These pits or louvières, also known in the local Gaume dialect as ‘louvîres’, were sunk into areas often frequented by wolves. During the 17th century, the digging of these pits was actively encouraged, only to be discouraged two centuries later because of the danger they represented to people. As these deep pits were disguised and could not be seen, they contained traps that could crush a man’s leg so they were very dangerous to anyone who did not know where they were located. The Flemish authorities had laws regarding them, but they were most likely unsuccessful as for someone without a gun, digging a wolf pit only needed a bit of elbow grease! Monitored pits were at least 3 metres deep, but were usually 4.2 to 4.5 metres deep if not constantly checked by hunters. A wolf is actually capable of jumping 2 metres from a standing start. These pits were camouflaged by branches and invisible to the non-initiated, who risked breaking their neck in them. They also made poaching easier as any wild animal could fall into them and be unable to jump out. Wolf pits were mainly used up until the middle of the last century to limit damage to crops by wild boar. Many of the wolf pits in Saint-Léger were probably used initially to capture wolves, but nowadays it is impossible to tell which ones. No-one remembers having seen any in Châtillon or Meix-le-Tige. The military authorities have no knowledge of them at the Lagland camp. André Pechon from Saint-Léger, recalls how the Pechon family dug 7 of these pits, the Nicolas family 8, and that the Devaux had them on both sides of the Etalle road. He saw 7 wild boar caught the same day in the Devaux wolf pits, but now that the road has been asphalted more people use it and the animals are no longer there to be captured. He also remembers how a local woman out collecting logs fell into one of these holes. A man working in the woods heard her cries, and while trying to pull her out, he too fell in. Alerted to their predicament, the owner of the wolf pit grabbed his ladder and helped them back to safety. He was fairly unhappy about the whole event because it had taken him a long time to disguise the pits. He had covered them in branches, on top of which he had placed twigs and smaller branches then covered these in leaves. The whole pit was surrounded by a wire to indicate its position. When Adam, the forest ranger, arrived in 1953, some of these pits were a depth of 2.5 to 3 metres, and had collapsed. At that time, only the owners of fields running up to the edge of the forest were permitted to use them, but poachers also made use of them. The 8 wolf pits that had not caved in were still 2 metres deep, their dry stone walls still clearly visible. According to Mr Pechon, there are still 2 or 3 pits along the Verte Voie (green walk). Maurice Jungen mentioned one near the Taillis farm. Joseph Billocq, from Châtillon, remembers that the Clausse (Tchino) family had two impressive pits in which they trapped wild boar before the war. Jacques Clément, the former mill owner, dug 2 or 3 pits in Laufosse. Currently about ten are known to exist in this area, most are half-collapsed but they are still 1.5 to 2 metres deep. Source: Au Fil du Ton ‘Histoire des loups dans la région de Saint-Léger’ (a history of wolves in the Saint-Léger region).