# Texas Woman Killed By Feral Hogs



## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

"ANAHUAC, Texas — A 59-year-old caretaker found dead Sunday morning outside of a home in Anahuac was attacked and killed by wild hogs according to the autopsy. 

The autopsy results showed the cause of death as 'exsanguination due to feral hog assault,' meaning she bled to death. 

Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne said it's a "very rare incident," and less than 6 of these deaths have been reported in the U.S. 

Hawthorne said the family she was caring for have about 10 or 12 acres, and "the feral hogs have taken over some of their family land."

Authorities said the body of Christine Rollins, of Liberty, was found in the front yard of a home in the 4000 block of State Highway 61. Rollins was the caretaker of an elderly couple who lives at the home, authorities said.

When Rollins didn't show up to the home at the normal time, the 84-year-old homeowner went outside and found her body in the yard between her vehicle and the front door, investigators said. "






https://www.12newsnow.com/article/n...6aB5zwKbg2NOgfreqFWAZ1Ibdx_Apboi1yYQAAXy26eMg


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## SLADE (Feb 20, 2004)

I know this is ignorance on my part but why can't hunters eradicate the problem?
A taking up of arms.


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## whiterock (Mar 26, 2003)

I'm almost surprised that there haven't been more cases. Feral hogs are not nice creatures.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

I have been to that part of the state many times. Lots of good old boys will be hunting this coming weekend. 

Feral hog info

https://www.qdma.com/feral-hogs-spreading-can-help-stop/


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Effective trapping...






$7000 each.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Faq

http://www.boarbuster.com/faq.html


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## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

Maybe a dumb question but will feral hogs actually eat people?


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## muleskinner2 (Oct 7, 2007)

Lisa in WA said:


> Maybe a dumb question but will feral hogs actually eat people?


Yes they will. A pig will eat anything they can find or kill.


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## muleskinner2 (Oct 7, 2007)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> I have been to that part of the state many times. Lots of good old boys will be hunting this coming weekend.
> 
> Feral hog info
> 
> https://www.qdma.com/feral-hogs-spreading-can-help-stop/


Part of the problem is, the farmers and ranchers have turned the hog infestation into a business, instead of trying to just kill the pigs and get rid of them. A state sponsored bounty would go a long way toward solving the problem.


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## Oregon1986 (Apr 25, 2017)

What a horrible way to go


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

SRSLADE said:


> I know this is ignorance on my part but why can't hunters eradicate the problem?
> A taking up of arms.


You can't kill enough of them by hunting to hurt the population.
There are no seasons or bag limits now.


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

SRSLADE said:


> I know this is ignorance on my part but why can't hunters eradicate the problem?
> A taking up of arms.


Hogs reproduce at very high rate. They are super smart.

You can hunt them 24x7x365 in many states. No state is making progress in eradicating them. Many people are afraid to eat them because of disease (brucellosis, psuedorabies, and tularemia).

They continue to spread to new areas all the time.


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

Lisa in WA said:


> Maybe a dumb question but will feral hogs actually eat people?


They eat everything.


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## SLADE (Feb 20, 2004)

HDRider said:


> Hogs reproduce at very high rate. They are super smart.
> 
> You can hunt them 24x7x365 in many states. No state is making progress in eradicating them. Many people are afraid to eat them because of disease (brucellosis, psuedorabies, and tularemia).
> 
> They continue to spread to new areas all the time.


When you put it that way. Yuck


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

SRSLADE said:


> When you put it that way. Yuck


https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ou...rational-activities/feral-swine/sa-fs-history
Blue is where they were in 1982.
The Red is where they expanded up to 2015.


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## 101pigs (Sep 18, 2018)

Lisa in WA said:


> Maybe a dumb question but will feral hogs actually eat people?


Years ago a man got shot in a pig pin. He was disabled. The hogs eat him before anyone could save him.


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## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

101pigs said:


> Years ago a man got shot in a pig pin. He was disabled. The hogs eat him before anyone could save him.


I figured they would. I was remembering the scene in “Hannibal” where Mason Verger was eaten.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Deadwood, the mini series, shows that the pigs were part of the eradication procedure for two legged vermin.

