Wild boar #3

This is the third time I've found a dead boar in my field. This time I knew to call our local forester to explain why this is happening and get rid of it.

I admit my heart jumped when I saw a furry brown form lying in the middle of my field this morning. Baasha was grazing right next to it, within 10 feet, like "dead boar, meh."

I thought it was a deer as I approached and directly overhead was the hugest hawk I've seen in Germany. I could see the red tail and the grey flecks on its wings and the crows were driving it in circles around the carcass. Two crows were nearby on the grass with mouthfulls of something.

I was relieved it was a boar because I already pulled deer hair off my poor car this week. (Story below.)

It didn't take me too long to realize something was amiss with this boar. It had no skeleton, and the skin was so clean it must have been skinned by man. I don't know any animal who eats so cleanly, and where are the freaking bones!?! It was only a head and a pelt.

The reason it died was my first question, and the lack of innards was the biggest mystery running around in my head all day.

The forester called me back and said he'd be there at 5. That's good because I was tutoring Marvin til then.

I haven't mentioned Marvin before - he's a local 6th grader who is having trouble in his English class so I'm tutoring him twice per week. He's adorable and hard working despite the fact that I push him really hard--and he doesn't complain; he struggles through the Grammar and the tricky illogical bits.

If you haven't been to Germany you might not have seen the ridiculously huge textbook backpacks the kids all wear. They are so large the poor kids are always hunched over. They come in three sizes: Medium, Large, and Lunar Landing. I got a photo of Marvin wearing his. His is Medium. I can hardly lift it. (This problem would not exist if they had lockers in school for every student, but apparently that is an American thing.)

At the end of our hour he always wants to go feed our trout. I make him wear my shoes because I cannot send him home all muddy. It makes that kid so happy to study our fish and ask me questions about them. Someday we really do have to go fishing and clean them together, with his dad.

Anyway the science type learning continues at Finally Farm because today instead of time with trout, the foresters came to see our dead boar. They showed up right when Marvin's mother did, and I invited her to join us for the venture. Marvin was just dying to see it, and his mom caved and wore her ballet shoes (they really looked like ballet shoes!) into our field.

Baasha was so happy to have so many guests at once. Hi, hi, hi, hi, hi! He said to each of us and I pushed him gently aside telling him to leave us alone, knowing Marvin's mom is allergic. Marvin said, "Hallo Pferd" but did not touch him. His mom has taught him to stay away from horses for her sake. She must be really sensitive.

We find the boar and the forester lays it out. The head is just huge, and the body clearly cleaned and knife-cut. He said, "The mark is gone. The mark has been purposefully removed so we couldn't find the buyer. Sneaky.But this is not one of ours. We haven't shot boars in this area in 2 years."

I said, "I've found 3 in total, all looking like this - neat and unnatural."

They explained the mystery. They shoot them sometimes to even the population and then sell them to anyone who wants to eat wild boar. (How practical.)

Whoever has been buying these, he's taken out the meat and removed the brand (?) and thrown them near our property, where a fox has dragged it into our field. (I've never seen a live fox or boar here.)

But they didn't shoot this one, it came from another territory. Someone just doesn't want to dispose the rest of it properly. If I had any enemies I'd wonder, but we're new here.

Mystery solved, but how odd, huh?

The foresters carefully folded up the creature and put it into a plastic garbage sack and carried it out of my field. They politely told me to please call if I find anything else. I sure will. I said "Well there was this deer, who met its demise in Eipringhausen last week when my husband hit it with our car. The local forester there came and got it immediately, there is only a green painted arrow on the street to show where it happened." The foresters said, "We saw the arrow." I said, "Did you see my foglight? I haven't found it yet." *lol* Not that that matters, the car got fixed and is better than new.

How better than new? I always noticed our car was lacking in two plaques that say HYBRID, one on either side. The Toyota guy said, "Oh yes, that started with a later model." I said, "Well, I'd really like to have them. I mean, since you're fixing that part of the car anyway...." and he agreed! Woo!

Better than new: )

And they washed it, and vaccuumed it. I am totally fastidious about my car and I'm in awe. Good job guys! I should be an auto detailer for a living.

Here is the section that the deer killed. I mean, agh, the section of the car that killed the deer. I remember asking my man, "Is the headlight on that side OK? (remembering the price of a Honda Accord headlight) "Yes - but your favorite light is gone." My favorite light? "Your favorite - the fog light that you insist on using when there's no fog." Oh. Oh no! (I love fog lights!!)

I should insert that I am a Bambi lover and forced my husband to watch that film when we met. I cry every time. I would just die if I killed a deer. I pray I never do.

We have been driving his mom's yellow diesel again all week and it was really fun on the autobahn, my goodness I'd forgotten about acceleration! (I'm too lazy to find an old photo of this car so here's a stock one.) My man was appalled at the MPG I drove it too, oops. But I have trouble trusting this VW sister company car (Seat). That car has a mind of its own. But as a Danke Schoen, I cleaned the living daylights out of that car for my mother in law. I spent 5 hours. The outside was the easy part, and that was not easy. I almost despaired at getting the inside clean, but in the end I triumphed. It is not perfect, but it is a pleasure for me to drive again, aesthetically. I sure hope Eva enjoys her newly scrubbed car!

I expected to do the same to the Prius, and what a surprise, I don't have to, it's done. So, next week.

Welcome home, my best car. I've never loved a car as much as this one - excluding my Chevy Silverado - but that's a truck and truck love is different than car love. It felt so wonderful to get in tonight and have that driver's seat wrap around me, and pull out and drive onto my street on electric and move along in total silence. Loving a car this much cannot be healthy. I know you Americans are tired of looking at Priuses but they are a rarity here. Srsly, I've seen like 7 in 4 years.

Oh! In case you wondered about our license plate - the number is our anniversary, and yah, we just had our 3rd last night. March 15. (1403 ---March 14th, was our state wedding, also cool. It's hard to decide when to celebrate each year so we just wing it. We had such a lovely time last night. )

Perhaps my obsessive weekly car cleaning is because I have a mud loving horse and I just cannot keep up with him. WHP's Brena should hook up with Baasha and they could live happily ever after, unrecognizable in their mud cloaks.

This is Baasha grazing too-near a dead animal.

Baasha after I moved him away. He looks older this year, but definitely chunkier than last year. I have to concede that Paradigm's Lily has slightly more hair.

Dewdrops on velvet.