Wild Boar in Kent

[pastymuncher]

Currently working down in Kent (Romney Marsh). Talking to a guy who had just come back from a run, who said he had a wild boar run across the path in front of him.
Never really thought about them here in the U.K., though I've seen them in France.

Any tips on spotting them, habitat, feeding habits what to do/not do etc.

thanks

[Beefy0978]

Forest of dean, Gloucestershire.
;-)

[Mafro]

I found the jaw bone of a pig in a woods near Canterbury. There have been reports of wild boar there too!! Never seen any trace of them myself though.

[Bucephalas]

There's a lot in the forest of Dean and they are regularly culled. People are warned to stay well away when they have young.
No advice on spotting I'm afraid as we do our best to avoid them.



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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=51.450108,-3.181094

[Vulpes]

I found the jaw bone of a pig in a woods near Canterbury. There have been reports of wild boar there too!! Never seen any trace of them myself though.

Down these ends? Which patch of woodland was that in? Wasn't by East Blean was it? I suppose they're adapting, spreading and eating everything in sight. They get up to 80kg+, so you can imagine the calorie intake.

They're mighty irritable. I heard some ravers got gored in Germany a few years ago on the outskirts of a small town. It's well known they charge when wounded too. Really easy to bump into them in Europe. I've seen them run across tracks sometimes 4-8m away. My Dad also bumped into one in Italy earlier this year and thought he was going to get charged. Nearly dropped a brick in his elasticated waist dockers!

I always find that sometimes they have the strangest smell on their fur come the right season. It's like horse, except it won't wash off from your hands for about 3 days...

[Geoff Dann]

There's a lot in the forest of Dean and they are regularly culled. People are warned to stay well away when they have young.
No advice on spotting I'm afraid as we do our best to avoid them.

A lot of rubbish has been written about wild boar.

http://theotterswhisker.blogspot.co....wild-boar.html



I've only ever come across them in captivity, and they seemed to me to be just as curious and friendly as any domesticated pig is. If you don't threaten them, they won't harm you. Nine times out of ten they'll avoid being seen anyway. I've heard them in Sussex before, but they are always long gone by the time I get to where the noises were coming from.

[Vulpes]

A lot of rubbish has been written about wild boar.

http://theotterswhisker.blogspot.co....wild-boar.html



I've only ever come across them in captivity, and they seemed to me to be just as curious and friendly as any domesticated pig is. If you don't threaten them, they won't harm you. Nine times out of ten they'll avoid being seen anyway. I've heard them in Sussex before, but they are always long gone by the time I get to where the noises were coming from.

My girlfriend's aunt kept an orphaned one as a pet. It died years ago a natural death, but apparently it was as you said, as friendly as any domesticated pig.

It's a different kettle of fish in the wild, but getting attacked by one is actually pretty unusual.

There's a guy I know that sometimes photographs them:

dziki2.jpg

Really quite a beautiful animal up close.

[Dingo]

Taste great

[Big Stu 12]

Taste great

The one with the walking stick would be a bit tough tho......

[HillBill]

Boars mainly get their fierce reputation from the folk who used to hunt them. They will fight if attacked and they will fight hard. They are respected by all who hunt them. Crazy animals when they get going. They would run straight onto a spear and keep going up the shaft to get at you.

Lovely animals though, and its good to see/hear of them thriving again. its a shame we can't bring the Aurochs back

[Mafro]

Down these ends? Which patch of woodland was that in? Wasn't by East Blean was it? I suppose they're adapting, spreading and eating everything in sight. They get up to 80kg+, so you can imagine the calorie intake.

Hi Vulpes, its was in Challock that I found the jaw bone. It was of a young adult pig. I searched around for other remains but nothing was to be found.

[nigeltm]

There are reports of boar in the forests behind Margam Park in Port Talbot. Not seen one myself but would love to.

