Apr 28, 2010
Outsmarting a wild boar...
Wild boar is a perpetual problem at our farm. They break through fencing and get at the chickens, they dig up all those lovely yams and sweet potatoes, they damage our vegetable plots digging up earthworms for desert.
All kinds of suggestions have been given to us; shoot them, poison them, trap them, etc. We reject outright killing. Trapping, etc never works; they're too wary.
Then they played with this beautiful pegaga patch and turned it into a mud-bath:
We were too distraught to remember to take a picture of the mud-bath.
We rehabilitated the patch twice but each time the pigs came in and turned it into mud again.
Then we sat and decided to think like a pig: it's dark, we can't look upwards to see the sky, we can only see directly in front, sideways and down. Now what if we see something totally dark in front would we be foolhardy enough to plunge ahead or would we move sideways looking for a path?
And we came up with this:
This was how the rehabilitated patch looked like after a week in the 'dark zone' (the red laterite mud has been topped with compost):
And this is signs of the pigs going in circles around the 'dark zone'. Note the mud!
And this is the patch today after two weeks. Warms the heart. The possibility are endless! And we don't have to take a life or lives to co-exist. Remember, a life is still a life.
18:47 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Comments (4) | Tags: wild boar, pigs, trapping a wild boar
Comments
Hi, thanked you for recognising "A LIFE IS A LIFE". All beings life are precious.
Why are you still rearing all kinds of animals to be sold and ended up on the dinning table!!! Don't their lives are lives too?
"ALL LIVES ARE PRECIOUS". This message is for all those fighting against abuse of animals.
Cheers
Posted by: LL | May 27, 2010
Hi,
i recognise the difference between life honoured and respected and given to us for food and life that is extinguished with distain and for the whimsiest of reasons.
Posted by: HS | May 27, 2010
Hi! thank you for those thoughts ("a life is still a life" and "sat and decided to think like a pig"), this brings solutions :)
I want to add more ideias, wild boar don't like human smell, so smelly human clothes, hair, or Urine (urine its good for soil and plants (diluited), and they don't go to the crops if there is noise there, if you need, make something like wind or water powered to make noise, this is good for larger areas. In Portugal we have lots of problems here because of them, people left the lands even entire villages because of this, the "funny thing" it's that they were put on purpose by the big corporations of hunters governed by rich men, and people from the lands can't hunt (at least for food we should(as they eat our food production). One of the big problems is that we are getting less and less wild forests (less food for them). But it's time for solutions, so i am developing wild forests and protecting crops, and if something fails i will try that solution you found and share. Thank you. And remember think like an animal, urine is very important. And one thing if wild rabbits are a plague, spread feces from domestic rabbits, this will stop them.
Posted by: Ruben | May 10, 2011
Hi Ruben,
Thanks for dropping by and thanks for the input. Will surely keep in mind if the situation warrants.
Pigs still come to our farm and do create some damage. But where there are small areas needing special preservation, the 'black' screen has worked very well.
I have certain areas growing rare black curcuma and it will break my heart if they are destroyed. So far, the 'black' screen has protected them extremely well from the pigs.
Best wishes
HS
Posted by: HS | May 11, 2011
The comments are closed.