Yes, I personally know two people who have witnessed accidents where pigs ate a human.

Most ranchers and farmers are NOT using the feral hogs as a business. That is an exaggeration and misrepresentation of the facts. There are a few hog hunts, both with dogs and with helicopters. By no means is it "most farmers and ranchers."

I personally know one farmer who traps them, feeds them out in a pen, and sells the animal for slaughter and human consumption.


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

Lisa in WA said:


> I figured they would. I was remembering the scene in “Hannibal” where Mason Verger was eaten.


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## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

HDRider said:


>


Where is that vomiting smiley when it’s needed?


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

Lisa in WA said:


> Maybe a dumb question but will feral hogs actually eat people?


 They didn’t eat this lady but they ate enough of her.


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## Redlands Okie (Nov 28, 2017)

Keep in mind that wild life officials estimate that 70% of the hog population needs to be killed every year just to maintain the population at the present level. Think about that, 70 out of every 100 every single year to keep the numbers steady.

I doubt we have enough active hunters. Personally just quartered one this afternoon.


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## mreynolds (Jan 1, 2015)

That's not far from my mother's house. Odd too because they actually have a natural predator Down there with alligators. Alligators will eat the young ones. They still can't keep up though.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

Lisa in WA said:


> Where is that vomiting smiley when it’s needed?


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Alligators and hogs prefer different habitats.


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> Alligators and hogs prefer different habitats.


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## SLFarmMI (Feb 21, 2013)

Redlands Okie said:


> I doubt we have enough active hunters. Personally just quartered one this afternoon.



A hunter or a hog? Might want to think about the construction of that last sentence or folks might start to wonder about you.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

I know that the pigs go to water, but that's not where they spend most of their time. Sigh.


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## manfred (Dec 21, 2005)

my place is heavily wooded and the hogs are hard to kill even when shot. No way I can control them. Always carry a pistol with me if I go in the woods.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

They may prefer a different habitat but if food is plenty full they will utilize what they can


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> I know that the pigs go to water, but that's not where they spend most of their time. Sigh.


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## muleskinner2 (Oct 7, 2007)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> Deadwood, the mini series, shows that the pigs were part of the eradication procedure for two legged vermin.
> 
> Yes, I personally know two people who have witnessed accidents where pigs ate a human.
> 
> ...


If they are charging a fee to hunt on their land, they are making a business of it.


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## muleskinner2 (Oct 7, 2007)

HDRider said:


> Hogs reproduce at very high rate. They are super smart.
> 
> You can hunt them 24x7x365 in many states. No state is making progress in eradicating them. Many people are afraid to eat them because of disease (brucellosis, psuedorabies, and tularemia).
> 
> They continue to spread to new areas all the time.


Recreational hunting will never put a dent in the population. It needs to be a money making enterprise. The buffalo were not wiped out by sport hunters.


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## muleskinner2 (Oct 7, 2007)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> Effective trapping...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Trapping is very effective, if done on a commercial basis. The trap in the picture is way too expensive. You don't need a remote controlled computerized toy. I could build ten or twelve traps for the same money.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

The audio is very educational about why the Boar Buster works. Pigs are smart. 

One of my favorite things on this forum is how folks shoot down previous posts. (Sarcasm)


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## wdcutrsdaughter (Dec 9, 2012)

great, now I am afraid of pigs

I wonder what vegans think about them being killed if they are such a nuisance. Random thought that came to mind.


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## barnbilder (Jul 1, 2005)

The wild hog population was largely kept in check before regulations changed concerning selling hogs at livestock auctions. There is simply not enough money in it. There are places that wild hog survival is very low. West Virginia stocked hogs way back when, and they regulate their harvest. They are basically extinct. If they have to survive on native plant life, and endure cold climate, and there is anything in the way of a bear population, they don't do well without constant restocking efforts, in the form of escapees from high fence hunting preserves, which is the most common mode of population establishment. Another problem that has arisen is that hog hunters themselves grow to enjoy their pursuit, often stopping short of eradication, and many times engaging in stocking efforts.


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## mreynolds (Jan 1, 2015)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> Alligators and hogs prefer different habitats.


