Beyond the banks of Missouri ’s Truman Lake , a nasty group of feral hogs has rooted through a 20-acre field of warm weather grasses. The adjacent field is untouched by the swine, leaving naturalistic floribunda to wave in the breeze. That 20-acre field was left with deep furrows from the natural rooting behavior of the hogs. The appearance of the land afterward is like a deeply tilled garden, pitted with an uneven surface and holes. The feral hog activity destroys the land, leaving exposed soil vulnerable to erosion and unwanted weed growth. As the hogs move nomadically into other regions of the Truman Lake area and beyond, the stench of their presence wafts through Southwest Missouri .
Property owners must then go to the expense of spraying the unwanted weeds to kill them. Then there is the cost of equipment that must be used to reshape and level the ground for receiving crops or warm weather grasses to grow again. Dan McMurtry with Missouri ’s USDA office says, “Because of feral hogs, property damage repairs can add up to a cost of anywhere from $500 to $4000 for land owners to repair.” They literally destroy ponds from wallowing and riparian regions won’t hold water after feral hogs wreak their havoc in the water softened soil.
According to Dan, feral hogs have come to Missouri in many ways. In a few cases, hogs escape from domestic farms. Dan says, “It is also possible that other states with feral hog problems are a source of traveling migration from other feral hog populations.”
The suspect release of hogs by certain unscrupulous hunters who would rather hunt them here in Missouri than travel elsewhere for the hunt also concerns officials. Monty MacCulum with the Clinton MDC office tells of one such incident in Benton County , Missouri when some guys dumped hogs there. Presumably, this was done with the intent of hunting them. It is not always the case, but a general theory is that some of Missouri ’s feral hog populations are here because of being released.
Feral hogs that have survived since the 1800's and free roaming domestic pigs throughout the United States that have gradually increased in numbers from the earliest domesticated swine herds may have added to these feral populations as well.
According to Dan, “Right now in Missouri we do not have a continuous hog population. There are scattered populations of hogs throughout Southwest Missouri .” Various other Missouri agencies know him as the Hog Man. This is because he works with the Corp. and MDC authorities along side property owners to find, trap and then relocate feral hog populations from Missouri .
He teaches the landowners to prebait the hogs with soured corn. Once the feral hogs return for a few days to the prebait, a trap that will hold about 20 hogs is placed for their capture. “I have seen as many as 16 hogs caught at once and I have seen no hogs caught from certain prebait and trap locations. It is not an easy thing to do. It can be very frustrating as well as expensive.”
The most important reason for the USDA’s work in trying to capture and relocate the rising feral hog population is the threat to Missouri ’s domestic hog population. Missouri is one of few states that have a healthy domestic swine population free of rabies and pseudo-rabies. Ensuring the protection of Missouri ’s domestic swine population from the invasive exotic feral hog species takes a lot of time and money. An interesting fact from Dan is that the upcoming October 2006 budget that governs the Missouri USDA does not contain monetary provisions for feral hog control.
Other states have already been overrun with this opportunistic species and their spread through public and private lands. While a mature sow can weigh 150 to 200 pounds, she can also reproduce three times a year. At three to ten piglets each birth, the population growth is quickly heading out of control. Groups of one to fifteen mature pigs usually travel together not to mention the growing number of new piglets.
Louisiana hunters have been successfully baiting hogs by placing soured corn into freshly dug holes and then hunting over that bait site. Angie, a native of the coastal region says, “It works to draw them in for the hunt most of the time.” Hunting hogs might be rewarding and fun but residents of the Gulf State aren’t any fonder of a hog habitat in their backyards, than their neighboring states to the north.
If you compare the 2004 Census of Agriculture, domestic swine population maps with the same year’s USDA mapped documentation of feral swine infestations, the numbers make more sense. Four million free ranging hogs throughout the lower U.S. will soon meet with a population of more than 60 million non-ranging domestic swine. These two hog ecosystems are approaching a disease and habitat disturbance that could easily destroy the healthy market of farm hogs not to mention cross contamination concerns that feral hogs will bring to other livestock. Throw into the mix a question of what threat feral hogs bring to native wildlife as they compete for sustaining food sources.
Texas leads the nation’s feral population with high hog numbers. Published studies and population explosion maps based on USDA research estimates two million of the four million feral swine throughout the United States roam freely in the Loan Star State . Texas is also a popular state to hunt feral hogs from fenced ranches. The prices for ranch hog hunts are very reasonable and the accommodations are comfortable. Dave Barnard, owner of Hog Mania Ranch in Lometa , Texas traps feral hogs throughout the state and relocates them to his bowhunting ranch where he makes a living at helping to eliminate the Texas feral hog nightmare.
The popular Arkansas Razorback has been a pinup team mascot for decades in the Ozark Mountain state. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission are now trapping and removing the sharp tusked swine that have overrun populates areas.
National Forest Service employees are trapping hogs in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee . A report from early years of removing hogs by trapping found that it took almost 30 hours of manpower to find and remove each feral hog. That’s one expensive relocation program.
North of Missouri, Indiana has been grappling with feral hogs posing disease risk to domestic swine since the mid-nineties. That could be one of the sources that migrated to Missouri according to the USDA theory.
South Georgia harbored Hogzilla in her timbered swamp land until it gained national attention in 2004. Although the pig was only seven feet in length not the twelve foot exaggeration and only weighed 800 pounds not a thousand pounds. Hogzilla still seems to be a fitting name for such a large feral hog.
Pigs are mostly nocturnal and their habit of wandering large territories to feed and root makes it almost impossible to determine their exact location unless seen or tell-tale rooting damage is found. From the landowners perspective the most important reason for feral hog control is that they cause so much property damage. Crops, unused lands, pond and riparian bank damage caused by feral hog rooting are expensive to repair. Questions about feral hogs preying on smaller native wildlife remain unanswered. Some livestock are eaten or cut up from the tusks and sharp teeth of some wild pigs.
Feral hogs are fast becoming America ’s most UNwanted invasive species. To report feral hog sightings or damages, call your local USDA or State Department of Conservation office.
