King Of The Wood

The ears of the razorback hog living in the Tellico Area of east Tennessee are large and prominent, and the tips usually flop over. The ears of the European wild boar are small, pointed and stand up straight. A few individuals that have been killed or captured near the Tellico Area showed some evidence of having been crossbred. In the immediate area where the "Rooshian" prowls the wilderness as king of the woods, no specimens have been taken that showed any evidence of crossbreeding.

The Russian wild boar, being at home in mountains, has thrived and multiplied, seemingly thoroughly adapting itself to the area. Experienced mountain guides claim that they can whip any animal on four feet in a fair fight, and that they can outrun a scared deer. The boars' tusks, which curve outward, are their chief weapons in a fight with other animals. They have both upper and lower tusks, and the upper set serves as whetstones for the lower set, which are always very sharp.

Sometimes these strange wild beasts travel in herds, sometimes alone. They usually range from six to fifteen miles a day. They sleep most of the day in laurel and ivy thickets, feeding during the early morning and late afternoon. They live on roots, herbs, twigs, acorns, hazelnuts, beech mast, berries, persimmons, wild grapes, muscadines, papaws, groundnesting birds and eggs, snakes and salamanders. There are some reports of their devouring young fawns. Their appetites are enormous, especially those of old, wild European sows that happen to be suckling pigs.

The imported boars seem particularly to relish rattlesnakes. Although the bite of a big rattler has little, if any, effect on the "Rooshian", the boar will go about killing the snake in a way assuring little chance of being bitten. A cornered rattler will naturally coil and get ready to strike, and the boar will start running around the snake in circles, finally jumping upon the venomous serpent until it is literally cut to pieces by sharp-edged hoofs.

While the inroads on deer through the boars' habits of feeding appear negligible, they do affect the population of ruffed grouse, wild turkeys and other ground-nesting birds that inhabit the same area. They invariably devour the eggs of ground-nesting birds when they come upon a nest, and it is not at all unusual for them to catch and eat a bird that attempts to protect the nest. The boars also catch and consume numerous young, ground-dwelling birds.

By: davidbunch

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