Alligators also roam when they get bigger to keep the bigger ones from killing them. The bigger ones don't like the competition. Often you will find them in ponds for a week or two and then they move on. Sometimes miles away. Another little known fact is they will come into salt water in the early spring to kill off the freshwater leeches that accumulate in the winter. People checking their crab traps in Anahuac come across them in the spring. 

Everywhere in Anahuac is alligator habitat year 'round. They stocked them there 40 years ago and still protect them to this day. But there are more hogs than gators down there.


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## MichaelZ (May 21, 2013)

Saw one in NW WI once when hunting. I saw it but did not believe it was a hog since I only got a quick look and I did not think they were up here. But then I read that a few were in that exact area - most likely escapee's from some hunting compound. We can shoot them up here too.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> One of my favorite things on this forum is how folks shoot down previous posts. (Sarcasm)


We need a remote controlled Post Buster.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

mreynolds said:


> But there are more hogs than gators down there.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

muleskinner2 said:


> Part of the problem is, the farmers and ranchers have turned the hog infestation into a business, instead of trying to just kill the pigs and get rid of them. A state sponsored bounty would go a long way toward solving the problem.


I've heard about property owners who refuse to let anyone eliminate them from their land. That turns their property into an endless source of hogs for miles around. They should be treated like noxious weeds and you either eradicate them or get someone else to do it or you get fined.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Some wackos have trapped them and released them to breed in areas that don’t normally have feral hogs. 

There’s plenty of humans who make bad decisions.


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## lmrose (Sep 24, 2009)

Oregon1986 said:


> What a horrible way to go


I agree. That is a horrible way to die. I wonder how these wild hogs got started living free in the first place and why hunters can't shoot them now they are a threat?


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

lmrose said:


> I agree. That is a horrible way to die. I wonder how these wild hogs got started living free in the first place and *why hunters can't shoot them now *they are a threat?


Anyone can shoot as many as they want any time they want.
The problem is they can't shoot enough of them to make a difference.

The problem started hundreds of years ago when people brought pigs here from Europe.
They escaped and have been expanding their range ever since.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

Every once in a while something happens it turns a few loose in this area. A few years back a semi truck over turned and turned over 1000 small pigs loose. Of course they cut some but probably not even a half of them. 
20 years before that I got in the hog business went bankrupt and just open the gates and ran everything out the door
Things like that from time to time keep it interesting around here


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Wild hogs are part of nature, the same as squirrels. Also, over the years, domestic hogs escaped and/or were released to forage on their own. 

There are people who hunt wild hogs for meat, just like deer hunters.


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## gilberte (Sep 25, 2004)

'Hogs for the Homeless' Visit the gofu..me page now.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> Wild hogs are *part of nature*, the same as squirrels.


In North America they were introduced by Europeans.

https://feralhogs.extension.org/history-of-feral-hogs-in-the-united-states/

"The expedition of Hernando de Soto is attributed as the first documented source that introduced hogs into the continental United States. From the initial stock of animals, De Soto’s herd of swine increased to a reported total of 700. Over a three year period, De Soto and his army traveled through what are now 14 states. Along the 3,100-mile journey, the hogs variously escaped into the wild and were either given to or stolen by the Indians encountered by the Spaniards. De Soto was followed by many other Spanish, English, and French explorers and colonists that brought hogs to the continental U. S. (e.g., Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, Juan de Oñate, Pierre de Iberville, Fernando del Bosque, Rene-Robert Cavelier Sieur de La Salle, and Sir Walter Raleigh). The escaped hogs from these various expeditions and settlements went wild and rapidly became established in a variety of areas. "

"Beginning in the 1890s, pure Eurasian wild boar were introduced into several areas of the United States to provide a new huntable big game species for wealthy sportsmen. All of these initial introductions were into fenced shooting preserves (e.g., Corbin’s Park, NH; Litchfield Park, NY; Hooper Bald, NC). Many were followed by secondary introductions into other locations. A number of these later releases were made into unfenced areas. In other instances, the wild boar were able to break out of and escape the fenced enclosures where they were being maintained. In such areas where feral hogs were already established, interbreeding between the two forms readily occurred, further complicating the taxonomic composition of the wild hogs found in those areas. "

