Are wild boars dangerous

[Lush]

One nutcase can ask more questions than ten nutcases can answer, lol....

..but how dangerous are wild boars, or should I say hogs? (I am talking about the good old European ones only.)

I have been camping out in the woods with lot's of wild boars around me at night time. There were so many of them and so incredibly close to me (some about 10 meters away.) I just love those animals. They are so loud and noisy. But also very food fixated (I don't know the proper word for it.) I worked with domestic pigs for a little while... It's amazing how they just seem to ignore everything around them when food comes into play! They just knock you over and go for it if they have to.

One time I got a little paranoid when I was surrounded by lot's of them while I was laying very still to see how close they would come to me. My bivac was in amongst very thick brush. I was afraid they might pick up the smell of food from my backpack and stumble upon me. What are the chances of an accident like that?

p.s.: I made a lot of noise and waved with my lighter to try and chase them away which helped a little bit. Enough to feel comfortable again. But what if I was asleep??

Lush

 

[Eric_Methven]

It's unlikely they'd try and eat you, but your food is a different matter. It might be best to do what our colonial cousins do in bear country and sling your food high up in a tree overnight. The real dangerous time is when the sows have babies. If you stumble upon a family group you'll likely get charged,and if one of them makes contact, they could break your legs then gore you. Best bet is to remove any food from where you sleep, have a light source handy (flashlight or even better, a campfire) an keep your eyes and ears open. If you sleep in woodland areas regularly, you might consider a hammock and tarp setup. In a hammock, the boars just pass underneath you. You also get a better night's sleep than on the ground.

Eric

 

[boland magyar]

eric is right
treat these with respect....do not pxxs a male off as you could end up with 200lb of rock hard bacon after you .......trust me it happend to me in hungary and is not a pleasant experiance
boland

 

[Timinwales]

eric is right
treat these with respect....do not pxxs a male off as you could end up with 200lb of rock hard bacon after you .......trust me it happend to me in hungary and is not a pleasant experiance
boland

nice as pate on toast so they are ....
but seriously though formidable beasts to be treated with caution and the greatest of respect,
Tim

 

[twisted firestarter]

I once got charged by a wild boar in the Umbrian hills in Italy. I was out having a midnight walk with my partner at the time when we heard something charging at us in the dark. Luckily she had given me a big Maglite for xmas which I switched on and shone in the animal's eyes. The large boar which was bearing down on us skidded to a halt (cartoon style) did an about turn and scarpered in the opposite direction They are wild animals, be careful

 

[oldsoldier]

I had a bad experience with them in Germany training in the 90's. They surrounded us, with their little ones in tow, and kept running through our hide. I had to call back to our CP & let them know that we had to displace due to them. They advised scaring them by throwing rocks at them; bad idea. Needless to say, we moved on rather quickly. They can be mean spirited, IMHO. Best to steer clear of the beasties.
Oh, these ones had tusks too. Not sure what type of boar they were. They smell horrible as well

 

[led]

I'd definitely treat them with a degree of caution. As long as they don't see you as a threat you'll be fine. If you do find one being aggressive, then find a tree. When they were hunted in this country, they had to put a 'T' piece in the lances for boar hunting because they are so powerful they'd keep coming up the lance (despite being impaled on it) and attacking whoever was holding it.

 

[John Fenna]

I got between a sow and her stripy piglets in the forests on the German/Luxumberg border - big error!
I have never climbed a tree so fast as when she charged! and the tree was virtually branchless....
I LOVE Ardenne ham (smoke cured wild boar) - REVENGE!
Wild boar in the Ardeche are wimps - I suprised one while I was returning from loos on the campsite and it ran away from me - straight thru our bivvi spot and under the sleeping bods in their hammocks!
Mind you I am glad I was on my way back from the toilet or extra laundry may have been the days chore....
John

 

[spamel]

The german boar are notoriously aggressive, and so when I had something like 15 or 20 run out in front of me, I got worried! Fortunately for me, they ran across in front of me rather than towards me, and I was witness to a bunch of boar thundering past. An impressive animal that deserves a bit of respect, and well worth keeping your distance!

 

[Nightwalker]

All sounds pretty amusing listening to your stories about them. I've never seen a boar, but would love to. Are there any truly wild boar left in parts of the UK these days?

 

[Marts]

All sounds pretty amusing listening to your stories about them. I've never seen a boar, but would love to. Are there any truly wild boar left in parts of the UK these days?

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

 

[Lush]

Those stories are quite hilarious (not in the moment itself!)

I have to get out there and experience it again! But...., the stories prove they are not to be messed with. Especially not when they have little piglets! I think wild boar are one of the most exiting animals we have here in the Netherlands. They were extinct here and were imported from Poland many decades ago. A bit the same as in the UK I suppose...
thanks,
Lush

 

[marc]

They are dangerous, especially when wounded or injured (bullet, arrow, dog or car).
I bowhunt them on mixed drives ( archers and riflemen ) and I always make sure I position myself next to a climbable tree...

 

[rancid badger]

A few years ago, we had several wild boar escape from a local farm where they were bred for meat. They set up home in the local 960 acre woodland park where they scared the cak out of numerous walkers and then started digging up local residents gardens. The Forestry Commission acted very swiftly once the boar's presence was confirmed and they got a professional marksman in and shot the lot. They were considered extremely dangerous.

 

[Dunelm]

I heard a story from a farmer a few years ago about a ferral boar dragging a sheep into the woods in and eating it alive. Make of that what you will.


The Brawn of Brancepeth, 1208

He fear'd not ye loute with hys staffe,
He ye for ye knyghte in hys mayle;
He cared ne more for ye monke with hys boke,
Than ye fiendis in depe Croixdale.
Then out spake Hodge yt wyghte soe bolde
Yt nous on Fery hlye;
And he hathe sworne by Seynct Cudberte hys rode
Yt thys horride brawne shall dye;
And he hathe dygged a depe, depe pit,
And strewed it with braunches so grene.

 

[Tantalus]

They have pretty poor eyesight and a nervous disposition

If startled, much like any other animal, they have 2 choices fight or flee.

Both of these choices involve several hundred pounds of bacon hurtling randomly at great speed through a forest.

Now the last thing you really want is to get hit by one of these.

They have good sense of smell and hearing, my advice is to announce yourself to them from a safe distance and they will move off peacefully enough.

2 rocks , 2 sticks, tap them together , even slapping your trouser leg or your mushroom basket.

They are not really agressive, more defensive specially with young.

And if you do trip over one , get ready to climb, they can be quite persistant once alarmed and defensive.

Hunting them is another topic altogether.

Hope that helps.

Tant

 

[TheGreenMan]

One nutcase can ask more questions than ten nutcases can answer, lol...but how dangerous are wild boars, or should I say hogs? (I am talking about the good old European ones only.)...

I have only experienced wild hogs in two ways, the first in dry cured Spanish sausage (wild boar), and the second in painter’s brushes (the Siberian hog). Both encounters have been most satisfactory, and perfectly safe

Best regards,
Paul.