thank you everyone - it seems the boar have eaten around the potatoes and onions so instead of them being in nice rows they are now growing in a sort of indiscriminate modern art type pattern....i dont think i'd get away with too much fencing ... my bit of land is right on the river by a lock and is expected to look pretty ish....but am considering all the options...i've not seen them on my land - when we go for walks in the hills we see them and if you drive at night over the tops you can see them scurrying for cover - dont have mountain goats thenk goodness just the odd deer......no badgers.