← Wild Animal Encounters: What to Do to Survive
Lesson
Lesson 2. Wild boar: a tree is your best friend
Learn to steer clear of wild boars, recognize dangerous situations, and act correctly if one attacks.
A tank that can't jump
Wild boar
Wild boars are wary and almost always run off first. Four situations are dangerous: a sow with striped piglets; a wounded animal (especially during hunting season); a big tusked boar in the rut (November–January); and a boar at a feeding site that's used to people.
If you hear grunting and crashing or see striped piglets, quietly leave the way you came: the mother is always nearby, and a mother's attack is the fiercest a wild boar makes.
If a boar charges, remember its three weaknesses. It's fast (up to 40 km/h) but maneuvers poorly; it can't jump; and it cools off quickly. So the best move is to get up high: climb a tree, a boulder, a car, or a hunting stand — a meter and a half is already enough. No cover? At the last moment, sidestep sharply behind a tree trunk, then sidestep again: run a straight line and you lose; weave in a “slalom” and it loses.
Stay up there for a couple of minutes: once it loses its target, the boar loses interest too. A big tusked boar slashes upward and sideways with its tusks; a sow knocks you down and tramples you — don't let yourself be knocked over, hold on to the trunk.
Lesson notes
Wild boar
Wild boars are wary and almost always run off first. Four situations are dangerous: a sow with striped piglets; a wounded animal (especially during hunting season); a big tusked boar in the rut (November–January); and a boar at a feeding site that's used to people.
If you hear grunting and crashing or see striped piglets, quietly leave the way you came: the mother is always nearby, and a mother's attack is the fiercest a wild boar makes.
If a boar charges, remember its three weaknesses. It's fast (up to 40 km/h) but maneuvers poorly; it can't jump; and it cools off quickly. So the best move is to get up high: climb a tree, a boulder, a car, or a hunting stand — a meter and a half is already enough. No cover? At the last moment, sidestep sharply behind a tree trunk, then sidestep again: run a straight line and you lose; weave in a “slalom” and it loses.
Stay up there for a couple of minutes: once it loses its target, the boar loses interest too. A big tusked boar slashes upward and sideways with its tusks; a sow knocks you down and tramples you — don't let yourself be knocked over, hold on to the trunk.