Thursday, May 01, 2014

Ravaged by wild boar...

Those of you who follow our blog will know we have a trigger camera sited in the wildest area of the garden here at La Pasera. The area is deliberately left to its own devices apart from a quick cut of the wild flowers and grasses after the seed heads have dried. So far we have filmed: Badgers, Pine Martens, Fox, Weasel, Hedgehogs, Birds, Mice, Cats, Deer and Wild Boar. The latest films are the best to date of wild boar activity.


On waking up, the first thing we generally do is to check that the cats are around and then have a wander around the garden with them before breakfast. It's a good opportunity to see what needs attention and what crops can be harvested. As we approached the wild area Luis spotted a small patch of turf lifted next to a clump of wild orchids...a sure sign of wild boar activity.


Then we spotted the devastation. A large patch of meadow in the wild area had been systematically ravaged and decimated. It looked like a plough had been through it with deep troughs and mounds of turf. This was right in front of the night camera so a few good shots were to be expected.


What we saw was quite something. First a large male, working his way through the meadow looking for tasty treats such as worm and bulbs. He was then approached by a smaller female who joined him in his quest for snacks. A few minutes later another female joined in. I was surprised at the length of their snouts and the strength they must have to be able to upturn compacted meadow turf with such vigour.



In total, they worked this small patch of meadow for two and a half hours. As the camera triggers for a minute at a time then re-sets, I had an awful lot of one minute videos to watch. My favourite is this last one in which the male Sniffs the camera, looks at it, suddenly decides enough is enough, grunts and trots off followed by the females one of which turns and also looks at the camera.



Fortunately, there was little damage elsewhere in the garden with only a few vegetables trampled as they had walked through the vegetable plot to get to the wild area. Obviously they are not so keen on mange tout, onions, potatoes or kale... Well let's hope so. There are a few more videos on Youtube.



ANIMALTALES

5 comments:

  1. They are big, strong creatures aren't they?

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    1. They are indeed...They plough the turf with their snouts and are relentless once they get a sniff of something.

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  2. Oh my goodness me - we have wild boar here and I have see the damage they inflict on fields and the paths but I have never actually seen on in the flesh. We were a bit worried that our pigs might encourage them to come bear us but (touch wood) that does not seem to have been the case. I hope yours do not come back and do any more damage.
    Many thanks for adding these great videos to #AnimalTales

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    1. We get many around here but they rarely do damage in the garden preferring the hedgerows and meadows where there are wild bulbs aplenty.

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  3. wow they really do some damage

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