Feral pigs 'a national crisis'
- Dewey
- Moderator
- Posts: 36750
- Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2010 7:57 pm
- Location: Wisconsin
- Status: Offline
Feral pigs 'a national crisis'
http://www.today.com/news/feral-pigs-go ... 6C10548867
Digging up fields and lawns, killing livestock and spreading disease, wild pigs have gone from a regional nuisance to one rapidly spreading across the nation.
The animals have razor-sharp tusks, a bottomless appetite and no natural predators, and experts say the invasion of the feral pigs has become a major problem that is moving north.
“This truly is becoming a national crisis,’’ John Mayer, the manager of environmental science at the Savannah River (S.C.) National Laboratory, told TODAY on Friday.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that wild hogs, which can weigh more than 200 pounds, are responsible for more than $1.5 billion in agriculture damage and destruction every year. TODAY’s Kerry Sanders took a ride in a helicopter to see them firsthand, watching dozens on the run across the 2,000-acre South Fork Ranch in Okeechobee, Fla.
“It’s like having a rat in your house,’’ Southfork Land and Cattle Company’s Bill Wallace told Sanders. “They’re just not a good thing.”
In 1987, there were an estimated two million wild pigs in about 20 states, primarily in the South and concentrated in Texas and Florida. Now there are an estimated six to eight million wild pigs roaming 47 states.
“This increase that we’ve seen in wild pigs is unquestionably dramatic,’’ Mayer said. “We don’t have another species here in the U.S. that has increased at this same rate.”
Experts say the explosion in the wild pig population is partially due to hunters transporting them across state lines, plus some escaping from hunting preserves. The animals also produce two litters a year, rapidly swelling their numbers.
All of it could add up to a higher grocery bill for Americans. “The reason people should care is because eventually it could result in increased costs at the marketplace,’’ Wallace said.
Digging up fields and lawns, killing livestock and spreading disease, wild pigs have gone from a regional nuisance to one rapidly spreading across the nation.
The animals have razor-sharp tusks, a bottomless appetite and no natural predators, and experts say the invasion of the feral pigs has become a major problem that is moving north.
“This truly is becoming a national crisis,’’ John Mayer, the manager of environmental science at the Savannah River (S.C.) National Laboratory, told TODAY on Friday.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that wild hogs, which can weigh more than 200 pounds, are responsible for more than $1.5 billion in agriculture damage and destruction every year. TODAY’s Kerry Sanders took a ride in a helicopter to see them firsthand, watching dozens on the run across the 2,000-acre South Fork Ranch in Okeechobee, Fla.
“It’s like having a rat in your house,’’ Southfork Land and Cattle Company’s Bill Wallace told Sanders. “They’re just not a good thing.”
In 1987, there were an estimated two million wild pigs in about 20 states, primarily in the South and concentrated in Texas and Florida. Now there are an estimated six to eight million wild pigs roaming 47 states.
“This increase that we’ve seen in wild pigs is unquestionably dramatic,’’ Mayer said. “We don’t have another species here in the U.S. that has increased at this same rate.”
Experts say the explosion in the wild pig population is partially due to hunters transporting them across state lines, plus some escaping from hunting preserves. The animals also produce two litters a year, rapidly swelling their numbers.
All of it could add up to a higher grocery bill for Americans. “The reason people should care is because eventually it could result in increased costs at the marketplace,’’ Wallace said.
- hunter_mike
- Moderator
- Posts: 8297
- Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2012 3:24 pm
- Location: south central WI
- Status: Offline
Re: Feral pigs 'a national crisis'
Dewey wrote:All of it could add up to a higher grocery bill for Americans. “The reason people should care is because eventually it could result in increased costs at the marketplace,’’ Wallace said.
Thats probably the only reason a lot of people will care, but hopefully not.
I'd like to go kill a couple of these things but everywhere I've looked it seems like its going to cost me 500 bucks to get one. Maybe make it easier for hunters like myself and the many other people I know who would love to go shoot some to get tags or access to hog areas?
“The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.”
- GRUD
- 500 Club
- Posts: 973
- Joined: Sun Mar 14, 2010 12:26 pm
- Location: Hunting Beast: Become a Legend...
- Status: Offline
Re: Feral pigs 'a national crisis'
I truly dont believe they are a problem. Yes they are destructive but I have yet to find some land owner who will let anyone come in and hunt them. They are a big money maker for ranches.
[ Post made via iPhone ]
[ Post made via iPhone ]
- Stanley
- Honorary Moderator
- Posts: 18734
- Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2011 4:18 am
- Facebook: None
- Location: Iowa
- Status: Offline
Re: Feral pigs 'a national crisis'
Interesting.
You can fool some of the bucks, all of the time, and fool all of the bucks, some of the time, however you certainly can't fool all of the bucks, all of the time.
- UntouchableNess
- 500 Club
- Posts: 2071
- Joined: Tue Aug 16, 2011 9:28 am
- Location: Eastern Iowa
- Status: Offline
Re: Feral pigs 'a national crisis'
Yeah, as with most things, it's about the money. I chided some Texas guys on a hunting forum that if hogs were such a problem, how come you don't let an Iowa boy come down and shoot them for free. They said something about landowners not wanting just every yahoo running amok on their property.