*"Between 1989 and the present, the number of states reporting the presence of feral hogs has more than doubled." *


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

barnbilder said:


> The wild hog population was largely kept in check before regulations changed concerning selling hogs at livestock auctions. There is simply not enough money in it. There are places that wild hog survival is very low. West Virginia stocked hogs way back when, and they regulate their harvest. They are basically extinct. If they have to survive on native plant life, and endure cold climate, and there is anything in the way of a bear population, they don't do well without constant restocking efforts, in the form of escapees from high fence hunting preserves, which is the most common mode of population establishment. Another problem that has arisen is that hog hunters themselves grow to enjoy their pursuit, often stopping short of eradication, and many times engaging in stocking efforts.


The same thing happened in South Carolina, sort of. They released Russian boar years ago. They got hunted out. Feral pigs are another matter. They cannot keep that population in check.


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## barnbilder (Jul 1, 2005)

HDRider said:


> The same thing happened in South Carolina, sort of. They released Russian boar years ago. They got hunted out. Feral pigs are another matter. They cannot keep that population in check.


They used to, before the USDA made it economically unfeasible to do so. There was a time when hog hunters would catch a boar that looked "russian" and turn him loose to breed, and catch one that didn't look "russian" and castrate him so he could fatten up. If they caught him again, they ate him, if they didn't, at least he didn't breed. Sows were either eaten or released based on how they looked. These were the hunters that practiced wild hog conservation. Other hunters practiced "trying to make a living" and they rounded up hogs and took them to market. Usda stopped that practice.

Most of these hogs were from free range stock. The historical practice was to round them up with dogs, notch their ears and turn them back loose, then round them up again in the fall and drive them to market. A few breeders remained back in the thick swampy places. The surplus was harvested every year. Modern commercial hog farming stopped the free range hog farming, but the pigs remained. 

Later, entrepreneurs used the same dogs to round up hogs for market, no ear notch necessary, all wild hogs fair game. Commercial hog farms pressured USDA to stop this practice over disease concerns (like an unchecked wild population was not a reservoir for disease). They turned to game farms as a market, rich guys will pay premium for a taxidermy quality specimen put in a pen to hunt. This led to hunting just trophy quality animals, which increased and dispersed populations.

Now, government wildlife agencies are shining light on this "epidemic" that they had a hand in creating, and are advertising themselves as the only possible solution, of a problem which they will never cure, or else they will be out of a job. 

Pigs are edible, and would have market value, they also are very destructive, so there is economic incentive to capture them, but due to regulations, there is no economic incentive for anyone to come anywhere close to controlling their population. And the government is not likely to solve this problem that they are busy drumming up funding to solve. People that have the experience and equipment to eradicate wild hogs are happy to let wild populations fester in remote areas, while waiting for a contract with a HOA for spot eradication that will pay them a sum commensurate with their labor expenditure.

A bounty system could work, if instead of paying everyone on a per hog basis, they made it more of a quota system, get a payout for a certain number, bunuses paid for top producers, set up some competition and make serious players take interest. There are people that can do it, but right now they are on the couch waiting for the HOA to call. Make more money on the couch than tearing up equipment catching hogs for free.

They aren't invincible, they eat, they give off scent, they leave tracks, and they will die under the right influences. All weaknesses that have made things like rhinos go extinct under the right economic pressure. If there isn't enough money to control wild hogs, then they aren't really a problem.


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## Farmerga (May 6, 2010)

SRSLADE said:


> I know this is ignorance on my part but why can't hunters eradicate the problem?
> A taking up of arms.


It would take killing some 70% of the population, on a yearly basis, just to keep the population stable. They breed very fast and there are few "natural" predators.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Excellent info posted above.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

I recommend that inquiring minds read the book Old Yeller. It’s about a dog during frontier days. He saves his boy from pigs, if I remember correctly.


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## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> I recommend that inquiring minds read the book Old Yeller. It’s about a dog during frontier days. He saves his boy from pigs, if I remember correctly.


They might’ve been around for a while but they aren’t native to the Americas. They were brought by Spanish explorers. They are an invasive species.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Some wee brain cell in my head knew that. Thank you for waking it up.


