Uncovering the Wild: Top 11 Fun and Fascinating Facts About Boars You Never Knew!

1. Sniffing Pros

Move over, bloodhounds and brown-nosers: boars have cornered the market on sniffing out snacks with an all-natural schnoz! These foraging aficionados are worth their weight in truffle tickets: Their highly developed sense of smell allows them to detect scents several feet underground, digging for roots, tubers, and even feasting on insects and reptiles.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

2. Tusk-ty Difference

Talk about a tusk-ty difference: male boars have larger, semicircular tusks used for slashing and stabbing during fierce dating battles, while female boars sport smaller weapons primarily for defensive biting. Additionally, only the tusks of very old boars stop growing, making them the elder statesmen of the wild hog world!
Source => feralhogs.extension.org

Did you know pigs have a complex vocabulary of grunts, snorts, and squeals? Discover their impressive linguistic skills in our fun facts about these chatty swine! 🐷💬

=> Fun Facts about Pigs

3. Boar-temis Connection

Don't go bacon my heart, Artemis: In ancient Greek mythology, the wild boar served as a potent symbol of the goddess Artemis' destructive side, even prompting her to send the infamous Kalydonian boar to teach King Oeneus a lesson for forgetting to offer her his first fruits. Sly hunter, indeed!
Source => uwaterloo.ca

4. Leaping Boar-ders

Little Bo Peep, eat your heart out: Wild boars possess an astonishing ability to leap to heights of 140-150 cm (55-59 in), a skill they use to evade predators and traverse the challenging landscapes they inhabit, from soggy swamplands to dense forests.
Source => animalia.bio

5. Genetic Plane Boar-ding

When pigs fly, or should we say, boar-d their genetic planes: European domestic pigs only share up to 4% of their DNA with their Near Eastern wild boar ancestors, as DNA analysis has revealed that their genetic makeup has evolved significantly through interbreeding with European wild boars since their arrival in Europe thousands of years ago.
Source => nhm.ac.uk

6. Absent Boar Dads

Who says dads can't babysit? Boars definitely can't: Male boars take a hands-off approach to child-rearing, leaving "drifts" of female boars and their piglets to fend for themselves, with fiercely protective mothers taking on full responsibility for the little ones.
Source => hogmanoutdoors.com

7. Paparazzi-shy Boars

Say cheese: Wild Boars in western Canada seem to be masters of avoiding the paparazzi! In a two-year study with trail cameras generously snapping away in central Saskatchewan, only 22 individual wild boar visits were captured in the whopping 71,175 photos taken over 5,715 trap-days. These sly hams apparently slink away from their invasive species' fame.
Source => canadianfieldnaturalist.ca

8. Hogwarts Sounders

From Hogwarts to real life: Wild hogs form social clubs called sounders, made up of mature sows and their piglets. Sometimes numbering a few individuals or several dozen, these sounders see sub-adult males leave around 16 months old, with females staying or venturing to start their own sounders at one year old. Eventually, full-grown boars prefer the solo life – party of one, please – unless it's time to mate!
Source => mdwfp.com

9. Boar Boy Band

Forget about the latest boy band – boars have been rocking the group scene for millennia, with their own version of syncopated grunting instead of harmonized crooning: Wild boar gatherings, known as sounders, can include hundreds of members led by females and their young, using a diverse array of grunts, growls, and squeals to communicate everything from aggression to the location of tasty grub.
Source => crittercontrol.com

10. Potluck Boar-st

Feeling bored? Why not invite a wild boar to your next potluck dinner – these omnivorous party animals are known to have a diverse palate and are sure to liven up any smorgasbord: With a diet that ranges from plants, fruits, and insects to small animals like rodents and snakes, wild boars are impressively adaptable survivalists in various habitats.
Source => pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

11. Airfare Savings Boars

When pigs fly, they might just save on airfare and grab a bite along the way: feral hogs have an impressively adaptable and omnivorous diet that includes feasting on birds, mammals, reptiles, carrion, and even earthworms, making them the chowhounds of the animal kingdom as well as threats to native ecosystems.
Source => feralhogs.tamu.edu