Wild Boar

HUNTING TIME IS HERE. WE HAVE LOOKED AT SOME OF THE USUAL HUNT QUARRIES - NOW LET US LOOK AT THE MOST FORMIDABLE

At Christmas, we normally expect to eat beef or turkey or goose, but some tables in France will be graced by a roast of sanglier, or wild boar. Incidentally, the French name sanglier is derived from the Latin singularis porcus or solitary pig, relating to the preferred lifestyle of the male boar. The Linnaean name is Sus scrofa, with the European boar being Sus scrofa scrofa

This substantial animal lives wild in France, and is probably the most hunted mammal. It is legendary for its ferocity and strength, and is well-armed with sharp tusks several inches long, and sharp hooves. A large boar is more than capable of severely injuring and even killing a man. Many a hunter will, with little prompting, roll up his trouser-leg to show the scar he received from the tusk of a sanglier. In fact, the creatures are normally shy and retiring, and will only attack if cornered or, if female, to defend their young. One can hardly blame them.

However, if they do attack, they will press the attack home until the victim is dead or incapacitated. They tend to attack the upper leg/lower abdomen area (as one would expect from their height) and the main weapon, apart from their sheer weight (between 80 and 100 kg, often even more) is their tusks, which we will look at in detail later. It occurs to me to ask why the scars one sees are usually on the hunter’s calf region, but perhaps I’d better not.

In the days before firearms, a boar-hunt was an even more perilous undertaking than it is today. The main weapon available was the spear, which would be held, not thrown. A boar-spear had to have a short cross-piece fitted some half a metre back from the tip, as a boar is strong enough to force its way up the spear-shaft

ByMikeGeorge

Mike George is our regular contributor on wildlife and the countryside in France. He is a geologist and naturalist, living in the Jurassic area of the Charente and attack the person holding it. To get within spear-range of the boar required the use of hounds, who would corner the boar and encircle it. They would then give a long howl or “bay” to alert the hunters, hence the term, “to bring to bay” (être aux abois). After the spears had done their work, the coup de grâce was usually given with a falchion, a stout curved sword. It should be said that the dogs were in considerable danger also. If you want to read more about a wild boar hunt, I would suggest that you read TH White’s, “The Sword in the Stone”, which contains an exciting yet moving account of such a hunt.

Boars at Christmas

In the Middle Ages, the meat of the boar was a recognised part of a noble Christmas feast, and Norman lords would demand its inclusion. Part of the agreement between a Norman landowner and his tenants might be that they supply so many wild boar to him each Christmas.

However, by this time, the boar as a wild animal in Britain was pretty well extinct. Indeed, William the Conqueror introduced draconian laws to prevent the unauthorised killing of wild boars. Finding the landlord one for Christmas would have been a thankless task. It is only in our more enlightened times that the activities of a few careless rare-breed enthusiasts and Animal Rights activists have created new wild populations in a few British woodlands.

The boar’s head would be brought into the banqueting hall with great ceremony, roasted and decorated with bay and rosemary and preceded by someone carrying the falchion that had killed it. There were songs to accompany the event, such as the one that was written down in the late 1400s and recorded on one of the first surviving sheets printed by Caxton. It begins:

Caput apri deferro, Redens laude Domino. (The head of the boar I bring in, Giving praise to God.)

The head would normally be deboned, reshaped and stuffed with minced meat and herbs, then roasted. This was not an easy process, and quite messy! At the table, the cheeks would be sliced off and given to honoured guests, usually accompanied by “a messe of mustard”. The sprigs of herbs would also be distributed as marks of the lord’s favour.

These days the boar’s head is rarely served whole; a terrine is more usually made from it. Boar meat is much more readily available in France than in England, even if you are not a huntsman. However, it is as well to have some idea of the age of the beast and the likely quality of the meat. It can be roasted like pork if young and tender, but an older animal can be rather tough and will need to be marinated or braised to make it palatable. The flavour is, not surprisingly, pork-like but with a gamey tang to it.

How do they live?

Wild boar, like most pigs, are omnivores. They will eat anything they can get, vegetable or animal, which is why they are considered unclean for eating by some religions. Some of the things they have been recorded as eating are best not mentioned. Boars spend a lot of time rooting around using their muscular snouts, looking for food just under the soil. They will also attack dustbins, and the Bible mentions their propensity for entering and destroying vineyards.

Farmers blame wild boar for damage to crops, but this is often unfair. Anyway, the French Government will compensate for damage that can unequivocally be attributed to a sanglier

Grandfather of all pigs

Let us have a closer look at this strange, yet strangely familiar, animal. It is striking in that, though of the pig family, and quite closely related (in fact it is the ancestor of most if not all domestic pigs), it is most un-pig-like in its appearance. To most of us, a pig is a short-legged, barrel-bodied creature that loves to lie in mud or root

Top left: The skull of a boar. Note its long muzzle, and the prominent tusks Top right: The skull of a domestic pig. The snout is shorter than that of the boar, and the tusks are rudimentary. (Scale: same size for comparison) about in the soil with its short, pneumatic-looking muzzle. It can move quite fast, but rarely does.

