As I understand in some areas, Russian Boars were set loose and when they breed the hybrid’s growth switch never turns off. That supposedly accounts for some of the giants that have been found. Similar to the Liger.
“As I understand in some areas, Russian Boars were set loose and when they breed the hybrid’s growth switch never turns off. That supposedly accounts for some of the giants that have been found. Similar to the Liger.”
Centuries ago, the Russians settled in N. California and established a fort called Fort Ross. Depending on the stories, some of the original Russian settlers and later ones brought in Russian Boars, who got loose. There are what appear to be pure blood descendents and part breeds,
There is a good population of the mixed breeds in Sonoma and Mendocino counties. They are fairly wise critters and good tasting if up to 100 #’s.
The pure breed adult hogs are about twice the size of our coastal deer. I saw a big adult Russian Boar, while deer hunting by the Russian River in a remote area.
Two times a couple of decades later, I was watched by separate Russian Boars while steelhead fishing, standing in a small river, both times I was armed with a 6 ounce fly rod.
One left me alone after watching me for a few minutes. The second one stared at me and waded into the water down stream from me. I was armed with a 6 ounce fly rod. I did what a friend did in a similar situation. I made some false casts towards it while yelling at it and slapping the fly into the water near it.
After what seemed like a long time and probably less than a minute, it turned around and went into the woods and disappeared.
I have been advised that my procedure might have been safer than using a 357.
Yearly, one of our younger relatives bags 3-4 of these half breeds with his compound bow in that area. He has bacon and sausage made from the hogs and barbeques the backstraps. The meat is great tasting and really organic. Even lung to lung shots from a powerful compound bow, take a long time to be fatal for the pigs. He has had some get away with an arrow sticking out of both sides of a hog’s chest or passing through the chest of the hog.