Wild boars/ feral pigs (Huntsville: vs., train, tickets)

[Reactionary]

The City of Huntsville's Hays Preserve (Flint River bottomland) has problems with feral pigs - they are very destructive. The City hires contractors to remove the critters (they used a better euphemism for killing the pigs) - they shoot them or trap and shoot them. Here's some background from that meeting:

Friends of the Preserve and Sanctuary | flashpoint (http://www.flashpointblog.com/2009/11/06/friends-of-the-preserve-and-sanctuary/ - broken link)

Roundup of articles:

Feral hog populations have greatly increased in Alabama since the 1980s. Before that time, feral hogs were located mostly in south Alabama with highest numbers found along the lower Tombigbee and Alabama rivers. Hogs have spread to northern portions of the state as a result of individuals illegally relocating feral hogs into new areas and some natural dispersion. The human relocation of hogs has resulted in feral hogs on many of Alabama’s WMAs...

Transporting live feral hogs from one property to another is illegal in Alabama. Do not move live feral hogs! Feral hogs are carriers of diseases such as anthrax, brucellosis, pseudorabies, and tuberculosis. Many of these diseases can be transmitted to humans and can pose serious problems for domestic livestock. Feral hogs cause severe damage to foraging and nesting habitat for native birds and mammals. DO NOT MOVE LIVE FERAL HOGS!!!! (Reax NOTE - you can move dead feral hogs)

Hog Wild - Hunting Feral Pigs on Alabama's WMAs (http://www.outdooralabama.com/hunting/articles/hogwild.cfm - broken link)

I also truly believe that native North American plants and animals have no worse enemy than feral pigs once they become established in a given habitat. Over the past couple decades there has been an alarming spread of feral pigs into heretofore unoccupied habitats throughout the Southeast and other regions of the U.S. Feral hogs are predators, scavengers and herbivores. They destroy the nests and eggs of ground-nesting birds, reptiles, and amphibians. Their habit of rooting up the soil when they feed is often disastrous to North American plants that have not evolved toler*ance to this particular behavior of this “non-native” species.

Wildlife Trends

The main problem with these animals is they wreak havoc and cause major environmental problems throughout the United States. And the main problem is they continue to get worse. If you look at a map of the United States and where feral hogs were in 1980 and compare it to a map today it will amaze you as to how for they have spread. Feral hogs are virtually in all 67 counties for the state.

If you have never had problems with them you think what could be such a big problem with hogs out in the wild but if you can imagine a tractor and a plow tearing up your front yard a wild hog does just that.

Forestry and Wildlife Sciences News: Feral Pigs

Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries issued a warning this past week telling the same hunters who were urged to shoot pigs to be careful of them.

With more and more hunters taking wild hogs, the chance of contracting certain illnesses such as swine brucellosis has increased, wildlife biologists are warning... Lawley said the threat of the disease shouldn't deter landowners and hunters from killing feral hogs. Alabama's feral-hog population continues to grow, he said, and needs to be brought under control.

Bolton: Feral pigs more than a pain, they also carry disease | Bolton's Outdoors Alabama - al.com

Regulations differ when it comes to hunting hogs on private land vs. hunting them on public land.

"Hunting on private land is year 'round," Claybrook explains. "However, it's daylight hours only. There's no size or bag limit."

Assistant Chief of the Law Enforcement Section Craig Hill says hunters can use dogs, guns, bow and arrow, or spears to hunt hogs in the state.

Alabama Hog Hunting

[skinem]

Here's just a few I've been having problems with...note the babies in the first pic.

I was in my truck with no firearm...they're smart...not too worried about vehicles, but if I get out or approach on foot, they scatter.







http://www.flickr.com/photos/78219825@N00/380926857/ (broken link)



http://www.flickr.com/photos/78219825@N00/380926857/ (broken link)

[rnc76]

The mountains of North GA are full of wild pigs. They are really destructive. People hunt them over there with dogs. It is a crazy method of hunting. They use dogs with radio collars on (catahoula leopard dogs are some of the best) to track the pigs and corner them. When they corner a pig, they "bay" or bark to tell the hunter that they found one. Then the owner drives up to the nearest point in his pickup and releases a different dog, usually an American Bulldog or pit bull. That dog runs in and grabs the pig by the throat and drags it to the ground and pins it. At this point, the hunter jumps in with a big knife or spear and stabs the pig. Seriously. I was not aware of this method of hunting until I went camping in a remote part of north GA and we had dogs with radio collars running through our campsite at 10pm at night. Sorry for the sidebar, the thread just reminded me of that experience.

I would assume that pigs are in NE AL as well. I've never heard of any around Huntsville, that is pretty wild that they had some at Hays Nature Preserve.

[skinem]

Originally Posted by rnc76

I would assume that pigs are in NE AL as well.

They are...Paint Rock Valley, Skyline. They're becoming a bigger problem every year.

[skinem]

Originally Posted by rnc76

I would assume that pigs are in NE AL as well.

They are...Paint Rock Valley, Skyline. They're becoming a bigger problem every year.

They are destructive to wildlife, eating birds' eggs if found, and there have been reports of them killing and eating fawns. They forage heavily for acorns competing with native species such as turkey and squirrel. With their rooting and wallowing habits, they are horribly destructive to wetlands, springs and riparian zones contributing to soil erosion.

Besides being destructive to the land and native plant life, they also can carry swine brucellosis, pseudo-rabies, trichinosis and leptospirosis. Recently, the Centers for Disease Control reported that several hunters contracted Brucella suis infection as a result of field-dressing kills made in the southeastern part of the nation. Most guys I know any more are using latex gloves if they ever dress one. Most guys I know aren't dressing them, though.

The ones in my area came from primarily one guy...one guy who all his neighbors asked him at one time or another to reconsider...in the 1990s, hog hunting for recreation began to gain popularity, so he started raising them, IIRC about 2000. He started raising some kind of European wild boar and selling "hunts" on his place or selling the hogs to other places to sell "hunts" to "hunters" with more money than hunting skills. It wasn’t long before many of these hogs escaped and of course, do what hogs do. Of course, he denies they came from him and that they came from somewhere else, but he's the only one in the area who had that breed. Now they are miles and miles from where he originally had them.

[Reactionary]

skinem - that guy is a pig, I'd love to have every feral pig carcass dumped on his front porch...

Thanks for the story.

[skinem]

Sorry for the double-post.

[HB2HSV]

Originally Posted by skinem

I've been hunting them on my place and my BILs place since about last February. Very destructive...reproducing faster than I can knock them down.

Hey Skinem if you need "help" let me know. I have a buddy who's a very good hunter.

[skinem]

Originally Posted by HB2HSV

Hey Skinem if you need "help" let me know. I have a buddy who's a very good hunter.

If I can't get a handle on it by end of April, I'll be calling for reinforcements!

[Threestep2]

Originally Posted by skinem

If I can't get a handle on it by end of April, I'll be calling for reinforcements!

You know where to find me as long as rifle is ok.