To add another level to it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGC1tjHCSVE
I think you have to undergo a federal background check to be a shooter in one of these paid hunts. Something about mixing weapons and aircraft.
To add another level to it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGC1tjHCSVE
I think you have to undergo a federal background check to be a shooter in one of these paid hunts. Something about mixing weapons and aircraft.
- DEERSLAYER
- Super Moderator
- Posts: 8353
- Joined: Sun Mar 14, 2010 3:22 pm
- Location: Western L.P. of MI
- Contact:
- Status: Offline
Re: Feral pigs 'a national crisis'
We have a small, but growing population here in Michigan. I think there should be no closed season on them and no license required throughout the country. They can do tremendous damage. If farmers don't want to let people shoot them unless it's a paid hunt then maybe they shouldn't be reimbursed for crop damage? I can see making people get insured in case they get hurt or cause damage, but if someone wants to double dip by charging to hunt and get reimbursed for damages then I don't agree with that. In fact, because they cause so much damage rooting up vegetation, killing wild game, etc. I'm not so sure they should be allowed to restrict how many are killed by turning it into a business in this case. They are an invasive species that I would like to see removed from the wild. I would not want to see any people, especially kids, get seriously hurt or killed by one. Having said that, I will admit that it would be nice to be able to kill me some fresh pork. Just not at the expense of the environment and others. I would be more than willing to try to get rid of them if they showed up around here.
You cannot invade mainland America. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass.
Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese Admiral
Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese Admiral
- backstraps
- Moderator
- Posts: 10122
- Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2012 4:44 pm
- Location: Tennessee
- Status: Offline
Re: Feral pigs 'a national crisis'
They are a terrible problem in my area. This thing multiply like rabbits. But like mentioned on here before... the land owners wants them gone, but will not allow someone to come and "hunt" them.
I hear land owners complaining (just the other day inside Hardees!) but when approached with an offer to help out and get the opportunity to kill a few, the landowners are scared to death of liabilities. Even with a signed consent form, no permission was granted!
I knew a lady that owned 2100 acres of prime deer hunting farm. I was allowed to hunt that farm 6 years ago. The ferals began to take over. Now the deer population is gone, and you cannot trap and hunt enough to even keep up with their growing population there!
I hear land owners complaining (just the other day inside Hardees!) but when approached with an offer to help out and get the opportunity to kill a few, the landowners are scared to death of liabilities. Even with a signed consent form, no permission was granted!
I knew a lady that owned 2100 acres of prime deer hunting farm. I was allowed to hunt that farm 6 years ago. The ferals began to take over. Now the deer population is gone, and you cannot trap and hunt enough to even keep up with their growing population there!
-
- Site Owner
- Posts: 41635
- Joined: Sat Feb 13, 2010 6:11 am
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HuntingBeast/?ref=bookmarks
- Location: S.E. Wisconsin
- Contact:
- Status: Offline
Re: Feral pigs 'a national crisis'
We used to have a few wild boar game farms in Wisconsin that would sell hunts. It turns out there was a law against them that was not being enforced. When the anti's found out about this they forced the DNR to enforce the law and shut them down. When they did this, it was really hard for these places to kill or catch all the pigs in large enclosures and a lot either got turned loose when the fencing came down, or escaped.
Being that the Russian strain can live in this environment the DNR did press releases, and told everyone we needed to kill these pigs every chance we got... However, there was a catch... You had to buy a small game license and you had to report each kill to the DNR ( At which point they ask to see your small game license ) If you were gun deer hunting for example, and only had a gun deer license, you were not legally able to shoot one... How much of a problem is it if the WDNR has to make a profit?
Being that the Russian strain can live in this environment the DNR did press releases, and told everyone we needed to kill these pigs every chance we got... However, there was a catch... You had to buy a small game license and you had to report each kill to the DNR ( At which point they ask to see your small game license ) If you were gun deer hunting for example, and only had a gun deer license, you were not legally able to shoot one... How much of a problem is it if the WDNR has to make a profit?
- Stanley
- Honorary Moderator
- Posts: 18734
- Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2011 4:18 am
- Facebook: None
- Location: Iowa
- Status: Offline
Re: Feral pigs 'a national crisis'
I see them as a nuisance species. They can get out of hand easily. They have a gestation period of 4 months. A litter can be 6-12 piglets and those piglets can reproduce in about 8-10 months maybe a little longer in the wild. The good news is coyotes would love to eat the young pigs. Actually a boar will often eat the young piglets also.
Pigs can dig a lot of ground, as that is what they do all day. Farmers that had domestic pigs in fields always put rings in their snoots to help slow down the digging they would do. Wild pigs have no rings so they are free to dig all day long. Pigs will eat anything, it was always common for cattlemen to run hogs in with the cattle so the hogs could eat the cow crap with undigested corn & feed in it.
That has pretty much gone by the wayside as everything is now big hog confinement set ups. People even hate those hog confinements as they stink to high heaven. So hogs are hated by almost everyone until its time for a big pork roast or barbequed ribs. Anyway, enough on the hog session.
