MORE BOAR LORE

Wild boars have been getting some bad press around the world recently, in stories ranging from organic spinach farm contamination, to raiding gardens and attacking humans. Inoshishi (wild pigs) are part of the lore around here, too; I haven't heard of anyone being attacked, but they do raid gardens and rice paddies.

However, inoshishi are a popular food out here in the countryside, where restaurants feature inoshishi-centered meals, so maybe things balance out more in Japan than elsewhere... Still, every time we go for a walk around here on old mountain roadways through the woods, we come across places where the inoshishi have been freshly nosing up the shallow mosses to find worms, bugs and grubs, and occasionally we see a pertly bouncing tail in the forested distance as an inoshishi trots briskly away, well warned of our approach.

Oddly, however, I have never seen inoshishi in my garden, or found signs of them rooting up any of my vegetables. I guess the monkeys have those rights around here.

But things may change next year, which will be The Year of the Boar...