Wild Boars
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| The boar is a type of wild pig
that is not native to North America.
They were brought over from Europe,
originally by Spanish explorers in
the 1500s for food and then later in
the 1900s by people who wanted to
hunt the wild boar for sport. Wild
boars are large – sometimes weighing
up to 300 pounds. The body of the
wild boar is compact, the head is
large, and the legs relatively
short. The fur consists of stiff
bristles, finer fur and straight
tails. Their color usually varies
from black, brown or dark grey. Male
boar have tusks that curt out of
their mouth, not like elephant’s
tusks, but ranging from two to five
inches long and they can be very
dangerous. Female boars have smaller
tusks that don’t stick out as much.
Boars like to live in forests and
around streams or ponds. Since boars
don’t have any sweat glands, they
wallow in the mud to cool off.
Wallowing also helps to get rid of
fleas and ticks. Boars are speedy
runners and good swimmers. In the
fall, they eat forest foods like
acorns, hickory nuts and pecans.
During the rest of the year, boars
eat roots, grass, mushrooms, eggs,
bugs, roots and even dead animals.
Boars really dig up the ground when
looking for roots. Their tough
snouts really help them dig. They
have an excellent sense of smell and
can sniff out underground foods.
Their eyesight, however, is not very
good, but they hear very well. Their
ears stand up straight, unlike a
farm pig’s ears. Since boars are not
native to North America, they are
called “exotic” or foreign. Wild
boars can be seen as exotic pests
for many reasons. The boars dig up
the ground for roots and doing so
kills many native plants. When they
wallow near the edge of a pond, they
also tear up water plants. This
causes erosion because the soil
washes away when the plant roots
can’t hold onto the dirt anymore.
Wild boars get into gardens and eat
plants; they sometimes eat eggs and
babies of small native animals,
including the endangered baby sea
turtle. Wild boars have very few
natural predators, because of this
they are often hunted to keep them
from damaging the environment around
them. |
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