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## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> Some wee brain cell in my head knew that. Thank you for waking it up.


im always surprised to find out that species I thought were native, really aren’t. 
Like ringneck pheasants being from Asia. Or the wild turkeys that have taken over the neighborhoods of our city. Native to the Americas but not the northwest.


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## muleskinner2 (Oct 7, 2007)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> Wild hogs are part of nature, the same as squirrels. Also, over the years, domestic hogs escaped and/or were released to forage on their own.
> 
> There are people who hunt wild hogs for meat, just like deer hunters.


There were no wild hogs here before the Europeans came. This is a totally man made problem. By declaring an open season with no limit it sounds like the state is trying to get rid of them. Actually they are hoping the problem will just go away. Commercial trapping with a bounty, and the ability to sell the meat would solve the problem. But, with the number of tree huggers we have in our government, this will never happen.


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## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

muleskinner2 said:


> There were no wild hogs here before the Europeans came. This is a totally man made problem. By declaring an open season with no limit it sounds like the state is trying to get rid of them. Actually they are hoping the problem will just go away. Commercial trapping with a bounty, and the ability to sell the meat would solve the problem. But, with the number of tree huggers we have in our government, this will never happen.


“Tree huggers” should be 100 percent behind eradication of wild hogs. I agree with the idea of a bounty.


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## 101pigs (Sep 18, 2018)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> Deadwood, the mini series, shows that the pigs were part of the eradication procedure for two legged vermin.
> 
> Yes, I personally know two people who have witnessed accidents where pigs ate a human.
> 
> ...


In Florida in the orange gro


Alice In TX/MO said:


> Some wackos have trapped them and released them to breed in areas that don’t normally have feral hogs.
> 
> There’s plenty of humans who make bad decisions.


There are a few fellows in this area that traps them and has beer parties and cooks them. If you have a few beer in you the taste isn't to bad.


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## whiterock (Mar 26, 2003)

Trapped one a few years ago about 100 yards from the house. Buddy came to get it. Shot it twice at close range with a .22 . I was amazed he would try that. It just shook its head and charged the trap. Then he got out a .45 and shot it twice. This knocked it down enough to be able to reach in to cut its throat. It was huge. I hooked it up and pulled it up in a tree and lowered it down in the bed of the truck that took it to town. Full across the bed of a 1 ton Ram truck. I'm guessing it weighed in excess of 350#.
While cutting it up later they found an arrowhead in it.


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## tripletmom (Feb 4, 2005)

The wild pigs we've seen around here appear to be pot bellied pigs. And there are a lot of them!!


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## whiterock (Mar 26, 2003)

where is here? I'm south of Dallas and some of mine look like cave painting of ancient beasts.


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## tripletmom (Feb 4, 2005)

whiterock said:


> where is here?


Assuming you're talking to me, NW Arkansas. We've had 2 different ones wander onto our property in the past 8 years. I have video of my son trying to catch one when we were out and about one day and here just the other day we swung into Natural dam to look at the water and there was a mama with a whole litter of half grown babies snuffling around there. That's 20 miles from my house and we saw the same there a different time we were there too. All appear to be potbellied or some large mix of.
We shot and ate/shared the one's that showed up at our house...tasty!!


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

Lisa in WA said:


> “Tree huggers” should be 100 percent behind eradication of wild hogs. I agree with the idea of a bounty.


Tree huggers are aligned with PETA people for greater mass.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

We helped trap a domestic pot bellied pig in town. 

If you shoot one, use a .38. Visualize an X on its forehead from ear bases to other eyes. Shoot there. It will go down.


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## SLADE (Feb 20, 2004)

Pot bellied pig. A picnic ham wrapped in lard.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

Anatomical landmarks for shot placement:
https://vetmed.iastate.edu/vdpam/ab...anasia/humane-euthanasia/anatomical-landmarks


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Yup. What I said.


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## lmrose (Sep 24, 2009)

Thanks everyone for all the good information on wild hogs. Reading their history and beginnings was very interesting.


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

Just a quick use of google fu between baking side dishes this morning.


