a plague of those animals, as according to one of the people interviewed “they were going to perish in the pens”. They used two methods: traps or snares and clubbing them when they were “in bed”, in other words, in their warren. The shepherds needed to approach with stealth if they wanted to be successful. They also hunted foxes as they usually preyed on new-born lambs; however, they never caught partridges or birds, except when they might have nothing to eat.
  
Los pastores propietarios de la Sierra de Badaia (A) iban armados, pero tenían la escopeta escondida en el monte. En tiempos en que los raposos acechaban a los corderos o cabritos les acompañaba algún cazador del pueblo. A principios del siglo XX cuando merodeaba algún lobo subían de los pueblos con las escopetas.
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In Izarraitz, shepherds did not usually hunt and when they did so, they caught the odd hare, bobcat, ''basakatua'', and bird.
  
En ocasiones los pastores también han aprovechado las posibilidades que les ofrecía el medio en el que se desenvolvían para cazar y así obtener un complemento a su alimentación.
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Even though the shepherds only hunted on a very limited basis, their relationships with the hunters were not usually precisely cordial. The only interest some had in common was hunting vermin, the first due to necessity and the second for entertainment. In Sierra de Codés (N), it was reported that shepherds and hunters were the only ones to go up to the mountain tops and even though the former would hunt, they hated certain methods that were to their detriment. They did not like the snares used to catch boars where ewes would occasionally be trapped or the tramps where their dogs would sometime be caught.
  
En las Bardenas (N) por lo general no fueron cazadores. Capturaron conejos en un tiempo en el que al parecer hubo una plaga de estos animales, ya que según un informante «iban a morir a los corrales». Utilizaban para ello dos métodos: trampas o cepos y golpearlos con un palo cuando se encontraban «en la cama», es decir, en su guarida. Para tener éxito necesitaban acercarse con sigilo. También han cazado zorros ya que suelen atacar a los corderos recién nacidos; sin embargo, nunca han capturado perdices o pájaros, salvo en alguna ocasión en que no tenían qué comer.
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The biggest problems between them occurred when the hunters used dogs as they often would harm the flocks, the majority of times because they would worry the ewes and occasionally because they caused one to die (Carranza-B).
  
En Izarraitz no acostumbraba a cazar y cuando lo hacía capturaba alguna liebre que otra, también algún gato montés, ''basakatua'', y algún pájaro.
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As regards the traditional ways of catching vermin, Caro Baroja explained that “some basic hunting methods in the north of Spain are closely related to the pastoral system […] even though, from a cultural point of view, they must unquestionably be considered as being earlier than them and used in a much larger area. One of them is beating when the people made a din in the area where there are vermin, which had to be killed for the good of everyone, as they are constant threat for the livestock. The other, which is much more intriguing, is the hunting system using traps. It was sometimes a combination of both”<ref>Julio CARO BAROJA. ''Los pueblos del Norte. ''San Sebastián: 1977, p. 188.</ref>.
  
Aunque los pastores hayan realizado una limitada actividad cinegética sus relaciones con los cazadores no han solido ser precisamente cordiales. Unos y otros sólo han visto confluir sus intereses en la caza de alimañas, los primeros por necesidad y los segundos por diversión.
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''Loberas, ''runs with walls either side leading to a deep pit, still exist in certain mountain areas. They made it easier for beaters to corner the animal when they know that wolf was on the mountain. Hunting was riskier when there was no ''lobera.'' Even so, a group would act as beaters, helped by dogs, and drive the beasts towards a gorge where other hunters would be waiting with their rifles<ref>José Miguel de BARANDIARAN. “Aspectos sociográficos de la población del Pirineo Vasco” in ''Eusko-Jakintza'', VII (1953-1957) p. 19.</ref>.
  
Se dice en la Sierra de Codés (N) que antaño los únicos que subían a los altos eran los pastores y los cazadores y aunque los primeros también eran aficionados a la caza detestaban ciertos métodos que llegaban a perjudicarles. No eran amigos de los lazos para el jabalí donde ocasionalmente quedaban atrapadas ovejas ni de los cepos en los que alguna vez caían prisioneros sus perros.
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Much more precarious were the procedures to frighten the quarry using fire or making a great deal of noise. By contrast, other resources such as poison have had devastating effects.
  
