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Sleeping Habits of Wild Pigs

The wild pigs belong to the family Suidae within the broader order of even-toed ungulates, or hoofed mammals. Native to the Old World -- Europe, Asia and Africa -- they are mostly omnivorous, defined by squat, burly bodies and heavy heads to pursue a rooting lifestyle. Humans, of course, domesticated the pig for its meat; they also have introduced both domestic and wild pigs around the world, whether purposefully or not. Pig resting places tend to be quiet and out of the way, such as wild tangles or underground burrows.

General Daily Habits
- The Eurasian wild boar's diet is mostly vegetarian.
  
  Many wild pigs are nocturnal -- that is, they are active mostly at night. There are certainly exceptions though. For example, the warthog of sub-Saharan Africa is diurnal. Warthogs also are unusual among the family in their preference for open savanna and grassland environments. Most pigs favor dense vegetation, from bamboo thickets to swamps to temperate deciduous woods. Such activity patterns and habitat preferences, of course, have bearing on their resting habits.
Nests
- Bearded pigs of Indonesia, like many related species, hole up in thickets to rest.
  
  Unlike many ungulates, numerous pig species actively construct nests for resting and sheltering young. For the pigs of deep cover, like the giant forest hog of equatorial Africa or the pygmy hog of Asia, these are often located in brambly thickets or tall-grass strands. The bushpig of central and southern Africa may mold leaf litter within a thicket into a body-shaped nest. Wild boar of Eurasia ensconce themselves into tangled nests of grass and shrubbery. In many species, sows with piglets rest in their maternal nest, similarly constructed and located. A Celebes pig of Indonesia, for example, piles litter into a shallow hole to shelter herself and her young.
The Warthog
- Warthogs are the only pigs that can live in areas without water for months.
  
  The warthog inhabits open country where vegetative cover may be limited and retreats to burrows in the soil that they themselves dig or that they adopt from other excavators, such as aardvarks. Sows and piglets tend to descend to these underground refuges before dark when large predators, such as leopards and hyenas, might be more apt to roam, while boars sometimes remain aboveground until somewhat later. In addition to sheltering them from predators and providing a relatively secure nest for young, warthog burrows aid the pigs' thermal regulation, protecting them from intense heat or cold.
American Feral Hogs
- Feral hogs in the Southern Appalachians rest in thickets and deep woods.
  
  Feral hogs of the United States, sometimes called razorbacks, are descended from escaped domestic pigs and Eurasian wild boar that were released for hunting purposes; hybrids of the two strains are now common. They are widely established in the Southeast and California, with smaller exotic populations existing elsewhere. Like most wild pigs, these feral hogs prefer dense cover -- from cove forests of the Southern Appalachians to canebrakes and pinelands. They are largely nocturnal and hole up in thickets during the day and to rest between foraging bouts. Sows build maternity nests that may be little more than depressions scraped in the ground, sometimes lined with leaf litter or grass.

Animals & Science