The Podenco Canario arrived in the Archipelago aboard ancient ships. The Phoenicians transported this animal on their commercial expeditions through North Africa and left it on the islands as they passed through the Canary Islands.
The Podenco is one of the oldest breeds in existence, as there is evidence of it in ancient engravings, statues or bas-reliefs made in pharaohs' tombs that are preserved in some museums such as the Louvre, and it is believed to be about seven thousand years old. This animal, unique in the world, has a pharaonic origin that gives it a distinguished and special bearing. Its brave, nervous and restless character, together with its great sense of smell, has made it the ideal dog for hunting in the Canary Islands.
And hunting has become a sport that is increasingly followed. In Lanzarote, the Hunting Society, located in San Bartolomé, currently has 875 members. On the Island of Volcanoes, the Podenco Canario is very important for developing hunting activity, since one of the common prey is rabbits and their intervention is needed to hunt them. "In Lanzarote, very expensive dogs have been sold, according to the news I have, the most expensive was one that was sold for 1,400,000 pesetas," says Domingo Perera, president of the Hunting Society.
Rabbit hunting on the island is very peculiar and is practiced by almost 85% of the members of this society. "In Lanzarote, rabbit hunting is inconceivable without the podenco and ferret duo because the dog detects the rabbit in the volcanic lava and if we don't put the ferret in, it is almost impossible to catch it." Thus, each hunter owns between two or three dogs and has four to six ferrets. Domingo Perera assures that it is very easy to get ferrets in Lanzarote, and even that they are given away among colleagues of the Hunting Society, "although with the podenco it is different, because this dog is difficult to get".
A day of hunting
The hunting day starts very early. The hunters get up before the sun and meet at about five or six in the morning, "because we go in gangs, of two, three or more hunters." They prepare all the necessary tools for the hard day, pick up their animals and head towards the place chosen to practice this sport. "Many times we have to wait an hour for the day to clear and then we start hunting," explains Domingo Perera, president of the Lanzarote Hunting Society.
Once in the place of the day and with enough light to distinguish the silhouettes of their animals, begins what could be called a tradition. The hunters release a ferret equipped with a bell, "we put it on to know where it is because we release it in one place and it comes out in another", and this sneaks between the volcanic cavities in search of the precious capture. "It is very difficult to hunt through the volcanic terrain of the island because to detect the rabbit, which can be about three meters below the surface." The ferret makes the prey come out of its hiding place and when hearing the sound of the bell, the hunter and the Podenco Canario head towards the place. Once the rabbit comes to the surface, the dog is in charge of capturing it. "The podenco has to have a very good sense of smell to detect the prey," explains the president of the Hunting Society. To get the dog to develop a good sense of smell, the hunters train it from a young age, since from then on it accompanies its parents on hunts so that it can identify the smell.
The morning session ends at about twelve or one in the afternoon. The hunters collect their animals, utensils and, if they have been lucky, the prey and return home. "We go back to have lunch and rest for about an hour or an hour and a half and then we go back to another place." The ritual then begins again in the early afternoon.
The rules of hunting
This sport in Lanzarote has more and more followers every day, although it cannot be done whenever one wants because it has established days to practice it, which are Thursdays and Sundays.
In addition, the hunting season is only open for a certain period of the year, "normally the hunting season starts on the first or second Sunday of August and ends in mid or late November," explains Domingo Perera, president of the Lanzarote Hunting Society.
And hunting activity is very controlled, and even, they have established the number of pieces that can be hunted. An individual hunter can only capture "between rabbits and partridges four pieces and between pigeons and turtledoves another four". When hunters carry out the activity in a gang, the numbers vary a little, although not much. "In a gang, which is normally made up of three to five hunters, they can catch twelve pieces between rabbits and partridges and another twelve between pigeons and turtledoves".
In order to go hunting, in addition, you also have to have a series of essential permits and licenses, since it is required to have a hunting license, compulsory insurance, the controlled hunting receipt and the dog's vaccination card.
Once the hunting period ends, the hunters keep their utensils and their animals until next year. The podenco and the ferrets are then, approximately, five months locked up. "Before the start of the season, what we do is train the dogs and ferrets because from being locked up they need to strengthen their legs and sense of smell," says Perera.
The San Bartolomé Hunting Society
The San Bartolomé Hunting Society is the only organization dedicated to hunting on the island. Currently it has 857 members, although its president, Domingo Perera, says that every year more and more people join.
This institution is not only open during the hunting period but its doors do not close throughout the year, since it offers advice to the hunter, holds information days, organizes conferences, offers courses to obtain the license and even supplies feed for ferrets and dogs.
This organization belongs to the Canary Islands Hunting Federation, which in turn is integrated into the Royal Spanish Hunting Federation. The latter granted the Lanzarote institution a very special distinction. "In May, the Royal Spanish Hunting Federation awarded the Lanzarote Hunting Society a diploma in which the work of the management that the society is developing was recognized".
The hunting season is currently closed. Hunters will have to wait until next August to get up again before the sunlight and sneak their ferrets through the volcanic cavities, hoping that they will push the rabbit that the podenco will catch again.