Berlin fights boar wars, as wild swine swagger through city streets

[Janice]

Berlin fights boar wars, as wild swine swagger through city streets

BERLIN — It’s the age-old tale of man versus beast. In Germany’s leafy capital, Berlin, wild boars are wreaking havoc on the city as they snout their way through parks and gardens, destroying land and butting against the boundaries of urban life. >>>

“They’re leaving the forest and entering the city. And not just for a short amount of time, for extended periods of time — sometimes permanently.” Mr. Ehlert attributes the problem to an explosion in the wild boar population. About 50 years ago, 50,000 boars were killed by hunters or died in accidents annually across Germany. Today, that number has reached 600,000 >>>

Targeted hunting, say officials, is the only practical solution to reduce the wild boar population and protect land. “Catching them and releasing them somewhere else doesn’t work because the wild boars are everywhere,” said Mr. Eggert. “There aren’t any empty places anymore where they don’t live.” However, animal rights organizations say hunting is not an effective answer. >>>

Some Berlin residents have taken to petting and feeding the animals, which is illegal. Now some boars have learned to seek out people and beg for food. “[The boars] have lost the fear of humans they normally have,” said Mr. Eggert. “They’re interested in people.” >>>

Still, Mr. Ehlert said that eliminating the problem completely is not realistic. “We are just going to have to get used to living alongside the boars,” he said.

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There are wild swine in the streets of Washington DC and Chicago. And that was before the animals showed up.

 

[Rebel]

Pigs on the loose? We never have this problem down south.

[CG6468]

How much of a problem do they have with muzzies in Berlin?

[DumbAss Tanker]

How much of a problem do they have with muzzies in Berlin?

I guess that is the one upside of it, it does piss off the Muslims.

 

[Eupher]

I lived in Berlin almost 9 years while I was active duty.

For a city of its size, it has an enormous amount of land allocated to parks and greenery. The "Gruney pigs", as the U.S. military tended to call these Wildschweine (sort of a bastardization of the rather large forested area in which the Army did much of its in-Berlin tactical training, which is called the "Grunewald" and the critters themselves), were problematic in the Grunewald and there are a lot of stories about the interaction between the GIs and the pigs.

Very early one weekend morning, while dawn was just breaking, I was out running a 29-km course in the Grunewald, happy as a clam, minding my own business, when just ahead of me one of these Wildschwein sows emerged out on my running trail with a small little horde of piglets in tow.

Holy shit. This is NOT a good thing. Sows are notoriously bitchy, angry, pissed-off critters when anything even comes near their offspring.

But as it developed, she didn't see me as she turned right onto the trail ahead of me. Their eyesight isn't all that good, though they have a great sense of smell (apparently this was early in my run when I wasn't all that funky yet), but she was oblivious to my presence.

All the same, I stopped dead in my tracks and watched from about 10 ft. away as she continued along the trail.

Eventually, she peeled off back into the deepest part of the woods and I had the trail again to myself.

After I changed my shorts, I continued my run.

[DumbAss Tanker]

They were all over the other MTAs as well.  One of our Goer drivers (A horrible deathtrap of a vehicle) was cornered on top of his truck by them at Baumholder, and threw an unopened C-Rat can to scare them off.  The hogs weren't scared at all, but chomped it right in half and were so happy with the treat that they stuck around all night hoping for more.  Eventually the day came and so did the tank platoon he was supposed to refill, and the hogs went off to bed down for the day. 

[Eupher]

They were all over the other MTAs as well.  One of our Goer drivers (A horrible deathtrap of a vehicle) was cornered on top of his truck by them at Baumholder, and threw an unopened C-Rat can to scare them off.  The hogs weren't scared at all, but chomped it right in half and were so happy with the treat that they stuck around all night hoping for more.  Eventually the day came and so did the tank platoon he was supposed to refill, and the hogs went off to bed down for the day. 

Played many a gig at Baumholder while I was up at BK, but never played in the woods there. Folks who know tell me it wasn't nearly as nice as Graf or Hohenfels.

[JohnnyReb]

How much of a problem do they have with muzzies in Berlin?

Judging from what I saw on German TV News this morning.....
              A BIG ASS PROBLEM !!!!!!!!!

There was some German boxer, ex prisoner, Muslim Imam preaching every bad thing in the Koran to a large, very large, street clogging crowd of young German males. A two hour sermon. They interviewed a couple of teenagers that had their heads wrapped in a checkboard table cloth. They both expressed the opinion that they couldn't die fast enough and get to heaven so they could start living the good life of a martyr.

