Wild Boar
[ Sus scrofa ]
Curiosity
Wild boar piglets are born striped.
In the first three months of life, wild boars are striped with yellow/brown bands. This coloration guarantees them better camouflage in the woods. After 3 months, the young wild boars take on a reddish color until they are one year old and then become gray in summer and brown/blackish in winter.
Description
Anatomy: The boar has a massive build, with a square body and rather short and thin legs. The head, large and massive, is equipped with a long conical snout that ends in a cartilaginous snout. The eyes are oblique, rather small and placed laterally on the skull to ensure the widest possible view for the boar. Its eyesight is rather weak, to the advantage of other senses, such as smell and hearing.
Teeth: The boar has 44 teeth, incisors, canines, premolars and molars that reveal opportunistic eating habits. However, the lower canines, often also called tusks, are the main feature of the hog. These are continuously growing teeth, present in both sexes, but only in the male do they reach 20 cm and protrude from the mouth.
Coat: Covered with stiff bristles, interspersed with a finer, softer woolly undercoat, which thermally insulates the body.
The bristles face backwards over the entire body, except on the chest and belly, where they face forward. On the forehead and shoulders the coat forms a sort of mane that the animal raises when it is irritated or frightened, making it appear even larger. The coat is brownish-black, varying slightly depending on the season and age.
Habitat /
Habits
Habitat: Woods, especially oak and chestnut woods. However, it proves to be very adaptable in terms of habitat and colonizes virtually any type of environment available, including urban areas where it can easily find food in waste containers.
Habits: Mostly nocturnal and crepuscular, but in secluded places it also grazes during the day.
Reproduction
Species: Polygamous
Sexual maturity: 2 years
Reproductive period: December – January
Gestation: 3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days (about 4 months)
Births: April – May
Number of cubs: 2 – 6
Diet
Omnivorous
Acorns, fruits, berries, tubers, roots and mushrooms. The wild boar does not disdain to supplement its diet from time to time with insects, other invertebrates, eggs and sometimes even meat and fish. During famines it also eats carrion and food waste.