[Vulpes]

Boars mainly get their fierce reputation from the folk who used to hunt them. They will fight if attacked and they will fight hard. They are respected by all who hunt them. Crazy animals when they get going. They would run straight onto a spear and keep going up the shaft to get at you.

Lovely animals though, and its good to see/hear of them thriving again. its a shame we can't bring the Aurochs back

Not to mention they're highly adaptable. Survive in just about any habitat.

[Vulpes]

Hi Vulpes, its was in Challock that I found the jaw bone. It was of a young adult pig. I searched around for other remains but nothing was to be found.

Duly noted! Will keep my eye out down that way at twilight then.

[HillBill]

Just like us then.

Not to mention they're highly adaptable. Survive in just about any habitat.

[sandbender]

We have them here, If you pitch your tarp across a run they'll find you, worked for me anyway.

They can be dangerous, but if left alone they are unlikely to come looking for trouble, in the last few winters when it has been really cold they have come down to the edges of the city looking for whatever might be available in bins and such.

I have heard tale of a chap climbing a tree to escape some enraged ones, they stood watching him for a few minutes and then started to dig away at the roots of the tree, his cries for help eventually brought some locals who rescued him before they could have their wicked way though.

There are some great pics on BushrangerCZ's thread here.

[santaman2000]

Question here; are they true wild boars? The one in the picture looked more like a feral (several generations ago) feral hog. If they are feral, They are indeed not particularly dangerous unless threatened.

They are however, very destructive of their habitat. They'll root uo nearly all vegetation, kill and eat all ground nesting birds, snakes, and other retiles. within reach (and their ability to dig gives them a very long reach.

@ Vulpes: They average around 80 kilos; they can actually get up to 1160 pounds (527 kilos) www.gopherplantation.com/boar_photos.htm

[Vulpes]

Question here; are they true wild boars? The one in the picture looked more like a feral (several generations ago) feral hog. If they are feral, They are indeed not particularly dangerous unless threatened.

They are however, very destructive of their habitat. They'll root uo nearly all vegetation, kill and eat all ground nesting birds, snakes, and other retiles. within reach (and their ability to dig gives them a very long reach.

@ Vulpes: They average around 80 kilos; they can actually get up to 1160 pounds (527 kilos) www.gopherplantation.com/boar_photos.htm

In Europe though!? Biggest I've seen was 92kg and I wrenched my back lifting my end! A few weeks later, I returned and came back home with about 12ft of smoked sausage. That 527kg beast must have taken about 4 men to lift!

I think European boar are a different kettle of fish.

Thinking about it...I think I saw that program about hog catchers on discovery...pretty cool job.

[Vulpes]

Feral pig would be a subspecies I think...

[HillBill]

What may appear to be destructive is also very beneficial for the area. They dig up soil, eat, poop, stomp it in thus adding good nutrient to the soil, making the soil mare capable of supporting more growth, it levels the playing field as far as plants are concerned, the dominant plants will have been knocked down a peg or two and other plants can get established. So increasing soil fetility and biodiversity can never be a bad thing. Even if it means an area gets "devastated". It'll have grown back better in no time.

Nature never creates something without reason.

They are however, very destructive of their habitat. They'll root uo nearly all vegetation, kill and eat all ground nesting birds, snakes, and other retiles. within reach (and their ability to dig gives them a very long reach.

[santaman2000]

In Europe though!? Biggest I've seen was 92kg and I wrenched my back lifting my end! A few weeks later, I returned and came back home with about 12ft of smoked sausage. That 527kg beast must have taken about 4 men to lift!

I think European boar are a different kettle of fish...

If it is feral (descended from escaped domestic stock) its potential size would only be limited to the genetics of the original breed escaped and the available food source. i assume domestic stock there is large and food stocks plentiful. At any rate the one I linked is rare and the average is indeed around 80 kilos.

The one linked required a front end loader to move.