They were the very white Jihadi's the Muslims have been looking for. We're soon going to have start killing them like the Germans killed the jews.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Baumholder was...different.  Much more mountainous terrain and therefore also more constrained building space; the American part of it (Then an overstrength brigade of 8th ID, later reflagged to 1st AD after Desert Storm) sucked badly, isolated from any major towns, off the beaten path, and not much of anything to do.  I went to NCO academy there in February 1977 and found out that - contrary to my previous beliefs - my tank battalion in Mannheim really did NOT have the worst mess hall in Germany, the 1-2 Artillery where we students had to mess truly owned that distinction.

The MTA itself back in those days was run by the Bundeswehr, not the 7th ATC, and was also the home of the BW's Heersartillerieschule, so going there for ARTEPS was nothing like being stationed or attending a school in the US base area, because the Germans had thoughtfully provided canteens which served beer (Pils and 'Alt') and short little bockwurst type of boiled sausage at a very nominal charge.

[Eupher]

I guess we're jacking this thread slightly, what with the side conversation about Baumholder, but God doesn't mind.  And the Wildschweine don't mind either.

I got to BK in Sept. 91 after finally leaving Berlin and was part of the ceremony of 8ID reflagging to 1AD in Jan. 92. For whatever silly-assed reason, they decided to have it in Baumholder. It was cold and miserable, but it could have been much worse.

Played several NCO Academy graduations in Baumholder. These were full-blown ceremonies. Any other graduation ceremony for an NCO Academy I'd ever done were indoors in a theater or auditorium.

I'm very familiar with the German worker's Kantine. We had several in Berlin to choose from and it was a great place to get a huge meal for pennies. And the Weizen was always cold, too. 

[Crazy Horse]

I guess we're jacking this thread slightly, what with the side conversation

It's what you do

[Janice]

I guess we're jacking this thread slightly, what with the side conversation about Baumholder, but God doesn't mind.  And the Wildschweine don't mind either.

I thought about how this might happen before I posted this. But I think it should be expected by those who have served or lived over there to some degree or another. Its gotta be nice to reminisce about stuff.

Btw ... do we need to re-acquaint the Germans with BBQ? Another feature of the boar epidemic I would reckon is how they are such tasty critters.  And they may actually do wonders at upsetting the mooslim illegal alien population there. Two pluses right there as I see it.

[Eupher]

It's what you do

 

[Eupher]

I thought about how this might happen before I posted this. But I think it should be expected by those who have served or lived over there to some degree or another. Its gotta be nice to reminisce about stuff.

Btw ... do we need to re-acquaint the Germans with BBQ? Another feature of the boar epidemic I would reckon is how they are such tasty critters.  And they may actually do wonders at upsetting the mooslim illegal alien population there. Two pluses right there as I see it.

Well, the Germans don't really bbq in the same way that we do but they are no stranger to grilled meats. For example, at the many festivals which are held everywhere -- wine, beer, radish, you-name-it -- pretty much a staple is a thing called "Grillhänchen" which is seasoned half chickens placed on a skewer and mounted on one of those electric walls. The birds turn and roast and when they're done, you eat a half chicken with your fingers along with a hard roll. Then there's all manner of bratwürste, many of which are prepared either on charcoal grills (we're talking REAL charcoal, not that Kingsford stuff) or on a flattop grill and served up with a hard roll and a dollop of mustard.

Wild boar doesn't lend itself well to being grilled, because of the texture of the meat -- it's going to be mostly tougher cuts, gamey in taste, and otherwise not a real good choice. These types of meats are better off prepared by either braising or stewing, but the tenderloin and other more tender cuts of the boar might be okay after a marinade to reduce the gaminess somewhat.

My former mother-in-law would prepare Reh (venison) and we'd eat that on holidays. That kind of meat is a big deal because to be a hunter, you have to be licensed. And getting a license is a huge investment of time and effort. My former FIL was a licensed Jäger and at least once a year he'd go someplace to a reserve, plunk down some serious coin, and be "guided" for an opportunity to take some kinda critter or another. We might've had Wildschwein a time or two -- I just don't remember.

[Crazy Horse]

I swear.  We really need to repopulate the world with southerners.  We eat wild hog all the time.  It's different but still good.  Cooked no diferent than the way we cook a domesticated hog.  We're gonna chop it up anyway and serve it with some slaw, hushpuppies and fries or taters or rice.  Then we're gonna make hash or brunswick stew out of the leftovers.

No they can eat the hogs, they just choose not to do so. 

As not just in Germany is the swine population getting out of hand, so is it in the good ole USA, especially Texas.