The boar

Having a boar has been interesting for me. He's not the biggest of our pigs, but he sure is the one that I watch carefully when I'm working with the pigs. Here's a pretty peaceful moment -- apparently rooting in the dirt is exhausting, and he's fallen asleep with the dirt still on his nose, next to another pig.

Of all the pigs, this boar is the most solitary. he's definitely curious about what I'm up to. If I'm working somewhere, he'll come and see what I'm doing. At times this just means a few grunts, other times he'll come over and nudge what I'm working with, or attempt to taste it. Pigs explore with their mouths.

Sometimes he'll see me step into their pasture and come galloping across the pasture towards me. I then have 5 seconds to decide whether he wants a backscratch (his favorite) or something has pissed him off.

When this boar gets shocked by the electric fence he will seek out and bite the nearest pig in retaliation. In fact, if another pig gets shocked and squeals he'll go and bite another pig. Same is true for any other mishap.

He could be walking across the pasture and have a branch stick him. He'll look around, locate the nearest pig, and go bite it.

So when another pig squeals, or he squeals, that's my cue to locate the boar visually and assess the situation. I don't want to be on his list.