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Chapter Fifteen: Hunting Games

143 Chapter 15 Hunting Games While hunting games are considered as children’s territory, not all of the hunting games were (and are still) played by children. Some like hunting per se, that is hunting of big animals (game hunting) are done by adult people. Others are played by both (the young and the old). In this chapter, I focus on those games that were and are played by both the young and the adult people as I observed in south-eastern Zimbabwe. These hunting games include the following: Kuteya Shiri Neurimbo (Catching Birds with Bird Lime) This game is played by boys and it is unusual to see girls playing the same game. Normally boys of between ten and seventeen years are involved in the catching of birds using bird lime. Younger boys of between five and nine are however allowed following and watching their older brothers setting traps using bird lime. To make the bird lime used in the catching, an opening is cut at the base of a tree called ‘Mukondekonde’ (Euphobic tree) to extract ‘muto’ (sap). The ‘muto’ is extracted into a small tin before it is cooked in a disused tin or clay pot. The steam produced from the ‘muto’ is very poisonous and can cause temporary blindness (if gets into contact with eyes) or bloats if gets into contact with one’s body. When the sap is cooked, it forms ‘urimbo’ (bird lime) which is grey in colour. The boys then take the bird lime to a tree where birds normally take rest. This can be a fruit tree such as ‘muonde’ (fig tree) or ‘mubhereko’ (mulberry tree). The bird lime is spread on tree branches such 144 that when birds come to take rest or feed on the fruits they are trapped. The bird lime is very strong that any bird that gets into contact with it sticks or is trapped such that it fails to fly away. K Kuteya Mbeva Nemariva (Catching Mice with Trapping Stones) Like catching birds with bird lime, catching ‘mbeva’ (mice) with trapping stones is a boys’ adventure. Catching mice with trapping stones, is however a seasonal activity that is on undertaken immediate after harvesting time, that is, from April until immediate before rain season. The activity is normally undertaken by children from the age of eight to sixteen, although older people can also set traps to catch mice. To catch mice with trapping stones (mariva), boys go out into the forest and look for ‘mwezha’ (mice pathways). After discovering the ‘mwezha’, flat stones are set across the mice pathways with foodstuffs inside. The foodstuffs used to trap mice include maize grains smeared with peanut butter, roundnuts or roasted groundnuts. Such foodstuffs are known by the young boys to be favourite food for mice. The trapping stones are set during the day since mice normally during the night. Early in the morning, boys wake up and check if any of their trapping stones catches mice. The mice are eaten with ‘sadza’ (stiff porridge) as relish. Kuteya Shiri Nemhiripiri (Catching Birds Using Chilli) This is a pastime by boys of between ten and seventeen years, though old people especially hunters can engage in the same activity. Like in all other hunting games, younger boys in the 145 category of five to nine are welcome to follow, watch and assist their older brothers in the activity. This is how the game (like many other games discussed in this book) is passed on to the next generation and its continued existence guaranteed. To catch birds using chilli, boys collect hot chilli or red pepper from the field. They crush the pepper into a powder before they take it to the forest. In the forest, the boys will have discovered a place where birds such as guinea fowl spend their time during the day. The boys sprinkle the crushed pepper all over the place where the birds play. Pepper has a choking effect and cause temporary blindness to the birds. Once the pepper is sprinkled, the boys hide in the bush adjacent to the sprinkled place. They will be waiting to catch any bird that comes and is temporarily blinded. Kufura Shiri (Bird Shooting) Like ‘kuteya shiri nemhiripiri’ (Catching Birds Using Chilli), ‘kufura shiri’ is a pastime by boys of between ten and seventeen years, though old people engage in the activity as part of their hunting expeditions. The game...