Bloody Wild Boar



There's a lot of wild Boar in this corner of France. Their numbers seem to have exploded in recent years, there's not a day goes by when I don't hear them squealling and grunting over in the woods on the other side of the river. I wish they would stay there!

Boar do enormous amounts of damage in their quest for food. At this time of year they are particularly active as they search out nuts, berries and various grubs. Autumn is nature's bounty, they know that. Winter is fast approaching, they know that too.



It's the 'grubbing' aspect of their behaviour which causes the real damage. They merrily churn up large areas of turf to find chafer grubs ( another pain-in-the-arse pest of which I have too many) and other protein rich tasty morsels, and all with the finesse of a drunk driving a plough.

They've torn swathes of the field up away from the houses, and it'll take hours and hours for me to reorganise and stamp the turf back down. I'm going to wait a few days before I attempt it. The ground's so dry at the moment, It has only rained twice since the beginning of September, so if Wednesday's promised forecast comes true, Thursday will be spent piecing the jigsaw back together.




They could easily come back and do it all again though. They've ravaged some of my neighbour's gardens. It ain't funny.

This year's continued shortage of rainfall has contributed to the Boar creating so much havoc. They seem to be travelling further and further to find food and have no problem crossing the little river Beune which runs through here as it is at a record low.

Comments

  1. Jeepers. That's a mess.

    Are they traveling farther because their old food sources are threatened, or drying up? or do you think they are just bold?

    Wild boar hunt?

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  2. Marie, there seems to be a lot of boar this year. Some foods are definitely scarce, courtesy of the drought.

    The hunt were in the woods Saturday,shots were fired. I wake up this morning, Monday, and the ground is all torn up. So much for the hunt.

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  3. That is amazing can't you teach them to plough and then eat the.

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  4. I love wild boar (on a plate). Good will to the hunters. May they succeed and prosper.

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  5. A sort of dejeuner sur l'herbe de sanglier?
    Some of us have had to deal with wombats...

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  6. We have a rabbit plague. To the extent we have to have special fences around the entire property of two hectares (five acres) That's about 700 meters of expensive fencing. It has to be pretty good with no gaps and gates have to be carefully set up to provide an effective barrier. A rabbit can make itself quite small and squeeze through. Even with that I have spent all year trying to get the last rabbit out.
    http://thefieldofgold.blogspot.com/2010/09/keeping-out-rabbits.html?utm_source=BP_recent

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  7. That's impressive damage. I wonder if the boar would be willing to do that within carefully scribed lines? Would spare me the work of turf removal.

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  8. And to think that I've been upset about the damage by opossums and raccoons ... after seeing this I realize that I've got it good (comparatively)!!
    Larry

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  9. That cat looks like it could see them off. We have a wild boar farm on the borders of Devon and my fil loved to go there for lunch. You need Asterix!

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  10. We have wild hogs here in Texas...fortunately they don't come around us because of our dogs.
    If I woke up to that I think I would be grabbing a gun!

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  11. Catherine, that would be the ideal solution!

    James, goodwill to the hunters indeed. They were over in the woods on Saturday, shots were fired, still the boar return. Despite the horrendous damage, they are beautiful animals.

    Dinahmow, I know about the wombats, my sister in law lives in OZ

    Bloody bunnies. Even Otago is plagued by them.

    Susan, I think they're a little too ad-hoc in their ploughing strategy.

    Larry, I'm sure opossum and raccoon damage is no fun.

    Asterix may be the answer. Either that or the wizard's potion and I'll sort them out.

    Mary I agree. I'm sure they're wary of a dog's scent.
    Larry there's a pest for everybody

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  12. I'm sorry for the damage they did to you. How I understand you!
    It also happens here. The holes that boars leave get filled afterwards with pine needles and it become really dangerous to walk...
    Haha, the only positive thing is that (at least Tuscan)boars are very punctual, so I can get in house in time to avoid them when they have cubs and become more protective = more aggressive.

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  13. Now there I am moaning about a few grey squirrels Rob - will count myself lucky from now on. Hope that next year is wetter with you.

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  14. Strewth, I thought moles and badgers made a mess but your boar have definitely got turf pillage down to a fine art.

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  15. Rob I'm so sorry to see that.

    In our county there are descendants of black Russian boars that are likewise very destructive. I'm very grateful they are not in our little valley, but do they do live in the Neuse River basin which the creek on our farm empties into. Hunting season is open on them every day of the year and still they thrive. They are very wiley.

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  16. Oh dear ... does not sound pretty, Rob! Can you hunt them down ... pretty tasty :)

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  17. Wild boar. . . I always imagined them to be fierce little critters. What a mess they make. I wish I could send you some of the rain we have had and continue to have!! There is no justice in nature. I hope you get rain soon.

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  18. I will never complain about deer again!

    Good luck to the hunters. Barbecue time.

    We're back from the wedding in Cabo San Lucas -- so lovely!

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  19. Your lovely meadow....bugger!
    And there was I griping about the foxes, badgers and squirrels digging up little patches of our lawn.....your boars do rather put it into perspective Rob!
    Did you get your floor finished in between boar hunting?!

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  20. Oh wow, never thought they'd be so much of a problem. They really created havoc.

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  21. How maddening this must be. My yard has plenty of moles, they are all over. I need to put down grub killer again to take away their food source.
    I think I would want to lie in wait for the wild boar.
    Betsy

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  22. I thought I commented on this post...Hmmm... I am joining Cameron - I'll never complain about my deers and rabbits! What beasts could do such damage! I would faint if this happened with my garden.

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