The pigs are out!

The pigs were out to Pannage at Mill Lawn this morning. Pannage is the ancient tradition of allowing the commoners pigs to range the forest searching for nuts, which in excess can be poisonous to the forests' horses and cattle. The season began earlier in September and will run until the end of November. This drift were very friendly, approaching determined to give us a thorough once over, upon realizing we had/were nothing of interest they made off. Take care though, some pigs can be a touch feisty, chasey even, they've had me running on more than one occasion.

Tummy rub?

I've met these pigs (a group of 8 or 9) a couple times foraging along the banks of Red Rise brook this pannage. These two rolled over like dogs to get their tummies rubbed, and enjoyed every minute of it. I was happy to be of service.

Pigs

A drift of pigs at pannage crowd the verge close to the ford at Moyles Court. A dozen or so of them, displaying a broad range of colour and pattern, busy hoovering up the fruits of the oak, they're being well fed this year. Always lovely to see them.

Mast

 

The forest is experiencing a bumper mast year, wherever there are oaks the floor beneath them is liberally covered in acorns, to the degree that walking has become a crunchy affair. In light of the glut, I've been surprised as to how few pigs I've seen about the forest this pannage. They're going to need more pigs if a meaningful reduction in acorn mast is to be achieved. Years ago I had a go at making acorn coffee; I learnt that earthy burnt is an acquired taste. That said, if processed properly to remove toxins and tannins (it's a lengthy affair) they'd keep you fed in a crisis, very nutritious.

Tiny acorns

Many of the forest oaks are laden with tiny acorns. It's looking like it's going to be a bumper year, and I'd imagine heralds a long pannage in Autumn.

Pork scratching

 

Pork scratching.

Pigs

The pigs are out to pannage, how successful they'll be I don't know. It's not been a good season for acorns or mast, the chestnuts that have fallen so far are nothing to shout about, and neither are many of the crab apples. A thin harvest for them, though I know they’ll make the best of it. We passed a large group of them near the High Corner this morning, maybe 20 pigs, in wide ranging colours, several multi coloured. They weren't bothered by us though, too busy snuffling. It's lovely to see them out and about.

Acorns

 

Surveying the oaks about our roams, I'd say it's been a pretty poor year for acorns. A significant number of oaks have no visible fruits, whilst most of the others have a mix of low yield fruit or diseased fruit. If what I've seen on our walks is representative of the forests' stands as a whole, it's going to be a thin pannage for the oinkers. I've not noticed the quality and quantity of beech mast this autumn, though I think I'd have noticed if it were good.

Pigs!

 

This morning the forest appeared quiet on the surface, although underneath that quiet there was a lot of natural energy amongst the stands. We could hear stags growling, barking and clashing racks somewhere off deeper in the woods as they vied for mating rights; cattle watched us pass with suspicion as they mooch and graze the open woodland; a stampede of a dozen or more ponies thundered through the Rise towards us, only veering off at the last moment; whilst a troop of pigs eagerly at pannage grubbed up the woodland and riverbank with their noses in search of acorns and mast, only pausing briefly to investigate us and say hello. It's fascinating to watch the pigs at pannage and their antics, they're real characters. This is natures last hurrah before our current cycle ends, and the welcome rest until the new suns' birth when the cycle begins again.    

Mast

 

Where tall mature beeches grow the woodland floor is covered in mast; it's been a bumper year, and although the beechnuts are small and fiddly to process, they're a reasonably good size. The small nut/seed is edible and have been traditionally used by human communities either by the people themselves or to feed animals; beware though too many can cause stomach upsets. They can also be used to produce oil still frequently used in parts of Europe; I crushed a couple between my fingers, they were good and oily and left my thumb and forefinger feeling glassy smooth. A tasty treat for the pigs at pannage if they sweep this way.

Pannage

Pannage is upon us and I understand the pigs have been released into the forest; although as yet we've not spotted any. What a grand old tradition pannage is; the practice is nearly 1000 years old, dating to establishment of the royal hunting forest by William of Normandy way back in 1079. It's a joy meeting the pigs amongst the trees, well, for the most part that is, occasionally you'll come up against some brute, in which case......run! 

