Operation Inoshishi: Permaculture Wild Boars

Random Boar Damage- this was a nicely sculpted slope.

While doing some year-end cleaning of the bedroom, I came across Gaia's Garden, by Toby Hemmingway again. I do love that book- it really got me interested in Permaculture when I read it 7 years ago. Anyway, I browsed through it and re-read the passage about the "quail tractor" he made by moving a bird feeder around to where he wanted to plant the next year. The quail would come to the feeder, and scratch and peck under the feeder to get the loose grains. By doing so they also fertilized and ate most of the weed seeds, leaving a nice bare area to plant flowers or some vegetables in.
I have decided that since the wild boars are coming to my garden anyway, I can try and get some use out of them. They come in and root around randomly- Maybe I can pursuade them to work a specific area?

This will be my new paddy next year

Phase 1. I dug six 30cm deep holes (one foot) with a posthole digger- about one meter apart. The area is going to be next year's rice paddy- I need to get all the roots and stuff out of the way, but it is a beast trying to dig them out.

Phase 2. I took the kitchen food scraps out and put them into the holes, and scattered just a little around them.

Ummm.... slops... Come and get 'em!

The idea is that the boars will smell the delicious scraps, not be able to reach them, and then root around to dig them out of their fairly deep holes. I have no idea if this will work, but if you can't beat them, use them I say.

Which brings us to Phase 3. If they do decide to help out, after I get enough use out of them, I will have my friend trap them. Steal my sweet potatoes, taro, carrots, and fall potatoes- I'll show you! Muhahahahaha!!! (Besides, with the fewer hunters since the nuclear accident, we need to thin out their numbers. The populations more than double each year without thinning....)