TUSCANY BIRDS, WILDLIFE AND ANIMALS AT LA BRUCIATA
The natural environment surrounding La Bruciata has an essential aspect for the existence of wildlife in this area of Tuscany.
Our proximity to the woods and a little lake offers a peaceful and relaxing environment around our farm. You too, while lying in a hammock in the shade of an oak tree, can experience the peace and quiet that surrounds you, while your eyes admire the magnificent panorama of hills, vineyards, and olive groves, exceptionally beautiful at sunset.
This tranquility is why the whole area around our property is especially suited to so many wild animals living in the forest like deer, pheasants, rabbits, doves, magpies, swallows, jays, foxes, wild boars, porcupines, hedgehogs, badgers, and squirrels. Wildlife thrives in this paradise of Tuscany.
A visit to this natural oasis, which preserves the beauty and environmental balance, will be an experience that remains in your heart forever. Sunrise and sunset are the best times to see and take pictures of the wildlife as they emerge from the woods in search of food–crops are an especially strong temptation for them. We have had to adopt strategies to counteract damage caused by deer, wild boar, and porcupines, resorting to putting a fence around my grandmother’s garden. This unfortunately came after the deer in one night ate all of the lettuce in the garden!
Wild boar and deer are pervasive animals in Tuscany, so the region has adopted a hunting policy, which allows the study and census of these species by drafting a plan abatement divided by age and sex, to safeguard the density and the balance of wildlife, with the aim of avoiding an unbalanced ecosystem. This policy also limits damage to crops, forests, and yes, even cars. Keep your eyes open when you walk or drive along country roads of these extraordinary landscapes of Tuscany and you might catch a glimpse of a female deer with two small offspring or a female boar with five or six little ones in search of food. In my life have often see them, but every time it happens it takes your breath away and is a delight as if it were first time!
Wild boars usually forage in the night and you’re likely to find them near a vineyard as they love grapes, while the deer are always in search of buds, the most tender and delicate part of a plant that if removed will never blossom.
Wild boar is hunted from September to January, and because it is so prevalent in Tuscany, is also very typical to find its meat in many traditional recipes, such as the famous “Pappardelle with Wild Boar.” Click here for our recipe.
In this beautiful landscape of Tuscany, you and your family can spot many species of wildlife as you cycle or walk the picturesque twilight route from La Bruciata up to Monticchiello and Pienza. Every moment is an opportunity to see marvelous wildlife living around us.
