Afterwards I realized that I heard them before I saw them. But that knowledge was of no use to me when, during a run in the forest behind my house, I suddenly stopped a meter away from a group of wild boars. It was an early evening in late spring, they were pottering about next to the path that marked the boundary between forest and farmland. I saw six or seven piglets and without thinking further I quickly climbed the nearby high branch embankment. I stood there until my heartbeat had calmed down and the boars were no longer watching me.
This was in France, where I lived for a few years. I was reminded of it when it came to the news last month that hikers in South Limburg were attacked by wild boars. I also thought about it when I was almost attacked by a buzzard in early June. Again during a run, but this time in a forest on the Utrechtse Heuvelrug. The bird of prey flew towards me, screeching loudly, just as furious as I would be if my children were threatened. The buzzard survived with two mock attacks, but I would not be the first runner with a wound in the back of the head as a result of a buzzard attack.
It felt the same as when I saw the pigs. Fear, because of the potential threat. Excitement, because of the beauty and power of these animals. And shame, because I disturbed them. I like running in the woods, but they live there.
And now this summer the first wolf has settled in the woods where I run. Shortly after hearing about it, I was terrified when I heard a large animal coming close behind me while running in the bushes. It turned out to be a deer, which calmly crossed the path, so close that I could almost touch it, and disappeared again between the trees on the other side.
Then I wondered: what if it had been a wolf?
Ecologist Glenn Lelieveld sighs a bit when he hears that question. He works at the Mammal Society, specializes in predators and is coordinator of the Wolf Reporting Center. He thinks the question is justified, that is not why he sighs, but he thinks that people have forgotten how to live with nature. “We have become very people-oriented. That doesn’t have to be a bad thing, but it makes us forget a lot of things that were meaningful.” Such as: what to do if you encounter a potentially dangerous animal in the forest.
Shoot
In any case, the danger does not lie in animal aggression, because there are no longer aggressive mammals in the Netherlands, says Lelieveld. “They have long been exterminated. For example, there are no more lions in Europe. They once walked here too.” Of all the large predators, he says, the wolf is the easiest to live with. The wolf is predictable, its behavior is “quite simple.” Like a dog’s. “Waiting, observing and if too many things happen that he does not like, he leaves the situation. Felines are much more unpredictable.”
A solitary wolf, okay. But there are now seven packs living in the Veluwe, and two in Drenthe. The wolf on the Utrechtse Heuvelrug, just like a second wolf in Brabant, is waiting for a partner to start a pack with. What if you encounter a hungry pack? “Nothing is wrong,” says Lelieveld firmly. “Wolves are very conflict-averse. Even when they are hungry. People are not food.”
But the interests of people and animals regularly clash. It is not the case, says Lelieveld, that you are not allowed to do anything in nature. “But there are a lot of us people and we have to share the landscape with other animals. Now it will be interesting to see: how will you as a society relate to those animals?” This discussion is current in the Limburg municipality of Meerssen. The forest area where wild boars attacked people was closed off and there is talk of shooting them. The social debate about the growing number of wolves in the Netherlands also continues. For example, the Veluwe municipality of Nunspeet wants permission to kill wolves in a small area within the municipality, because of dozens of killed and injured sheep and other animals.
Also read: Nunspeet wants to be allowed to kill a wolf, what are the rules?
Recreation in nature reserves is therefore not entirely without danger.
“We runners are mainly afraid of the tick,” says Coen Kuiper. He trains trail groups on the Veluwezoom, from Arnhem. On Thursdays and Saturdays he runs 20 to 25 kilometers with a group. He also walks a long way through the nature reserve twice a week. Never the same routes, and preferably on unpaved paths. He often sees game. Boars, Scottish highlanders, wild horses. But it’s the ticks he fears most. “I have had people with Lyme disease in my group, I warn everyone about that.”