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## [email protected] (Sep 16, 2009)

imho they are an invasive species. 
I would think they would be a good filler in dog food or mink food on a mink ranch. at least until they are all eradicated..
If we had them locally, I think I would pop one off and eat it.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

I think hunting them would be more popular if they didn’t carry the diseases of a tropical Begger colony!


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## [email protected] (Sep 16, 2009)

I notice even on this thread that people eat them.
So apparently the disease does not transfer if properly cooked.. ?
Just because it is wild meat, many people suspect that they carry disease.
Even domestic hogs carry disease, but there are plenty of them gobbled down every day.


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## mreynolds (Jan 1, 2015)

[email protected] said:


> I notice even on this thread that people eat them.
> So apparently the disease does not transfer if properly cooked.. ?
> Just because it is wild meat, many people suspect that they carry disease.
> Even domestic hogs carry disease, but there are plenty of them gobbled down every day.


Yes, we do eat them. The boars need to be cut and fed out before I will eat them because the meat is too strong. I do know of a few that will let the meat sit in ice for 2 weeks (******* meat locker cure) and drain the blood. It tastes ok like that. The sows are fair game though.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

[email protected] said:


> I notice even on this thread that people eat them.
> So apparently the disease does not transfer if properly cooked.. ?
> Just because it is wild meat, many people suspect that they carry disease.
> Even domestic hogs carry disease, but there are plenty of them gobbled down every day.


Domestic hogs are vaccinated for most of the diseases that can harm humans.
They are generally in very good health at the time of slaughter.

Feral hogs carry diseases that can not only affect humans, but can cause huge losses in domestic herds. Proper cooking helps, but disease is just one of the problems they cause.

They prey on native wildlife and destroy lots of crops and native vegetation too.


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## tripletmom (Feb 4, 2005)

Those that wandered onto our place were eaten.
We never vaccinated any of the pigs we raised and butchered.


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## copperhead46 (Jan 25, 2008)

SRSLADE said:


> I know this is ignorance on my part but why can't hunters eradicate the problem?
> A taking up of arms.


Im in NE Oklahoma and they are so thick up here. We can shoot them anytime, but..they are hard to find and kill. We get the most from trapping but, they multiply faster than we can kill them. Its a major problem and no fix in sight.
A huge problem caused by "hunters" bringing in Russian pigs to hunt, and not controling them. Now they are everywhere.


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## copperhead46 (Jan 25, 2008)

Bearfootfarm said:


> Domestic hogs are vaccinated for most of the diseases that can harm humans.
> They are generally in very good health at the time of slaughter.
> 
> Feral hogs carry diseases that can not only affect humans, but can cause huge losses in domestic herds. Proper cooking helps, but disease is just one of the problems they cause.
> ...


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## copperhead46 (Jan 25, 2008)

We eats a ton of them, they are crazy healthy.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

Do any of the state Department of Fish and game do checks on them to get an idea of the state of health of the wild population?


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

You know the Russians are some ugly pig but I bet they look a lot better wrapped in White wax paper


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## [email protected] (Sep 16, 2009)

yeah , good things come in ugly packages. 
have you ever seen a grouper ? (fish)


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## barnbilder (Jul 1, 2005)

They might not be native per se, but they have an evolutionary dispersal tactic built in that made their arrival inevitable. It's a very clever trick, they actually contain a mixture of amino acids and proteins within their bodies that cause technologically advanced species to transport them to every corner of the globe. This substance is known as bacon.

Tree huggers and ecologists might want to look at the big picture here before jumping on the wild boar hype bandwagon. There are wild hogs in other temperate regions of the world, and they have been there for thousands of years, and they haven't destroyed anything. They plow ground. Some studies have shown that they actually help stop the spread of some invasive plant species. There is a theory of ecology that states something to the effect of "from chaos springs diversity" not sure which naturalist said that, but a nice plowed section here and there can promote some plant diversity, for instance creating a park effect in stands of forest, making a spot here and there for grass to grow in an otherwise tree choked landscape. Sure, wild hogs can make an unsightly blemish in a corn field, but a corn field is a pretty unsightly blemish in a stand of native plants. Yeah they can cause erosion, but their irregular furrows can also retain storm water, possibly create wetlands. They can bust up hardpan, and get buried soil nutrients up where shallow rooted vegetation can utilize them. Probably a break even thing ecologically speaking if left to their own population dynamics based on available food and normal predation. 

