A few days before the opening of the tengue hunt, the hunters are impatient. Patrick, a hunter for 30 years, is one of them. Accompanied by his faithful dogs, the man is ready to roam the forests.
Patrick looks forward to the start of the pitcher hunting season. Accompanied by his two dogs, the Benedictine is ready to hunt game.
Barely released, Praline is already looking for tangues. The female dog has been trained since birth for this practice. The next season will be the last alongside his mother, Geth.
These two female dogs are trained by Patrick, a dog enthusiast. For 30 years, he has been going to the forest to hunt tengue.
“The dog has had a hunting instinct since childhood, that’s when I select a dog. In order to be able to hunt, the dog must discover what a tengue is. Some people manage to catch a tongue when it is not the season. In this case they capture the tongue and put it in a cage so that the dog becomes familiar with the smell of the tongue.“, explains Patrick.
The tengue threatened by poaching
In search of the slightest clue, they both go to help Patrick flush out the game. But now, the tengue is threatened by poaching. A practice that Patrick deplores, and against which the Benedictine fights firmly.
“It is normal for hunters to be unhappy, when the hunt begins, the forests are plundered. If no solution is found to counter these practices, this will push the hunter to become poachers again.“, says the hunter.
Praline and Geth seem to be waiting for the start of the tengue hunting season more than their master.
In Reunion, there are about 1,200 licensed hunters on this type of game.
