Characteristics of wild boar

[Dogma88]

Characteristics of wild boar




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The original range of wild boar was Eurasia and North Africa - from Ireland to Japan and southern Scandinavia to Egypt. Wild boar are the ancestors of the domestic pig, and the two species can be interbred. The terms standard and full-blood are applied to wild boar in Canada. Standards have some domestic pig in their background, while fullbloods are considered to be pure wild boar.

Crosses of the two produce hybrid animals. Fullbloods can be more aggresive than hybrids or standard wild boar, particularly if they aren't raised in close contact with people.

Physically, wild boar look very different from domestic pigs. They have smaller ears and much longer snouts; their tails are straight and tufted at the tip. Hair coloring is brown to black. Long bristles run from the head along the centre line of the back, and can be raised two to three inches from the body when wild boar are excited or agitated.

With their hind legs shorter than front legs, wild boar have an "uphill" appearance. Mature wild boar measure up to 40 inches at the shoulder. Males can weigh up to 450 pounds and females up to 370 pounds. Wild boar are market-ready at 180 to 200 pounds. Genetics and nutrition play a significant role in the ability of individual wild boar to reach market weight between 14 and 18 months.

Females can produce three litters per year under intense management and ideal conditions. However, two litters are more the norm. Gestation is 114 days. Litters average four to five young, although individual mature sows can produce as many as ten boarlets. Under adverse environmental conditions, the number of boarlets produced by a herd can average as few as one or two per sow. Young wild boar are born with Yellowish-brown coats with distinct dark stripes along the back providing camouflage coloring.

[Dogma88]

About Wild Boar



About Wild Boar ....Who they are Where they came from The swine connection How they look and live Where they live Californians have lived for a very long time with an exciting and dangerous big game animal. It is very intelligent and knows the ways of humans. It can be dangerous when wounded or cornered. And it is delicious on the table: the wild boar.
Wild boars have made their home in California for decades. In fact, the true wild boar, also called the European or Russian boar, was introduced into Monterey County around 1925. Their domesticated ancestors were introduced to the New World by Columbus in 1493. They made it to the mainland under DeSoto who brought the original 13 grunting porkers in 1539. From this small herd eventually developed the now wild "razorback" in the American southwest.
Domestic swine came to California with the first settlers. Many of them escaped from their pens and enclosures and headed for the hills where they established wild breeding populations. Over time these feral pigs interbred with the Russian boar and became what we now commonly call the "Wild Boar". This term, by the way, refers to both male and female wild boars.
Whether pure Russian boar or a mix between boar and feral hogs, these animals are truly wild animals. The State of California recognizes them as game animals. Many of their physical characteristics are different from the domestic pig....

....How they look
The most common color is black or a very dark gray. Rust colored animals are also found; so are black animals with white streaks or a brown belly and about anything else in between. Boar have long, bristly hair, tufts of long hair on their shoulders and along the backbone, sometimes close to their feet and a woolen undercoat that keeps them warm.
Their basic body structure follows the bison principle: High shoulders, sloping rump, long and skinny legs and small hips. The massive wedge shaped head with short, hairy, erect ears ends in a pointed snout. The nose is almost round, looks and feels somewhat soft to the touch, but must be one of the most efficient rooting machines ever developed by any animal. Much to the chagrin of farmers boars dig up fields and meadows with great ease and even very hard surfaces cannot withstand for long the probing of a boar's snout.
A mature male stands up to around 30 inches tall. He is between four and five feet long and weighs somewhere between 150 and 300 pounds. The average is, however, closer to 200 pounds. A 300 pound boar with long tusks is a trophy animal. Females are slightly smaller and lighter.
Even the meat of a 300 pound boar can be rather tasty when cared for properly. But if you hunt for food the best meat is found on smaller animals up to, say, 150 pounds.
Unlike domestic pigs the boar, both male and female, have long tusks, upper and lower. The lower tusks are relatively straight. They grow slightly backwards. The upper tusks, also called whetters, curl upward and outward. They rub against the lower tusks and thus constantly sharpen them. The tusks of the male are usually longer than those of the female and have a greater curl.
These impressive tusk are what most hunters remember most about the wild boar. The danger associated with hunting wild boar also is connected to these razor-sharp tusks. An angry or wounded boar slashes at hunters and dogs in an upward and sideways motion. A hunter's leg is easily cut and dogs are frequently far more seriously hurt.
Contrary to domestic porkers wild boar usually have a straight tail. Their ears are hairy, erect and rather small as mentioned earlier. A boar generally stands higher than his domestic cousin and is far more agile.
I am not sure about domestic pigs but the wild hog moves at a good clip. Twenty to twenty five miles per hour are not unusual. They go up to 35 miles when in a hurry. They are also constantly on the move, even when feeding. Watching a feeding herd of boar you will notice the individual animal root a little here, then there and then it moves on to a new spot. All the while the animal and the entire group are generally moving in one definite direction....

