The Year of the Pig?!
So much has happened here at Hepple in 2024, but it is probably the pigs that have made the greatest impression, both on the land, the wildlife and the people that have met them!
Our five Mangalitsa pigs arrived in June and settled in very quickly to a large area of pasture and woodland - pig heaven. These hairy ‘swallow-bellied’ colour swine will fulfil the ecological role of their porcine ancestors - wild boar, whilst hopefully being slightly easier to manage!
Through their rootling and wallowing they open up the ground creating perfect niches for a wide range of plants to germinate as well as providing important patches of bare earth and pools of water used by invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, birds and other mammals. The beautiful illustration below, by nature artist Jeroen Helmer, gives a feel for the interconnections between this ‘keystone species’ and the wider ecosystem.
Wild Boar - A Keystone Species by Jeroen Helmer
Our pigs have got stuck in opening up the tight grass sward in the pastures adjacent to some of our woodland and traditional hay meadows. This should help trees, scrub and wildflowers to colonise additional areas beyond the original habitat boundaries, creating greater structural complexity and species diversity.
Evidence of pig rooting in our pastures
Within the woods we are delighted to see that the pigs have been uprooting Rhododendron ponticum seedlings. This will hopefully reduce the need for people to remove this invasive alien shrub. As the weather turns more wintery the pigs are starting to seek out the carbohydrate stored in bracken rhizomes, helping to keep this native fern from becoming too dominant in areas with more light.
Our pigs are often accompanied by other wildlife, including robins hopping down to feed on soil invertebrates exposed by the pigs rootling.
During a recent fieldtrip, the pigs showed students from Newcastle University that bracken and heather under Scot’s Pine and birch trees naturally makes a cosy dry bed. Combined with their warm curly coats, they are definitely ‘pigs in blankets’ Hepple style!
Foraging in the bracken before a nap
If you would like the opportunity to experience for yourself what our pigs have been up to, please book on one of our guided walks. Our new programme for 2025 will be out soon.