Pigs are well-known for the snorting, oinking noises they make. But what about their wild cousins? What sound does a wild boar make? Are these non-domesticated hogs aggressive? Keep reading! In this article, we’ll explore the answers to these questions and more.
What You'll Learn Today
What Sound Does a Wild Boar Make?
There are various species of wild boar and they all make slightly different sounds. In a general sense, they make a variety of grunting and squealing noises.
Check out this video to get an idea of the noise that wild boars make:
The sounds they make also vary depending on what they are trying to communicate. These sounds can be loosely grouped into three categories:
Contact Calls
These are generalized sounds that the boars make to communicate basic, everyday information to each other.
Contact calls sound like deep grunts from adults and whining noises from juveniles. The sounds may be more or less intense depending on the specific situation.
Females tend to be a lot more vocal than males in terms of basic contact calls. This may be because females live in groups with their young while males are solitary except during mating season.
Sometimes instead of grunting, wild boars will purr to express a sense of contentment or satisfaction. They make these sounds especially while eating.
Again, sounds can vary between wild boar species. What’s more, sounds may vary between litters of the same species, as the piglets learn to mimic the specific, unique sounds their mothers make.
Alarm Calls
As you might imagine, alarm calls are the sounds wild boars make to warn others of danger in the area.
These are typically high-pitched, frantic-sounding calls. They may also have a deep, throaty sound that comes out something like “uhk, uhk!”
Alternatively, they may make a screeching cry that sounds vaguely like “gu-gu-gu-gu-gu.”
Combat Calls
Wild boars may emit a series of high-pitched calls when challenging each other to combat or defending their territory.
Combat calls are most often heard by males that may be competing over the same female or by males that have had their territory invaded by other males.
Alternatively, females may fight with members of other social groups (or “sounders”) that try to invade their group’s territory.
Wild boars may also make combat sounds when attacking prey or attempting to fight off predators.
These piercing cries may sound similar to a wild boar’s alarm calls.
How Aggressive Are Wild Boars?
If you’ve ever heard a wild boar embroiled in a confrontation with a predator or warning away a potential threat, you may have been intimidated by the angry-sounding noises they produce.
What’s more, you probably know that wild boars have a reputation for being mean. But how aggressive are they?
The short answer: they’re aggressive enough that you should leave them alone, but they aren’t necessarily as mean as people tend to think.
Most of the time, wild boars are relatively calm, sedentary creatures. They prefer to be left alone and will mind their own business as long as they don’t feel they are in danger.
That said, they are large, heavy animals with sharp tusks. If they are provoked or frightened, they can do a lot of damage.
What’s more, they can spread disease if they bite you. Some of them are infected with rabies, and they may carry other diseases as well.
So yes, wild boars can cause serious issues if they attack you, but most of the time, they won’t choose to attack. Give them plenty of space if you see them and you should be fine.
Are Wild Boars the Same as Wild Hogs?
Boar, pig, sow, hog–all of these are words to describe the same basic animal. So, what are the differences between them?
The term “boar” technically refers to an uncastrated male hog. “Sow” is the term for a female of the same species.
So yes, technically, wild boars are the same as wild hogs–they are the males of the species.
That said, the term “wild boar” is sometimes used to refer to the collective group of wild hogs. In this case, it refers to all of the species, sexes, and ages of individuals within the group.
“Pig” is just another term for hog, and both of these terms are also used to refer to the collective group as a whole. That said, “pig” generally refers to domesticated hogs, while “hog” is used to refer to both wild and domesticated animals within this family.
Conclusion
Wild boars make many different sounds, but most are some variation of a deep grunt or high-pitched squeal. They make different sounds depending on their individual species and the message they are trying to communicate.