But where numbers are propped up by cereal grain crops, the high populations can be very devastating to the fragile riparian areas that serve as their only shelter in such ecosystems. In many instances in which you find large wild hog populations, (such as Texas) the dumping of vast quantities of grain crops for the purpose of feeding whitetail deer is a common practice. This will cause population dynamics to far surpass the natural holding capacity of that landscape. If the hogs had to make it off of scrub brush and a few acorns, the sows would have much smaller litters and much less survival compared to having a continuous corn buffet.

If the game agencies in states such as Texas really cared about wild hogs, and nature in general, they would make it illegal to feed wildlife. Then the population would shift to feeding on row crops. A lot of ground put in cotton for a few years and some intensive trapping and bounty work at that point would make them more of the reclusive, sparsely populated animal that they are in their more native habitats.


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## AmericanStand (Jul 29, 2014)

Where does a wild hog shelter when it’s well below 0?


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## mreynolds (Jan 1, 2015)

barnbilder said:


> They might not be native per se, but they have an evolutionary dispersal tactic built in that made their arrival inevitable. It's a very clever trick, they actually contain a mixture of amino acids and proteins within their bodies that cause technologically advanced species to transport them to every corner of the globe. This substance is known as bacon.
> 
> Tree huggers and ecologists might want to look at the big picture here before jumping on the wild boar hype bandwagon. There are wild hogs in other temperate regions of the world, and they have been there for thousands of years, and they haven't destroyed anything. They plow ground. Some studies have shown that they actually help stop the spread of some invasive plant species. There is a theory of ecology that states something to the effect of "from chaos springs diversity" not sure which naturalist said that, but a nice plowed section here and there can promote some plant diversity, for instance creating a park effect in stands of forest, making a spot here and there for grass to grow in an otherwise tree choked landscape. Sure, wild hogs can make an unsightly blemish in a corn field, but a corn field is a pretty unsightly blemish in a stand of native plants. Yeah they can cause erosion, but their irregular furrows can also retain storm water, possibly create wetlands. They can bust up hardpan, and get buried soil nutrients up where shallow rooted vegetation can utilize them. Probably a break even thing ecologically speaking if left to their own population dynamics based on available food and normal predation.
> 
> ...


This is valid. I don't feed deer and never have. I have almost no hogs near me. I know they are close but they don't come on my property. Nature will find the easy way every time.


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## mreynolds (Jan 1, 2015)

AmericanStand said:


> Where does a wild hog shelter when it’s well below 0?



3 hog night. 

It doesn't get below zero here much. Not Fahrenheit anyway.


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## barnbilder (Jul 1, 2005)

AmericanStand said:


> Where does a wild hog shelter when it’s well below 0?


 In a depression that is drained enough to remain dry, preferably in a stand of thick evergreens, in a huge nest constructed of brush and leaves with as many huddled together as possible. There are wild hogs in Canada, they have a high percentage of russian (more hair). They probably would not exist without constant restocking from hunting preserve escapees. When the ground is frozen hard and covered in deep snow, there aren't many calories to be had, and it takes calories to survive winter. They do have the ability to store fat, but if they hit spring too skinny, there will be high bear predation and low litter survival.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Interesting article. Hog’s winter nest.


https://fishgame.com/2018/01/feral-hog-makes-nest-video/


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## barnbilder (Jul 1, 2005)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> Interesting article. Hog’s winter nest.
> 
> 
> https://fishgame.com/2018/01/feral-hog-makes-nest-video/


They don't have to be feral to do that. I have found domestic hogs to be the best thing to control multifloral roses, they will yank them out of the ground and build nests with them.


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## whiterock (Mar 26, 2003)

Momma used to say she would tear you up like a sow's bed.


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## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

fishhead said:


> I've heard about property owners who refuse to let anyone eliminate them from their land. ..........


I can sympathize a bit with that. Not that I would protect wild pigs but that I don't want anyone I don't know extremely well wandering around on my property with a gun.


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