Pigs can dig a lot of ground, as that is what they do all day. Farmers that had domestic pigs in fields always put rings in their snoots to help slow down the digging they would do. Wild pigs have no rings so they are free to dig all day long. Pigs will eat anything, it was always common for cattlemen to run hogs in with the cattle so the hogs could eat the cow crap with undigested corn & feed in it.
That has pretty much gone by the wayside as everything is now big hog confinement set ups. People even hate those hog confinements as they stink to high heaven. So hogs are hated by almost everyone until its time for a big pork roast or barbequed ribs. Anyway, enough on the hog session.
You can fool some of the bucks, all of the time, and fool all of the bucks, some of the time, however you certainly can't fool all of the bucks, all of the time.
- DEERSLAYER
- Super Moderator
- Posts: 8353
- Joined: Sun Mar 14, 2010 3:22 pm
- Location: Western L.P. of MI
- Contact:
- Status: Offline
Re: Feral pigs 'a national crisis'
dan wrote:... However, there was a catch... You had to buy a small game license and you had to report each kill to the DNR ( At which point they ask to see your small game license ) If you were gun deer hunting for example, and only had a gun deer license, you were not legally able to shoot one... How much of a problem is it if the WDNR has to make a profit?
Similar problem here. Except any hunting license is OK and I'm not sure if you have to check in with the DNR, but you must have a hunting license. It's just plain state greed. It's an invasive non game species so no license should be needed. Just shoot as many as you can, when you can to try to nip it in the bud.
You cannot invade mainland America. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass.
Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese Admiral
Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese Admiral
- jlh42581
- 500 Club
- Posts: 2001
- Joined: Wed Jun 29, 2011 3:10 am
- Location: PA
- Contact:
- Status: Offline
Re: Feral pigs 'a national crisis'
Ive never seen one locally but they exist here and there. PA law... no license, no closed season
- Southern Man
- 500 Club
- Posts: 3827
- Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2010 7:04 am
- Location: Extreme Western Kentucky
- Status: Offline
Re: Feral pigs 'a national crisis'
Some guys close to my home let a few loose in the bottoms a few years back. The bottoms are mostly state owned land and about 2/3's of that is "Nature Preserve" so no hunting at all. The pig herd exploded. The state knows they're a big problem, yet you can't go in there and kill em. They come out of the bottoms at night and are destroyin cropland bigtime. They're startin to spread out from the bottoms onto private land. We can kill them on sight year round on private ground and they're happy for you to do it. They are a real problem.
You Can't Argue With A Sick Mind
- PK_
- 500 Club
- Posts: 6898
- Joined: Tue Nov 20, 2012 5:10 am
- Location: Just Off
- Status: Offline
Re: Feral pigs 'a national crisis'
I shoot every sow I can and have probably messed up a lot of my deer hunting because of it.
Private land you can shoot them year round here no license required. Most Public they have no bag limit or size limit, you just need a permit for use of WMA but don't need hunting license. The hog seasons are getting longer and longer and opening up on more properties. It used to be mostly draw hunts, now it is open access in most places which is nice. I don't even know how many I killed last year, at least a half dozen...
Most ranchers here absolutely let guys on to kill hogs but not strangers. There are usually enough guys he knows personally lining up for permission...
Private land you can shoot them year round here no license required. Most Public they have no bag limit or size limit, you just need a permit for use of WMA but don't need hunting license. The hog seasons are getting longer and longer and opening up on more properties. It used to be mostly draw hunts, now it is open access in most places which is nice. I don't even know how many I killed last year, at least a half dozen...
Most ranchers here absolutely let guys on to kill hogs but not strangers. There are usually enough guys he knows personally lining up for permission...
No Shortcuts. No Excuses. No Regrets.
Everybody's selling dreams. I'm too cheap to buy one.
Everybody's selling dreams. I'm too cheap to buy one.
Rich M wrote:Typically, hunting FL has been like getting a root canal
- DEERSLAYER
- Super Moderator
- Posts: 8353
- Joined: Sun Mar 14, 2010 3:22 pm
- Location: Western L.P. of MI
- Contact:
- Status: Offline
Re: Feral pigs 'a national crisis'
Hogs can be mean and I wonder if one of those ornery hogs would bite into a python if attacked or if fear would take over? Have you ever heard of a hog winning a battle with a python PalmettoKid?
You cannot invade mainland America. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass.
Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese Admiral
Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese Admiral
-
- Site Owner
- Posts: 41635
- Joined: Sat Feb 13, 2010 6:11 am
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HuntingBeast/?ref=bookmarks
- Location: S.E. Wisconsin
- Contact:
- Status: Offline
Re: Feral pigs 'a national crisis'
DEERSLAYER wrote:Hogs can be mean and I wonder if one of those ornery hogs would bite into a python if attacked or if fear would take over? Have you ever heard of a hog winning a battle with a python PalmettoKid?
[bbvideo=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ILV_l7SMr0[/bbvideo]
-
- Advertisement
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 7 guests