Snare by VDT Lake
An update from Wendy:
Below is a copy of a letter received from CT Parks Department, regarding the snares at the lake in Vale da Telha. Roughly translated it says that they have been to the lake area and haven’t found any more traps. They don’t think that the boar have passed the area recently (though Di, Keith and I saw boar footprints the last time we were there). They don’t expect more traps to be placed in this location.
Relatorio Denuncia Vale da Telha
Care is probably still needed if dog walking in this area.
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UPDATE…………..Please circulate this info to all other dog owners… a second dog was trapped in a snare down by the lake today, (about 20ft from the track) fortunately he is not injured, as he was freed quite quickly, the snare was caught around his waist. Still very worrying though and traumatic for the owners.
The GNR in Aljezur have been informed about the snares, I am sending the GNR these same photos which they will forward on to the department which deals with poaching in the Natural Park.
I will be asking the Parks Dept to keep me in the loop, so will keep you all informed.
Removed Snare
The snare which Harvey was trapped in on Sunday last was no where to be seen today, obviously these poachers are checking their traps regularly.
I have been asked where the snare was set, but realistically, it’s hard to describe and there will be many others in places unknown. My personal thought is that the poacher is targeting wild boar so will set them fairly close to vehicle access.
Location of Snare
A Vale da Telha resident sent this as a warning to all dog owners………..
A WARNING FOR ALL DOG OWNERS… Just thought that I would let you know about yesterday’s EVENT! Carol and I walked our dogs around the lake in the afternoon. As usual they run around off the lead, in and out of the bushes. They are all pretty good at coming back, if they’re out of sight for a couple of minutes I generally give a toot toot with the whistle. Most of the dogs were ahead and Harvey had been behind for a while, being a Mummy’s boy while I was admiring the view! He then ran ahead, a minute later I see him in a weird position down the slope in the bushes. I stopped and spoke to him expecting him to come to me. After a second, I realised that he was in TROUBLE and scrambled down into the bushes to him! At first I thought he was caught up in brambles and struggling to escape, then saw what I initially thought was twine twisted about his legs By this point he was frantic, to my horror I found that the twine was a strong metal wire in a noose around his throat. I had the hells own job to try to calm him enough to get my fingers under the wire, push him towards the taut wire to loosen it sufficiently enough to pull the noose over his head. Very fortunately, he is no worse off after the experience, but if I had been walking ahead and not witnessed it in those first few seconds it would have been a tragedy indeed. By the thickness of the wire I would guess it was set by a person hoping to trap a boar. Carol and I were both shaken up, and for sure there are more of these snares around the area.