[santaman2000]

What may appear to be destructive is also very beneficial for the area. They dig up soil, eat, poop, stomp it in thus adding good nutrient to the soil, making the soil mare capable of supporting more growth, it levels the playing field as far as plants are concerned, the dominant plants will have been knocked down a peg or two and other plants can get established. So increasing soil fetility and biodiversity can never be a bad thing. Even if it means an area gets "devastated". It'll have grown back better in no time.

Nature never creates something without reason.

Not if they eradicate the native species, plant and animal; especially ground nesting birds and snakes. That's what commonly happens with feral hogs; or when any invasive species is introduced.

[Geoff Dann]

What may appear to be destructive is also very beneficial for the area. They dig up soil, eat, poop, stomp it in thus adding good nutrient to the soil, making the soil mare capable of supporting more growth, it levels the playing field as far as plants are concerned, the dominant plants will have been knocked down a peg or two and other plants can get established. So increasing soil fetility and biodiversity can never be a bad thing. Even if it means an area gets "devastated". It'll have grown back better in no time.

Agreed, but...

Nature never creates something without reason.

Nature continually creates things without reason.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spandrel_%28biology%29

What do you think your philtrum (the two ridges on your top lip) is for? Answer: it isn't for anything; it is an accidental byproduct of the way a human face is created in a developing foetus. There are some even more obvious and extreme examples in humans, but they are XXX-rated.

[Geoff Dann]

Not if they eradicate the native species, plant and animal; especially ground nesting birds and snakes. That's what commonly happens with feral hogs; or when any invasive species is introduced.

Wild boar are native to the UK. We hunted them to extinction a few hundred years ago.

[HillBill]

They were native to here before we killed em all. So technically they aint invasive. Can't see them wiping out entire species though. Its all a matter of scale and perspective. What may seem bad in one area will have benefits later down the line. Natures timescale and ours are 2 very different things.

Not if they eradicate the native species, plant and animal; especially ground nesting birds and snakes. That's what commonly happens with feral hogs; or when any invasive species is introduced.

[santaman2000]

Wild boar are native to the UK. We hunted them to extinction a few hundred years ago.

Fair enough but in those few centuries the landscape has changed a good bit hasn't it? Do you think it could survive re-introduction.

A bit more extreme an example would be could the Earth as we know it survive re-introduction of sabre tooth cats? Mammoths? Dinosaurs? After all, they were all once "native" species.

[HillBill]

I would say that there is a reason for all things in nature, even if we cant see what that reason is at this time. The link you posted mentions things from a evolutionary biology perspective, yet evoloution is a theory, nothing more, so we cant use that to say something is created without reason, for how do we "know" anything based on a theory.

The philtrum has a reason, like you say its part of the way the face is created. Without it would our face be created the same?

Agreed, but...



Nature continually creates things without reason.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spandrel_(biology)

What do you think your philtrum (the two ridges on your top lip) is for? Answer: it isn't for anything; it is an accidental byproduct of the way a human face is created in a developing foetus. There are some even more obvious and extreme examples in humans, but they are XXX-rated.

[HillBill]

How could the earth "as we know it" survive even the tiniest introduction of an extinct species? The very act of creating an extinct species automatically changes the world "as we know it" I doubt the earth ever gets through a day without changing somehow

[widu13]

Plenty of boar in East Sussex. They can be nasty though. I remember being on stag on Ex in Germany about 3am one morning and being chased up a woodpile by a boar- it had come to me, not the other way around! I had the last laugh though as I gave it a good 1/2 mag from ye olde LMG (7.62); well kind of the last laugh as we were on Ex and I only had blanks...and I got a slap for waking everyone up.

[santaman2000]

How could the earth "as we know it" survive even the tiniest introduction of an extinct species? The very act of creating an extinct species automatically changes the world "as we know it" I doubt the earth ever gets through a day without changing somehow

True enough but you get my point. Especially when talking about pigs. As has been pointed out by others, they're highly adaptive and inteligent; they'll outcompete most anything else; rather like the Grey squirrel is doing (only as I said they'll also take down unrelated species) I'm not sure the locals really want to see that happen on a large scale.