Hunting in Cyprus starts November
November marks the start of the hunting season in Cyprus. Many red blooded males get out their guns, pack their dogs Rambo and Rocky into their double cab and head out into the country.
What do they hunt? Anything that moves. By the end of the hunting season there’s no life left at all in the countryside. Even road signs have to be careful.
Near where we live partridges are reared and released a few weeks before the start of the hunting season. They’re so tame you can walk right up to them. Perfect for hunting.
Hunting starts early in the morning. Wednesdays and Sundays are hunting days, so on both mornings you awake to the sound of shotguns all around. Occasionally lead-shot rat-a-tat-tats against the windows – you wake with start on those days!
Late morning the hunters repair to the local coffee shop to swap the ‘one that got away’ stories. Often accompanied with lashings of Zivania.
Well fed and Zivania’d up, many hunters return to the countryside in the afternoon. The prospect of a bunch of well-oiled hunters roaming the countryside ready to shoot at anything that moves is a sobering thought.
If you’re out in the Cyprus countryside during the hunting season, please watch out for hunters, especially in the afternoons. Suggest you wear high visibility clothing and keep your children and dogs on a lead!
On a lighter note. Last week I was in the local DHL office to send a package. Next to me was a guy signing for delivery of a bunch of brand new guns. In full traditional priest’s gear…
