Boar returned to England! (At least for a while)

[torjusg]

Seems like you the wild boar has returned to the Isles. They breed very rapidly, so if you are lucky (from a bushcrafter's perspective) this may be the start of a new population!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/devon/4581702.stm

My guess is still that the animal can be declared extinct again before the end of this month.

Torjus Gaaren

 

[Pappa]

I think there's a few more escapees dotted around the country too.

 

[pumbaa]

We have had similar in dorset (only not as recently) a few people have seen them whilst walking through the woods and forests localy .
I am quite chuffed that the escapes are making a go of things and surviving , they belong in England and its down to us to learn to live with them .
Pumbaa

 

[Adi]

These Boar were released from a farm by animal rights protesters the media has wrongly used the word hunt it is really a round up.

They are rounding them up to take back to the farm.

Over many years Boar have escaped British farms and have become established in some areas. There are a number of areas on the Southdowns were there are self sustained populations of Boar.

 

[torjusg]

But they are generally half-breeds, am I right?

Torjus Gaaren

 

[Spacemonkey]

Word on the street is that they have been in the New Forest for a few years. Anyone else heard this?

So when a toddler is gorged by a charging male boar that has been accidently cornered, will the animal rights activists claim responsibility? Having been charged by one on Spain, I wouldn't like to accidently come across one here! The problem is that as they say, we do not have the correct hunting dogs for boar hunts, and we do not know how to act if we come across one either, let alone expect it. When will the first bobble hatted Rambler get it?

 

[RovingArcher]

Feral hogs are hogs that have escaped back to the wild and surprisingly, their coats get thick and wirey, their snouts elongate some, they start growing their tusks and within a generation or two, they look as though they had never been taken from the wild.

I was watching Hogzilla on the discovery science channel and they had a short bit on the return of wild hogs to your country. If I remember correctly, they showed them in the west and south in fairly good numbers and they were expanding their range.

Make no mistakes, wild hogs are dangerous and they are omnivores (they eat everything), so if you come across them in the wild, keep a wary eye on them and move on.

 

[torjusg]

Found this:

http://go.kvasir.sol.no/g/http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/wild-boar/wildboar-status.pdf

Torjus Gaaren

 

[daveymonkey]

i saw hogzilla too, im all for the return of traditional uk wildlife but im not sure i would like to see that!

 

[torjusg]

According to the report that my link points to, it is extremely rare to be attacked by boars. They are very frightened of humans since they have been hunted hard for millenia. It's the same as with the wolf really. Chances are much greater to die from a beesting or win the first prize in a big lottery.

Torjus Gaaren

 

[Spacemonkey]

Umm, tell that to people who live where they are prolific. I would agree that most wild boar will make itself scarce should a person approach it, but people living where I have a farm in Spain say that boar charges happen a lot. It happened to me walking up an overgrown hill overlooking my dad's farm, near mine. We heard something making a lot of noise charging around about 30 metres away and realised it was heading to wards us, fast. me and my mate leaped up a 3m high sheer rock face in a manner that would do Spiderman proud, and just as we got to the top we saw the boar appear where we were stood. It looked around then went at a 90 degree angle from where it had came at a slower rate, so I think it was definitely after us. It had bloody huge tusks that i wouldn't fancy having in my leg!! Saying that though, I do think they look cute, especially the piglets!

 

[RovingArcher]

i saw hogzilla too, im all for the return of traditional uk wildlife but im not sure i would like to see that!

Yeah, I wouldn't want to meet that big, ugly and smelly hog either. 700# of hungry anger. They get like that and they are very smart. The largest that has been killed in California was just over 1000#. Big ol' feral hog and as mean as they come. You could walk right past those big hogs and not know they were even around and they wouldn't move a muscle until you are past them.

 

[RovingArcher]

According to the report that my link points to, it is extremely rare to be attacked by boars. They are very frightened of humans since they have been hunted hard for millenia. It's the same as with the wolf really. Chances are much greater to die from a beesting or win the first prize in a big lottery.

Torjus Gaaren

They may turn tail and run, but they do not fear man. They usually won't bother humans unless they feel they are being infringed upon. Big boars are unpredictable and females, like any good mom, will defend her piglets. Did I mention that big boars are unpredictable?

 

[redflex]

They are in here in Herefordshire big breeding population,


Great fun when you meet a group protecting their young and you got a nervous horse bewteen your legs

But we did kill them of first time round and they are native so I think they should stay we should accommdate them not the other way round.

They have their own Uk site

http://www.britishwildboar.org.uk/

 

[British Red]

Would it be politically incorrect to say "look forward to some wild pork"? My German friends really enjoy hunting boar!

 

[tomtom]

Personaly i hope they dont mannage to round them up, and so far as i know they only have about half of them back so far!
The press is going on about them being dangerous if cornered, well isnt anything? admitedly the boar probably has more means to defend its self then a sheep though haha

its been reported they have gotten all the way across the more and have been spotted near plymouth which is a bit of a trek, i cant see that they will mannage to round them all up!

 

[pierre girard]

Seems like you the wild boar has returned to the Isles. They breed very rapidly, so if you are lucky (from a bushcrafter's perspective) this may be the start of a new population!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/devon/4581702.stm

My guess is still that the animal can be declared extinct again before the end of this month.

Torjus Gaaren

Interesting article.

Reminds me of the farmer in the rural farming county where my brother is a deputy. One farmer would let his pigs loose in the spring, and let them fatten on other farmer's fields. In the fall he would call the sheriff and complain his pigs had gotten loose. Sheriff would have the deputies keep an eye out and round them up when they were found. The third year this happened, the sheriff told the deputies to inform all their friends it was open season on pigs that were loose. When the farmer called to say his pigs were loose - they were never found.

We ate lot of pork that year.

PG

 

[stoddy]

Umm, tell that to people who live where they are prolific. I would agree that most wild boar will make itself scarce should a person approach it, but people living where I have a farm in Spain say that boar charges happen a lot. It happened to me walking up an overgrown hill overlooking my dad's farm, near mine. We heard something making a lot of noise charging around about 30 metres away and realised it was heading to wards us, fast. me and my mate leaped up a 3m high sheer rock face in a manner that would do Spiderman proud, and just as we got to the top we saw the boar appear where we were stood. It looked around then went at a 90 degree angle from where it had came at a slower rate, so I think it was definitely after us. It had bloody huge tusks that i wouldn't fancy having in my leg!! Saying that though, I do think they look cute, especially the piglets!

I think it is great to have a bit of fun whilst out walking

it is good to know we have an adversary again in the wilds of england

 

[Neil1]

Thats just up the road Stoddy, have to agree, I think its great too.
There is a web-site dedicated to boar in the UK, most of the piccys are taken near where I used to live, regretably I never got to see one, so I moved to an ABC area (Alien Big Cats), have'nt seen one of those yet either.
Neil

 

[Spacemonkey]

So the big question is:


Who will win in a fight between a wild boar and an alien big cat in the British countryside?