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#167529 - 07/03/12 02:33 AM Hiking France
andycoleman Offline
newbie

Registered: 07/03/12
Posts: 1
Going hiking in France and wondering if anyone can give me tips regarding safety issues there? i.e- wildlife-I know they have wild boar (if they're anything like the boar in NZ they will charge and do a lot of damage, if not kill) I don't want to (and probably legally can't) carry a rifle. Any other tips from anyone who has been would be greatly appreciated on any subject.

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#167531 - 07/03/12 02:43 AM Re: Hiking France [Re: andycoleman]
phat Offline
Moderator

Registered: 06/24/07
Posts: 4107
Loc: Alberta, Canada
Originally Posted By andycoleman
Going hiking in France and wondering if anyone can give me tips regarding safety issues there? i.e- wildlife-I know they have wild boar (if they're anything like the boar in NZ they will charge and do a lot of damage, if not kill) I don't want to (and probably legally can't) carry a rifle. Any other tips from anyone who has been would be greatly appreciated on any subject.


You should be so fortunate as to see one. I've hiked in boar areas in holland, and nobody ever had any concerns. they are relatively small, and avoid people, they've been hunted for centuries.

Yes, like any pig or cornered animal, if you box them in and threaten them (i.e. you're running them with dogs) you could get charged. but attacking a hiker? worry more about cars, or in france, mimes and unicycles.

My two cents? don't worry about it. these aren't like the (big) feral pigs you can find in some places, like texas and new zealand. (A friend of mine who was hiking in new zealand brought me a "pig hunter" magazine from a hut as a laugh - At least the kiwis know what to do with wild bacon.. I've never understood how texas - with the amount of bbq's and guns in the state, can have a wild pig "problem" )



Edited by phat (07/03/12 02:44 AM)
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#167564 - 07/03/12 04:08 PM Re: Hiking France [Re: phat]
OregonMouse Online   content
member

Registered: 02/03/06
Posts: 6799
Loc: Gateway to Columbia Gorge
I heard a group (herd? pack? covey? gaggle?) squealing once, while "wild camping" in Provence (some years back when it was still allowed--last time I went there were "camping interdit" signs all over the place), but that's as close as I've ever been to encountering any. I figured they were sort of like black bears, so when hiking on a trail I'd start singing when coming to a blind corner.
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#167671 - 07/05/12 11:11 PM Re: Hiking France [Re: phat]
oldranger Offline
member

Registered: 02/23/07
Posts: 1735
Loc: California (southern)
Originally Posted By phat
I've never understood how texas - with the amount of bbq's and guns in the state, can have a wild pig "problem" )

They have a problem because feral pigs can breed faster than hunters can reload. Until you more than 80% of the population you haven't hindered their reproductive capacity in the least. It took an enormous amount pf hunting and trapping to rid the Channel Islands of feral pigs.

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#167674 - 07/06/12 08:33 AM Re: Hiking France [Re: oldranger]
Dryer Offline

Moderator

Registered: 12/05/02
Posts: 3591
Loc: Texas
Good answer Old Ranger. Plus, pig is now the most hunted critter...no season, take all you want. But they are are hard to kill, very smart, and we get tired of bbq'd pork after a while.
One of the remedies tried by the Texas Parks pig reduction people was to drop tons of birth control pill laced pig food from airplanes. Didn't work.
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#167689 - 07/06/12 07:41 PM Re: Hiking France [Re: Dryer]
oldranger Offline
member

Registered: 02/23/07
Posts: 1735
Loc: California (southern)
The next to last pig killed on santa Rosa Island became known as the "$10,000 pig" - the cost of the helicopter time necessary to finally run him down. It a way it was a shame since he (or she) clearly was a superior animal. The island, however, now is in much better shape with exotics removed.

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#167729 - 07/09/12 12:57 PM Re: Hiking France [Re: oldranger]
BZH Offline
member

Registered: 01/26/11
Posts: 1189
Loc: Madison, AL
They got rid of all the pigs on the Channel Islands? I saw my first ferrel pig on Santa Cruz (and it wasn't all that long ago... maybe '05)

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#167770 - 07/10/12 08:40 PM Re: Hiking France [Re: BZH]
oldranger Offline
member

Registered: 02/23/07
Posts: 1735
Loc: California (southern)
Both Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa are free and clear of feral pigs.

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#168285 - 08/06/12 02:25 PM Re: Hiking France [Re: oldranger]
Barefoot Friar Offline
member

Registered: 01/23/09
Posts: 176
Loc: Houston, Alabama
We've got 'em really bad here in NW Alabama. Particularly in and around the Sipsey Wilderness.

I don't hunt, but if I did I'd go for them. I want to roast a whole hog someday.
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