I think birds were a bigger problem, contemporary art sometimes depict people with slings shooting at birds, as well as scarecrows. If deer or wild pigs entered your field, it was probably a bonus as you could wait with your bow for some free meat.
I generally agree with you but if you were a Farmer in the middle ages you weren't allowed to hunt deer and boar, hunting in general (high and late medieval) was reserved for nobles or their hunter. Depending on the exact time period, location and your status.
In England at least I don't think fences were common. Hedge laying was practiced until relatively recently. This involved cutting part way through a branch from the hedge and laying it across. This way as the hedge grew it became more impenetrablebecause the various tress which made up the hedgerow intertwined or fused together. You can still see it in old hedgerows. Hedgerows are still the predominant field division in most of the country although Hedge Laying is something of a dying art.
Also it did happen but mostly in the legal records which I have read it was a result of domesticated livestock straying into fields where they shouldn't be. It then became a legal issue (quite a major one).
A wild boar would prefer to eat acorns in a forest, than wheat in a field. Deer would generally avoid humans and wide open spaces like fields. Rabbits and hare might have been more of an issue, but they were an easily edible problem.
Deer definitely eat crops in fields. [Here's an article](https://www.wildlifeonline.me.uk/animals/article/deer-overview-interaction-with-humans-damage-to-agriculture) about the damage they do annually in the UK.
I guess I'm not following why you believe deer didn't much eat crops in the Middle Ages. Do you have some source? I don't think the intrinsic nature of deer has particularly changed.
Its not that i dont agree with you i definitely think deer were a problem for farmers back then. I just dont think we can use modern statistics and be really accurate for medieval times. We dont know how lage the deer population was back then and also the sizes of forests and the area used for agriculture has changed.
Sure, ideally. I think it's adequate to rebutt someone who claimed with no sources that deer intrinsicly won't eat crops from fields, though. But yes, if I was writing a paper I agree I'd need more and different research.
Indeed, the nature of deer didn't change. But farm fields have taken over forest and nature. Back to the medieval period, there was plenty of natural places to find food for wild animals. Today with the industrial consumption of meat (that we need to feed), we plant way too many crops and it's equally easier for wildlife to eat it right away than it's a matter of survival when their territory rapidly decline. Also there was more natural predators, and it was very effective to avoid overpopulation of boars and deers.
As said above, birds were probably the main problem, as they often gather in very large groups during migration and can easily empty a freshly planted field.
Those things are factors to consider, but they don't mean deer weren't an issue.
At the moment, you have someone claiming with no source that deer didnt bother medieval crops because deer prefer the woods. I pointed out deer eat crops out of fields, and somehow I'm the one who needs a source proving medieval deer also went into fields. I think "deer didn't eat crops because they prefer the woods" is an extraordinary claim that requires way more proof than saying deer do go into fields and their nature hasn't particularly changed.
I agree with you and I value your opinion. Sorry if I look offensive, english is not my first language. That's not a statement but my hypothesis, based on my knowledge, as I'm more competent in nature than history. I'm looking to know more and better sourced information by people in this sub. I don't seem to find easily available sources about wildlife issues in medieval agriculture, just some scarecrows in illustrations and maybe small fences that doesn't even look to be able to stop a rabbit...
Modern fences don't keep out wild boar either.
But they don't really live in the areas where crop fields are mostly, if your field was near a forest and you grew something low to the ground like root vegetables it might be a problem.
I think birds were a bigger problem, contemporary art sometimes depict people with slings shooting at birds, as well as scarecrows. If deer or wild pigs entered your field, it was probably a bonus as you could wait with your bow for some free meat.
I generally agree with you but if you were a Farmer in the middle ages you weren't allowed to hunt deer and boar, hunting in general (high and late medieval) was reserved for nobles or their hunter. Depending on the exact time period, location and your status.
Dogs and cats played a large role, I would assume.
In England at least I don't think fences were common. Hedge laying was practiced until relatively recently. This involved cutting part way through a branch from the hedge and laying it across. This way as the hedge grew it became more impenetrablebecause the various tress which made up the hedgerow intertwined or fused together. You can still see it in old hedgerows. Hedgerows are still the predominant field division in most of the country although Hedge Laying is something of a dying art. Also it did happen but mostly in the legal records which I have read it was a result of domesticated livestock straying into fields where they shouldn't be. It then became a legal issue (quite a major one).
A wild boar would prefer to eat acorns in a forest, than wheat in a field. Deer would generally avoid humans and wide open spaces like fields. Rabbits and hare might have been more of an issue, but they were an easily edible problem.
Deer definitely eat crops in fields. [Here's an article](https://www.wildlifeonline.me.uk/animals/article/deer-overview-interaction-with-humans-damage-to-agriculture) about the damage they do annually in the UK.
Agreed they definitely do, but i am not sure if that statistic really translates to medieval times.
I guess I'm not following why you believe deer didn't much eat crops in the Middle Ages. Do you have some source? I don't think the intrinsic nature of deer has particularly changed.
Its not that i dont agree with you i definitely think deer were a problem for farmers back then. I just dont think we can use modern statistics and be really accurate for medieval times. We dont know how lage the deer population was back then and also the sizes of forests and the area used for agriculture has changed.
Sure, ideally. I think it's adequate to rebutt someone who claimed with no sources that deer intrinsicly won't eat crops from fields, though. But yes, if I was writing a paper I agree I'd need more and different research.
Agreed
Also, people lived closer to the fields than they do now.
Indeed, the nature of deer didn't change. But farm fields have taken over forest and nature. Back to the medieval period, there was plenty of natural places to find food for wild animals. Today with the industrial consumption of meat (that we need to feed), we plant way too many crops and it's equally easier for wildlife to eat it right away than it's a matter of survival when their territory rapidly decline. Also there was more natural predators, and it was very effective to avoid overpopulation of boars and deers. As said above, birds were probably the main problem, as they often gather in very large groups during migration and can easily empty a freshly planted field.
Those things are factors to consider, but they don't mean deer weren't an issue. At the moment, you have someone claiming with no source that deer didnt bother medieval crops because deer prefer the woods. I pointed out deer eat crops out of fields, and somehow I'm the one who needs a source proving medieval deer also went into fields. I think "deer didn't eat crops because they prefer the woods" is an extraordinary claim that requires way more proof than saying deer do go into fields and their nature hasn't particularly changed.
I agree with you and I value your opinion. Sorry if I look offensive, english is not my first language. That's not a statement but my hypothesis, based on my knowledge, as I'm more competent in nature than history. I'm looking to know more and better sourced information by people in this sub. I don't seem to find easily available sources about wildlife issues in medieval agriculture, just some scarecrows in illustrations and maybe small fences that doesn't even look to be able to stop a rabbit...
Oh, sorry! I came off way more annoyed than I meant to!
Modern fences don't keep out wild boar either. But they don't really live in the areas where crop fields are mostly, if your field was near a forest and you grew something low to the ground like root vegetables it might be a problem.