A wild boar, on the other hand, has a long, business-like muzzle, which is wellequipped with teeth and, in the male, with formidable tusks. These tusks are extended canine teeth, and their function is entirely offensive. In the mating season, a male boar will add extra subcutaneous fat layers to protect its vital organs during a fight, and a thick mane of fur down its back for display and extra protection.

The body, which stands waist-high to a human being, is square in outline, mounted on four pillar-like legs, and is covered in grey to rust-brown, bristly fur. I am always put in mind of a square flat cardboard box – the sort clothing is packed in – on its side with a leg at each corner. It is clearly, however, very solidly built – with a weight upwards of 100 kg you would expect that!

The young, on the other hand, are very piglet-like in appearance, with attractive light stripes running along the body, which fade as the animal develops. The French have a special name for them –marcassin.

The adult animal can move surprisingly fast – I have seen a trio of boars running across a field for several hundred yards at a speed a fast human runner would have been hard-pressed to match. All in all, a boar – especially an adult male - is quite a sobering sight. I would not wish to find myself alone and at the mercy of one. This, of course, is why it is, and has for millennia been, considered the ne plus ultra quarry in European game hunting. However, I am assured by those that know these things that a boar’s eyesight is so weak, and so lacking in colour-vision, that it cannot recognise a human figure at much more that 10-15 metres. So, if you do end up being gored to death, you can comfort yourself that it is nothing personal!

ClaireWardlaw

A MONTH OF LONGER NIGHTS, COOLER TEMPERATURES, AND BETTER 'SEEING' (THE QUALITY OF OUR VIEW OF ASTRONOMICAL OBJECTS AND HOW MUCH THEY ARE AFFECTED BY TURBULENCE IN THE ATMOSPHERE) IS ANTICIPATED FOR SEPTEMBER WHICH IS ALSO THE TIME OF THE AUTUMNAL EQUINOX

On the 23rd the Sun moves from the northern part of the sky to the southern, crossing the celestial equator. On this equinox, the Sun crosses above Earth's equator, moving from north to south. So, for everyone across the globe on this date, days and nights are approximately equal in length. After this date, the length of the night increases at its fastest rate, which is good news for us astronomers. You will have many Moon events to look out for this month too, and the Summer Milky Way, in dark sky locations, is still putting on a great show.

The Moon phases and observing tip

Last Quarter Moon Phase6th at around 23h20

New Moon Phase - 15th at 2h40

First Quarter - 22nd at 8h30

Full Moon Phase - 29th around 11h00

Throughout the month you will be able to look out for the Moon putting on a very pretty show close to a few other astronomical objects. The first of these events begins on the 5th, from just after midnight. Looking towards the east you can find Jupiter sitting to the right of a waning gibbous Moon. By the 6th a last quarter Moon will be close to 'The Pleiades' star cluster with the bright star Aldebaran sitting closer to the horizon. By the evening of the 20th, a thinner crescent Moon can be seen close to the star Antares in the south, southwest. The Moon will be on the right of the star on the 20th, and on the left by the 21st. From around 2h00 on the 27th you will be able to see the planet Saturn positioned directly above a waxing gibbous Moon. Look towards the south west. The full Moon of the 29th is known as the Harvest Moon. It is the closest full Moon to the equinox on the 23rd.

The Planets this month

Mercury: this planet will rise about 1 ½ hours before the Sun, so a good time to try to spot it.

Venus: a bright morning planet and beautiful against a darker sky at the end of the month.

Mars: not visible this month.

Jupiter: can be seen close to the Moon on the 4th and 5th and is a bright morning planet now.

Saturn: an improving planet through the month as its altitude increases while the skies darken.

Uranus: may be visible with a telescope near Jupiter in the morning.

Neptune: with binoculars this could be best viewed when at 'opposition' (on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun).

Image of the Month: The Double Cluster in Perseus

They are visible to the naked eye as two dusty light patches in the Milky Way

If you have one of the free applications downloaded onto your phone it will be simple to locate this beautiful double cluster of stars near Cassiopeia. This is found in the constellation of Perseus, or The Hero. The two bright clusters of stars mark the sword handle - or scimitar - with which the famous warrior Perseus decapitated Medusa. They are visible to the naked eye as two dusty light patches in the Milky Way, but with binoculars or a small telescope they are a wonder to behold. They are made up of the clusters also known as NGC 869 and NGC 884. NGC 869 is the more compressed of the two and has over 200 white and bluish-white members. NGC 884 to the east has 175 mostly white and bluish-white stars. They are both quite young, being only 5.6million and 3.3 million years old, respectively! They lie at a distance of 7000 light years from Earth. This month you can look for Perseus earlier each evening as the Milky Way seems to travel across our darkening skies.

Meteor Showers - Alpha Aurigids

We did have a treat in August with the Perseid shower, so this month is a little

Claire Wardlaw, originally from Edinburgh, lives in the Charente with her husband. Since their move nearly 6 years ago, Claire has become passionate about astronomy