Los mayores problemas entre ellos surgen cuando los cazadores emplean perros en su actividad ya que a menudo ocasionan perjuicios en los rebaños, la mayoría de las veces porque asustan a las ovejas y ocasionalmente porque causan la muerte de alguna (Carranza-B).
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== Wolf hunting ==
  
En cuanto a las formas tradicionales para capturar las alimañas Caro Baroja recoge que «algunos procedimientos rudimentarios de caza en el norte de España están relacionados estrechamente con el régimen pastoril [...] aunque sin duda, desde un punto de vista cultural, deben ser considerados como anteriores a aquél y se hallan en un área mucho mayor. Uno de ellos es el de la caza al ojeo armando la gente grandes estrépitos en la zona en que hay alimañas, que socialmente conviene aniquilar, porque son amenaza constante para los ganados. El otro, mucho más curioso, es el sistema de caza con trampas. A veces se combinan ambos»<ref>Julio CARO BAROJA. ''Los pueblos del Norte. ''San Sebastián, 1977, p. 188.</ref>.
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The wolf was the main predator in our mountains in past centuries and the shepherd’s most tenacious rivals in that habitat.
  
En determinadas montañas existen todavía loberas, es decir, terrenos enmarcados por dos costados con sendas paredes que convergen hacia una fosa profunda. Esta disposición facilitaba el resultado de la caza de ojeo cuando se sabía que algún lobo andaba por la montaña. Donde no había lobera la caza era menos segura. Aun así mediante una batida combinada de un grupo, auxiliado por perros, se procuraba espantar a las fieras obligándolas a huir hacia un desfiladero donde otros cazadores las aguardaban armados con escopetas<ref>José Miguel de BARANDIARAN. «Aspectos sociográficos de la población del Pirineo Vasco» in ''Eusko-Jakintza'', VII (1953-1957) p. 19.</ref>.
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One of the main reasons for hating the animal is that wolves usually kill more animals than they eat and thus devastate the flocks (Urkabustaiz-A). Then there are the ewes who usually hurl themselves over the edge when chased.  
  
Mucho más precarios han sido los procedimientos de asustar a los depredadores mediante el empleo de fuego o realizando fuertes ruidos. Otros recursos como el veneno han tenido por el contrario efectos devastadores.
 
  
La presencia de estos animales ha dado lugar a numerosos topónimos como los que a continuación se recogen a modo de ejemplo, todos ellos constatados en poblaciones alavesas: Pieza del Lobo (Lagrán), Portillo del Lobo (Montes de Vitoria), Cueva del Lobo y Ventana del Lobo (Apellániz), Paso de los Lobos y Loma de las Raposeras (Bujanda), Raposera (Lagrán y Markinez), Cueva del Raposo (Santa Cruz de Campezo) y Peña del Raposo (Alda)<ref>Los datos referentes a la montaña alavesa han sido tomados de Gerardo LÓPEZ DE GUEREÑU. «La caza en la montaña alavesa» in ''Munibe'', IX (1957) pp. 226-227, 240-250.</ref>.
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{{DISPLAYTITLE: XVIII. HUNTING VERMIN}} {{#bookTitle:Livestock Farming and Shepherding in the Basque Country | Ganaderia_y_pastoreo_en_vasconia/en}}
<div class="subindice">
 
Apartados:
 
=== [[La_captura_del_lobo|La captura del lobo]] ===
 
=== [[Las_loberas|Las loberas]] ===
 
=== [[La_caza_del_zorro|La caza del zorro]] ===
 
=== [[Perros_asilvestrados|Perros asilvestrados]] ===
 
=== [[Depredadores_menores|Depredadores menores]] ===
 
=== [[El_oso|El oso]] ===
 
=== [[Contratacion_de_alimañeros|Contratación de alimañeros]] ===
 
=== [[Recompensa_por_los_animales_capturados|Recompensa por los animales capturados]] ===
 
=== [[Apendice_Descripcion_de_algunas_loberas|Apéndice: Descripción de algunas loberas]] ===
 
</div>
 
<br/>
 
{{DISPLAYTITLE: XVIII. LA CAZA DE ALIMAÑAS}} {{#bookTitle:Ganadería y Pastoreo en Vasconia|Ganaderia_y_pastoreo_en_vasconia}}
 
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Revisión actual del 12:24 8 jul 2019

Otros idiomas:
Inglés • ‎Español • ‎Euskera • ‎Francés

The word alimaña (vermin) come from the Latin animalia, the plural for animal. It is still paradoxical that this term has the popular usage of animal harmful to the livestock, when in some Romance languages the Latin root word has formed the basis of nouns used for domesticated animals.