....Habitat and Habits
Boar adapt rather easily to various habitats as long as there is a good and reliable source of water available to them. If wild boar have an innate weakness it is their low tolerance for heat. Porkers just do not do too well in hot and dry climates.
This is the main reason why only very few wild pigs are found south of Santa Barbara county. Pig tags submitted to Fish & Game indicate however that there are, indeed, a very few in San Bernardino, Riverside and Los Angeles counties. I would not waste my time hunting them....

....The elusive quarry
Because wild boar are so much on the move hunters often find it hard to locate a herd even in excellent pig hunting areas. Wild boar appear to follow a daily routine and to travel on established trails to and from water and foraging areas. Their ability to move great distances makes it difficult to predict where they will be at any given time, unless a hunter has enough time to study and understand their travel patterns. Once he has accomplished that it becomes much easier to intercept them....

....What they eat
Where there are pigs there are droppings. Fresh droppings, preferably. Boar droppings are sausage shaped and very often packed like individual slices in a sausage skin. Or books on a shelf, if that gives you a better idea. If you are serious and feel like really digging in, it pays to examine the scats more closely. They can tell you a lot about the food the boar last ate. Once you know his food source you also know where to look for him. If he is still there.
Wild boar are omnivorous. They eat everything from fresh sprouts in the spring to roots, tubers, mushrooms and nuts and berries in fall. But they will not pass up lizards, frogs, small birds, eggs and snakes.
Wild pigs do not mind eating rattlesnakes either. Catalina Island off the coast of Southern California experienced a drought just like many other parts of the country. This reduced the resident population of wild boar and increased the number of rattlesnakes dramatically....

....About their senses ?
The wild boar is an intelligent animal. In addition, he must have inherited some knowledge of the ways of humans from his domesticated ancestors. This makes him a quarry which is difficult to hunt at best. Add to that his very keen sense of smell and acute hearing and you understand why so many of us experience the frustrations of unsuccessful wild boar hunts....

....Miniature bison in body armor ?
Intelligent, equipped with keen senses, enduring, swift, wise to the ways of humans, wary, feisty and aggressive when cornered all this makes the wild boar one of our most challenging and difficult game animals.
As always the boar has one more ace up his sleeve. Male boar do some fighting during rut. Maybe in response to this danger to life and limb they develop a veritable body armor to protect their vital organs. This armor between skin and flesh is made up of fat, grizzle and tendons and can get as thick as one inch or more. It starts around the neck and shoulder area and extends just past the lower ribs. In very old males it can cover almost the entire body.
What does that mean to you as a hunter? Well, first of all you need a good, strong rifle even for close in shots. Second, when skinning your game you need good sharp knives, lots of them. And a whetstone nearby to keep them sharp. To say they are not the easiest animal in the world to skin is an understatement. The meat is well worth it, though. The best eating size is a boar right around 100 lbs. Bigger boars will give off a definite odor when being cooked, but are still good to eat. The feral hog is one of the leanest, tastiest meats. Proper field dressing followed by adequate refrigeration go along way toward the preparation of excellent bar-b-que or sausage. However, as with all pork products, meat should be thoroughly cooked before serving.....