Startle response
And what do he and his fellow runners think about the wolves and the pigs? “We are talking about the fact that they are there, and that there are more and more of them. Two runners from my group once spotted a wolf.” When he runs with the group, he feels safe. He has read about wolves that they do not just attack people. They are “alert” about the boars, especially in the spring, when they see many young boars. Kuiper: “We are careful about it: we stop running when we see boars or Scottish highlanders and go for a walk. With a big arc around it.” When he is alone, he is even more cautious. “While on holiday in France, I saw pigs on the path in the distance while running. Then I turned around.”
That is indeed the wisest thing to do, says ecologist Lelieveld. “Boars are always a risk. They are large animals that, if they are frightened and start running, they no longer pay attention to anything.” When a wild boar charges at you, he says, it feels like an attack. “But it is usually a fear reaction, a flight from something else.” For example, for a stray dog, or for other walkers or athletes who come too close. Lelieveld suspects that something like this happened in Limburg this summer. “Is that because of the pigs? There is little nature left where they can live and quite a lot is demanded of them. When monitoring wolves, we see that many people still leave trails and let their dogs run free. Don’t underestimate the consequences such actions can have.”
If athletes and hikers stay on the trails, he says, it is very predictable for animals and they can take it into account – and stay out of the way of people. “Boars only attack you if you stand between the sow and the young, but a reasonable person would not do that.”
If you unexpectedly find yourself face to face with a group of pigs or a pack of wolves, Lelieveld advises you to do what runner Coen Kuiper does: slow down. It is best for runners to walk, while riders and mountain bikers dismount or slow down.
In the case of an attacking boar: clap your hands and shout, climb somewhere, or hide behind a tree, because boars are visually impaired. Especially don’t run away, because the boar is always faster. Zero wolf attacks on humans is an illusion, it says website of Wolves in the Netherlands, a collaboration between various nature organizations. But the risk of being killed by a wolf is extremely small compared to other deadly risks in nature, such as insect and snake bites, falling branches and the diseases that ticks can transmit. Wolves in the Netherlands recommends making yourself bigger, speaking loudly and making gestures if the wolf comes too close. And: distance yourself by slowly walking backwards.
Mutual respect
In a calm situation, none of this is necessary. Lelieveld: “Remain calm, observe the situation carefully and let the animal you encounter also observe the situation carefully. Mutual respect often gets you further.” And then: continue on your way, preferably in the other direction. “Don’t get in the way of the animals. Give them space. You are a strange phenomenon to them.” Realize, he says, that you are a guest in their habitat. “We are there for fun, but they live there. They have nowhere else to go.”
And that attacking buzzard? “Well, you hear that often during the breeding season. They just want to defend their nest. Yes, they can hurt you, but it’s not much more than that.” The Bird Protection Society advises not to wear fluorescent clothing during the breeding season (April-May) when exercising in nature reserves where buzzards occur – they may find this threatening. And if an angry buzzard attacks, they always aim for the back of the head. Waving arms or a stick above their head ensures that they focus on that.
The only time Coen Kuiper was really afraid while running was on the vast beach area De Hors on Texel. Not a wolf, not a boar, not an irritated Scottish highlander, but two angry seagulls flying towards him. “It was the only time I really felt unsafe in nature. That day I ran my PR in the five kilometers.”
For him, the philosophy of trail running is that he feels one with nature while exercising and has respect for it. It feels strange, he says, that pigs often run away when they spot his group. “We walk into their territory and invade their privacy in a certain way. We take this into account by only exercising after sunrise and before sunset, and by staying on the trails.”
A DNA analysis is currently being carried out at the Environmental Research research institute in Wageningen on the wolf that lives in the forests where I run. It’s probably a male. The chance that I will encounter him is not great – a wolf moves in an area of 150 to 400 kilometers. He will hear me before I see him. Wolves, says Lelieveld, are aware when there are people near them. And if you see a wolf, he says, you should above all enjoy it. “It is a very rare phenomenon.” He lives on the edge of the Veluwe, but he has never seen one. “I don’t look for it and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.”