Whilst walking through the woods last August (it was at around 11:00am) we came to the edge of the woodland adjoining the open fields of the neighbouring farm, when my wife suddenly said that there was a dog walking about in the field. Turning to see what she was talking about, we realized that this was not a dog but a boar. The boar calmly crossed the field in front of us at a distance of about 70 metres before disappearing back into the woods. It was in no hurry and was just ambling along without seemlingly, a care in the world. I tend to think that he simply didn´t see us, as boar don´t have good eyesight and that perhaps the wind direction had not given us away. Since that time I´ve found out that there are quite a few boar in this region of Kent and they are seemingly breeding sustainably. Cutler´s Wood borders farmland but also borders Kings Wood and other woods, together making up over 2000 acres of woodland offering ideal habitat for boar. Whether this boar was truly wild in the sense of European wild boar that have always been wild or whether domestic ancestors had some part in his existence we shall never know
. Wild Boar or Feral Pig ? Whatever their credentials I welcome them as extra (and historically natural) diversity to the woods. They may do some damage by rooting around but deer cause damage too and most people accept that deer belong to the countryside, even though control of numbers is necessary. We may, in the absence of natural predators, one day have to control numbers of boar too but they belong here just as deer do (maybe more so than deer, as fallow, sika and munjac deer were all introduced to Britain).
.JPG)
Whilst walking through the woods last August (it was at around 11:00am) we came to the edge of the woodland adjoining the open fields of the neighbouring farm, when my wife suddenly said that there was a dog walking about in the field. Turning to see what she was talking about, we realized that this was not a dog but a boar. The boar calmly crossed the field in front of us at a distance of about 70 metres before disappearing back into the woods. It was in no hurry and was just ambling along without seemlingly, a care in the world. I tend to think that he simply didn´t see us, as boar don´t have good eyesight and that perhaps the wind direction had not given us away. Since that time I´ve found out that there are quite a few boar in this region of Kent and they are seemingly breeding sustainably. Cutler´s Wood borders farmland but also borders Kings Wood and other woods, together making up over 2000 acres of woodland offering ideal habitat for boar. Whether this boar was truly wild in the sense of European wild boar that have always been wild or whether domestic ancestors had some part in his existence we shall never know
. Wild Boar or Feral Pig ? Whatever their credentials I welcome them as extra (and historically natural) diversity to the woods. They may do some damage by rooting around but deer cause damage too and most people accept that deer belong to the countryside, even though control of numbers is necessary. We may, in the absence of natural predators, one day have to control numbers of boar too but they belong here just as deer do (maybe more so than deer, as fallow, sika and munjac deer were all introduced to Britain).
