Close Encounter

At last, I've had a close encounter with some wild boar. About 10 or 12 ran in front of our truck as we went around a corner yesterday. What happened next was not what I expected at all, this group were all about 6 months old apart from 2 piglets and 2 older sows. The little ones went down over a bank but the rest stayed close to the ridge or even on the road and they watched us in the truck and they did begin to come closer to our vehicle, this all took a few minutes and they were not frightened or worried about us at all, Willow was looking out from the window and she did grumble at a very low pitch for a very long time but even this didn't move them on. It was only when they had had enough that we proved too boring in our truck and they all trotted down over the bank.

I have no idea what would have happened if we had been on foot and I'm not sure what Willow would have done, she has seen deer and made a move but has stopped and laid down when I told her to and allowed the does to run on without chasing them but she was very disturbed by the boar so who knows!
We worked the bank they had been mouting on today and although there were lots of signs of them, they were not to be seen thankfully and Willow was very occupied chasing sticks we all threw for her. These particular boar are only about 6 months old and probably only a third of their final weight and size but they still looked mean to me!

Charlie's portrait is coming along nicely, I will post an update soon but I have been networking our computers and moving everything for my new art/computer table I am collecting tomorrow and I will at long last have a dedicated area to work from so I'll take photos of that too but it may take a while to sort out.
Aside from this we should be collecting two 'ex-christmas dinner' geese on Saturday as their buyer couldn't face eating them after all so we are adding them to our flock which will then total 16 geese! More photos to follow of the feathered flock!

If you like my work please take the time to leave me a comment or become a follower. If you would like to win a pet portrait of your dog, cat, horse or any other pet please see my new competition. The competition has closed for this year but there will be a new one in 2010. Join in the fun and vote for this year's winner by following the links here.

If you are interested in commissioning me please visit my pet portrait artist website or my wildlife artist website
Now visit my picasa photo album to see completed pieces of art.

Thanks for visiting!