Pannage

The pigs have been out to pannage for a few weeks now, we've seen them all over the place. Although this was the first time we'd got close, on a couple of previous occasions it was big old sows with expansive litters in tow; experience has shown they really don't appreciate you getting too close to their piglets, and certainly object to dogs doing so. These two were cool, happily snuffling for acorns and chestnuts, and happy to say hello. It's always lovely seeing the pigs out and about, and on the whole they're inquisitive and friendly, they always bring a smile to your face; personally though I'd be happy to see them in the forest all the time.

Acorns

Unlike yesterday's Chestnuts, the small acorns I wondered whether would amount to much back in July have done just that, and are currently shaping up to provide a hearty feast for the commoners pigs soon to be released into the forest for pannage.

From tiny acorns

The oaks are smothered with tiny acorns this year, quite the contrast to last summers near bare boughs. A good sign maybe for a fruitful pannage in autumn; last years pannage was very thin on the ground for the foraging pigs. Still, nothing is guaranteed, and without some much need rain I don't know how well this crop will develop. 

Pannage 2021

F*ck off! That's what Mrs Pig was saying, and what we did shortly after taking the photo as Mrs Pig took a dislike to Geoff and I. Not wishing to cast aspersions on Geoff, but I think it was him who Mrs Pig wanted gone rather than I. There were piglets in the group, and she was obviously taking no chances. It'll be a thin year's feasting this pannage for the forest's pigs, none of the forest's nuts have come to much.

Not oakay

I've noticed that a good number of the forest's oaks haven’t fared well this year, the tips of many branches have their leaves faded, browned and curled. I'm not certain of the cause, though I suspect it's a combination of factors, the weather, underlying climatic change and disease. Whatever the cause, it's had a drastic affect on the quantity and quality of the forest oak's acorns; this years upcoming 'pannage' will afford the pigs slim pickings, especially noticeable after last year's acorn glut. 

It's nuts!

 

It's been a proper bumper year for Acorns, even with pigs and other woodland inhabitants having their fill, the forest floor remains thick with nuts in places. I understand that pannage has been extended again this year, pig'll be well fed this winter. It's not just the woodland floor that's experiencing the nut glut, there are long stretches of stream where the nuts washed into the waters congregate to cover swathes of the stream's bed. Quite a sight.

Pig out?

We were not expecting to come across a pig out in the forest at this time of the year, a big feisty sow, normally you'd only see pigs out at pannage season, much later in the year. Without provocation she trotted towards us, now I don't know if her approach was out of inquisitiveness or aggression, but I wasn't going to wait to find out, and made off in haste. Only to accosted and chased shortly after by a small herd of bull calves. It was like Animal Farm, the animals were throwing off their shackles and revolting. The forest is full of the unexpected.  

Get off my land!

Get off my land! Geoff and I came across a gang of quite fierce hogs out in Burley New enclosure this afternoon. I think they were Tamworths, to me they looked more boar-like than the other pigs we'd seen out to pannage, with long snouts and pricked up ears. Tamworths are supposed to be a docile but active breed, so maybe I misunderstood their inquisitiveness for fierceness, they were big buggers though, and so we took flight through the stands when they began running towards us. I wasn't scared or anything, you understand.

Pigs

We knew the pigs were out to pannage around the forest (pannage is the tradition of releasing pigs into the forest to hoover up the acorns, dangerous in high quantities to the forest's ponies), although this was our first spotting of them this season. It's always lovely to see them out, they add something to the forest...maybe it's a dim echo of the past when wild pigs would have been a common sight in the landscape. Geoff was interested in them and wanted a closer look, but the young pigs were more interested in him and wanted an even closer look...Geoff ran away.  I don't know if this was a family group, the sow did look different to the younger pigs accompanying her, that said, I know little about the Suidae family. Whatever, they were a healthy and inquisitive bunch, enjoying the autumnal sun and their nutty feast (acorns have been particularly bountiful this year).