In the past, the shepherds did not usually hunt and they often found it difficult to get rid of the vermin that killed the animals in their flocks. That was reported in Allo (N), where they did not recall shepherd hunting and if the vermin appeared, there was little the shepherds could do as the only weapons they had were their crook.

In Urkabustaiz (A), they explained that the shepherd’s weapons were a knife, a staff and an obedient dog. They never carried a gun.

When the shepherd did carry arms, the reason was more to defend themselves from attacks by vermin than for a love of hunting.

In the past, the shepherds in the Sierra de Izarraitz (G) sometimes had a muzzle loading gun.

In Eugi (N), they said that there were usually no weapons on the farmsteads unless they were hunters. However, one of the people surveyed said there was a pistol at home to protect themselves from the wolves.

A shepherd from Roncal (N) said that they generally did not have weapons, although he remembered that in the early 20th century, some shepherds did have a revolver in their backpacks, but, according to him, it was just to say they had one and for target shooting. Shepherds could not carry a rifle as they were not allowed to kill game.

In Ayala (A), when there was a wolf around, the odd shepherd used to carry a rifle on his shoulder, but that was not common.

The Sierra de Aramotz (Belatxikieta-B) shepherds did not use rifles until the 1960s, but they were gradually introduced subsequently. Some people in the Sierra de Anboto (B) did remember having taken one to the mountain.

The owner-shepherds of Sierra de Badaia (A) were armed, but had their rifles hidden on the mountain. The shepherds would be accompanied by a hunter from the village when red foxes stalked the lambs or kids. In the early 20th century, when a wolf was hanging around, the villagers would go up the mountains with their rifles.

The shepherds would also sometimes seize the opportunities to hunt off the land where they were working and thus supplement their food.

In general, they were not hunters in the Bardenas (N). They caught rabbits at a time when it seems there was a plague of those animals, as according to one of the people interviewed “they were going to perish in the pens”. They used two methods: traps or snares and clubbing them when they were “in bed”, in other words, in their warren. The shepherds needed to approach with stealth if they wanted to be successful. They also hunted foxes as they usually preyed on new-born lambs; however, they never caught partridges or birds, except when they might have nothing to eat.

In Izarraitz, shepherds did not usually hunt and when they did so, they caught the odd hare, bobcat, basakatua, and bird.

Even though the shepherds only hunted on a very limited basis, their relationships with the hunters were not usually precisely cordial. The only interest some had in common was hunting vermin, the first due to necessity and the second for entertainment. In Sierra de Codés (N), it was reported that shepherds and hunters were the only ones to go up to the mountain tops and even though the former would hunt, they hated certain methods that were to their detriment. They did not like the snares used to catch boars where ewes would occasionally be trapped or the tramps where their dogs would sometime be caught.

The biggest problems between them occurred when the hunters used dogs as they often would harm the flocks, the majority of times because they would worry the ewes and occasionally because they caused one to die (Carranza-B).

As regards the traditional ways of catching vermin, Caro Baroja explained that “some basic hunting methods in the north of Spain are closely related to the pastoral system […] even though, from a cultural point of view, they must unquestionably be considered as being earlier than them and used in a much larger area. One of them is beating when the people made a din in the area where there are vermin, which had to be killed for the good of everyone, as they are constant threat for the livestock. The other, which is much more intriguing, is the hunting system using traps. It was sometimes a combination of both”[1].

Loberas, runs with walls either side leading to a deep pit, still exist in certain mountain areas. They made it easier for beaters to corner the animal when they know that wolf was on the mountain. Hunting was riskier when there was no lobera. Even so, a group would act as beaters, helped by dogs, and drive the beasts towards a gorge where other hunters would be waiting with their rifles[2].

Much more precarious were the procedures to frighten the quarry using fire or making a great deal of noise. By contrast, other resources such as poison have had devastating effects.

Contenido de esta página

Wolf hunting

The wolf was the main predator in our mountains in past centuries and the shepherd’s most tenacious rivals in that habitat.

One of the main reasons for hating the animal is that wolves usually kill more animals than they eat and thus devastate the flocks (Urkabustaiz-A). Then there are the ewes who usually hurl themselves over the edge when chased.


  1. Julio CARO BAROJA. Los pueblos del Norte. San Sebastián: 1977, p. 188.
  2. José Miguel de BARANDIARAN. “Aspectos sociográficos de la población del Pirineo Vasco” in Eusko-Jakintza, VII (1953-1957) p. 19.