Where to watch...Wild Boar

See below for detailed instructions on viewing Wild Boar in the Forest of Dean - stay with me, now, it gets a bit complicated:

1. Go to Forest of Dean.
2. Drive around a bit.
3. See Wild Boar.

'Do ya feel lucky, pooch? Well, do ya?'

I've seen 4 family groups in my last 3 visits now, and only on the first occasion was I actually looking for them. Dusk is probably best though I have also seen them in the afternoon. 3 of my 4 encouters were near Brierley - once just west of the petrol station on the edge of the village, twice on the minor road to Ruardean Woodside, at whose idyllic primary school I spent my early years. (It was after a parents evening there when my mum and dad told me 'Mrs Jones said you are the clown of the class'. 'Thanks very much,' I said. 'Not in a good way,' they explained).

Mandarin Duck. Prettier, and possibly tastier, than Wild Boar.

The other sighting this weekend was just south of the B4234/B4226 crossroads on the road heading to Cannop Ponds - a reliable spot for another accidental (but slightly prettier) introduced species, the Mandarin Duck. The boar were here first, of course, but following a lengthy absence are now sufficiently numerous to have some local dog walkers in a lather - they frighten the poor pooches, you see. And we can't have wildlife running around the countryside disturbing domesticated animals, can we? No, that would never do.