• Welcome to The Bushcraft Forum

    You are currently viewing the site as a guest and some content may not be available to you.

    Registration is quick and easy and will give you full access to the site and allow you to ask questions or make comments and join in on the conversation. If you would like to join then please Register

Wild boar in the forest of dean

WolfsHead

WolfsHead

Extremely Talkative
Messages
181
Points
540
Age
40
I was out walking the hound in the forest whilst visiting my mum last weekend. She'd been telling me of a mid size boar that was knocking around the area. I was taking a route I hadn't walked in a while when I noticed some fairly fresh boar prints in the mud. So I skirted off in a different direction so as not to have the dog provoking it into a charge if I stumbled across it on the narrow path.

Part way down the different route I found fresh scat. Didnt take a picture of that mind you. My bull lurcher was going nuts trying to track a scent so I speared off at 90 degrees from the way he wanted to go. Nothing else happened until I was nearly at the end of the walk on a track with lots of people traffic. Heard a snort and quite close a boar sprang up trotted away. As it seemed quite calm and headed away from me amd the dog only showing mild interest and not thw fervour he had earlier I got my phone put for a picture. Sadly it was too zoomed put to make anything out....so I switched to video knowing the motion would stand out a bit better. Looks like Bigfoot/nessie quality footage but you can tell ita a boar at the end. But the video wont load here. Says it's too large.
 

Attachments

  • 20180917_091253.jpg
    20180917_091253.jpg
    266.9 KB · Views: 179
I've never seen one this far south but I'm pretty certain that they will eventually turn up, at the end of the day we are just returning to the way things were a couple of hundred years ago. On the continent people live hand in glove with wild boar and its never been a problem and we should be the same
 
Good find, not sure what I would do if faced with one, apart from climb the nearest tree ;)
 
Bopdude said:
Good find, not sure what I would do if faced with one, apart from climb the nearest tree ;)
Click to expand...
They wont attack you Al unles they have young and see you as a threat, in Germany I have been within 20 feet from them and been perfectly safe
 
It seems that the wild boar in the Forest of Dean have become quite used to people since their accidental release in the '80's. If you look at the maths, a current population in excess of approximately 1500 of them, 70% female farrowing between 6 and 10 piglets up to 3 times a year by the time they're 11 months old...... :eek:.........their population is expanding at an exponential rate.
Since they're already spread through most of Gloucestershire I doubt it will be long until they're established in any habitat that suits them in the adjoining counties. It could well be that Joe sees them digging up his veg patch in a few years.
 
Joecole said:
They wont attack you Al unles they have young and see you as a threat, in Germany I have been within 20 feet from them and been perfectly safe
Click to expand...
Even so you need a licence for keeping dangerous animals in order to keep them, even a domestic breed of pig can be dangerous so I wouldn't take anything for granted. There is no fixed breeding season so you could encounter a sow with piglets at any time of year other than deep winter.
 
Ystranc said:
Even so you need a licence for keeping dangerous animals in order to keep them, even a domestic breed of pig can be dangerous so I wouldn't take anything for granted. There is no fixed breeding season so you could encounter a sow with piglets at any time of year other than deep winter.
Click to expand...
Very true, in Germany they were all wild so we didn't antagonize them
 
My mum amd her dog, a Doberman, have both been charged by full size boar. Mum had to duck behind a tree with the dog. Shouted at it from there and it ran off. The dog on a separate occasion got a whack from one but no injury from the tusks fortunately. So used to people though they may be they certainly arent 'tame'. They're also bold as brass and regularly uproot people's gardens at night. Still....lovely to see though.
 
I'm partial to a bit of wild boar. Most of what is available is either French or German imports even though the forestry commission in the Forest of Dean have a small team attempting to control the number of boar in the more ecologically sensitive areas.
It seems nonsensical that we're not eating more of it in this country when they're rapidly becoming a pest.
 
There needs to be better guidance for landowners who want to open up permissions. So far everything is based on the deer stalking certificates but boar are behaviourally and anatomically completely different from deer....it's just a bit lazy on the part of DEFRA
 
Which paper, it may be online by now.
The simple fact is that if DEFRA wanted to control wild boar numbers they've already missed the boat.
 
Ystranc said:
Which paper, it may be online by now.
The simple fact is that if DEFRA wanted to control wild boar numbers they've already missed the boat.
Click to expand...
They will eventually have to organise a major cull
 
There is talk of boar near Fort William and near Loughborough.....they seem to be popping up in small pockets all up and down the country.
It's almost like a pattern of deliberate releases, if that's the case it's extremely ill advised.
 
Ystranc said:
There is talk of boar near Fort William and near Loughborough.....they seem to be popping up in small pockets all up and down the country.
It's almost like a pattern of deliberate releases, if that's the case it's extremely ill advised.
Click to expand...
Yep in a few years they will reach pest proportions
 
In Germany we really have them everywhere.

If you don't run behind them, they don't do anything.
They are very intelligent, not far away from humans. Or even more, because they avoid stress.

They are only theoretical, only potentially dangerous, like your neighbour or your brother in law, who could theoretical become really dangerous too.

Like your neighbour, such a pig will try to kill you when you hurt it. Hunters have accidents, hikers usually not.

And like most ladies at the playing ground, the pigs react, if you try to run behind and to touch theyr children. But the pigs are stronger than you, and they know it!

But usually walkers do not get problems with them. The pigs know, that humans walk trough the forest like every other animal too, but usually stay on the ways.

But a dog who runs behind the pig usually will get problems! Pigs are strong and fast!
And it's possible, that the pig looks at man and dog as an attacking group.

Should you see one next to your larger way a bit deeper in the forest, just continue your way. They know, that humans walk along there and are used to it.

Avoid to break in tight standing small tree areas, which look like hedges. They usually sleep there. And probably would react aggressive when they wake up.

Should you suddenly meet one on a path, speak friendly with the pig and walk back, where you came from.

The best is to sing long deep sounds.
Hunters don't sing, and walkers usually don't do it too. So the pig will be surprised, and will forget its fear for the moment.
They like such music.

It is even possible to become friends with them. Once I met a guy who showed me pictures, where a pig was playing with his dog. In the end the dog was playing with the children of the pig!

So it mainly depends on your behaviour how they react to you.

If the pig can understand, that you are simply a hiker, who doesn't run behind it, it will not become angry. So walk straight ahead and not directly in the direction of the pig and everything should be fine.
 
Last edited:
Do what i do when confronted with a boar I've lived in the forest all my life you shout at em they run I'm thankful now forestry England are going to have a cull on them as they are now moving into populated areas and causing problems
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top