Cycling UK Forum

Helms cartoon
Bryn + Cyril camping
Bryn: 'go and milk that cow so we can have breakfast!'
..
Cyril came back the worse for wear
'That cow was a bull', he bleated

Cyril Haearn wrote:

Mike Sales wrote:

Cyril Haearn wrote:They are ubiquitous apparently even in Berlin, seen pictures but never seen one, I have seen where they have dug up the ground looking for food
I think they are very shy but unpredictable, especially when the piglets are small

They are powerful and could easily seriously harm a person

Are you referring to hunters or boar?

Boars of course
Wild Boar Fell in Englandshire might be a safe place, boars were exterminated there centuries ago

But with wild boar population growth across the UK following accidental release from boar farms one day this could be corrected. Wild boar on the fell bearing its name. Very appropriate IMHO.

PS won't happen I reckon since boars are more woodland critters AIUI and wild boar fell has little tree cover iirc.

I read years ago that boars are 3/4 tonne and dense with it. They can run as fast as the average fit and healthy mid to large size dog of a sporting breed and can accelerate quickly. In short they'll go from standing to 30+mph before you realise they're there if you surprise them. However it is not really likely they'll be surprised by you unless you're trying to surprise them of course.

IIRC it was a daily telegraph scare story aimed at trying to reduce reintroduction which iirc there was one plan at the time. So they were trying to lay it on thick about how dangerous they are.

NOT 3/4 tonne - that's as much as a horse!!!

Big adult males can be up to 100kg.

They shouldn't be messed with, but are definitely not a threat unless you threaten them first.

I posted a couple of years ago about bivvying when some odd animal was abroad. never established what it was for sure.
Will wild boar approach or enter a tent after food if they smell it or are they happy to stick with their normal food foraging efforts. I understand that they may turn vicious if protecting young. If not, how should you face face- down a boar?

Sweep wrote:I posted a couple of years ago about bivvying when some odd animal was abroad. never established what it was for sure.
Will wild boar approach or enter a tent after food if they smell it or are they happy to stick with their normal food foraging efforts. I understand that they may turn vicious if protecting young. If not, how should you face face- down a boar?

Back away carefully, climb a tree if necessary. Unlike bears, they can't follow you up a tree

I've never heard of food precautions for boar in the same way as for bears. Camping in Wyoming, I have been in Grizzly country and heard something BIG walking and sniffing around just outside my tent. Likewise in California saw black bears in my campsite.
Hearing the sniffs about a metre away does make the hairs on your neck prickle. I had the pans and spoons ready to bang to scare it off.

Bear / boar bells? You can buy special cow bells for bikes that constantly jingle when riding around the woods. Problem solved when mobile. Sleeping? Well of you're as restless a sleeper as me they'd work attached to you too!

We get boar in our french garden, but they are very shy and clear off if they hear you moving around.

We let cyclists camp in the garden for free if they are in trouble and can't make any more distance; no problems yet with boar, but the resident whip snakes can get curious sometimes ......................

happy days,

I was alone on a campsite in the foothills of the Alps some years ago and woke to hear snuffling and grunting just outside the tent, so I flapped the tent and shouted and could hear something(s) running off, with a rattling sound. Next morning my rubbish bag, with a couple of tins in it, was half-way across the campsite. Got caught on a tusk? There were certainly boar about, I'd seen them - very briefly as you do - during the day.
BTW hedgehogs in UK sound almost as scary!!

Come and practice here in the Forest of Dean. Hundreds of the things about. Mums don't like you getting to close to the young and can have a go at dogs but other wise they are nice enough. Smelly buggers though.

I was terrorized by hedgehogs on a Swedish campsite last month - do mini hogs count?

foxyrider wrote:I was terrorized by hedgehogs on a Swedish campsite last month - do mini hogs count?

Me too! Well actually southern Germany but not far from the Swiss border. Was woken in the night by loud rustling. A hedge boar was going through my rubbish

A taxi driver drove his vehicle into a queer beast, he called the cops, described a huge hamster with tusks
..
Turned out to be a wild boar

Any more taxi driver stories?

Oldjohnw wrote:IMG_20190914_175907052.jpg

'Here in the country one is woken by the cock crowing' explained a farmer
'Sounds good, may I be woken at 10:00?' said the offcomer