America's got a $2.5 billion wild hog problem. These states see the worst of it.

www.usatoday.com...

Since their introduction to the U.S. in the 1500's, the feral swine population have expanded across more than three quarters of the country. According to the Department of Agriculture, their population has grown to more than 9 million.

The wild animal has expanded westward and northward, with states like California, Hawaii, and Michigan reporting a fairly large feral hog populations.

I'm surprised they've gotten so far north.
most of us aren't affected, but for some farmers these things are a big problem.

any local impact anyone can share?

a reply to: Coelacanth55

My friend loves hog hunting with pit bulls and knives.

Foothills of Ventura.

a reply to: MoreCoyoteAngels

As a hunter and gun owner from early life, please spare us from further details.

a reply to: CosmicFocus

So you dont like using dogs to hunt and using knives or bows instead of guns?

There is a big fish winch at the harbor. I was getting off a sportfishing boat one day and arrived on the dock just in time to see a truck and a couple of good-ol-boys winching up a hog.

I stayed to watch. Pig went over 300. He had a bullet hole in his big ugly snout between his front tusks.

Texas has the biggest wild hog problem in the country. In early 2022 some counties have been offering bounties to hunters.

These pigs make me think of the demon Legion, in the Bible.

If only we could chase them all into the sea.

Oh we're just as tasty to them as they are to us.. Might have a human digesting in it is why they were once declared unclean to eat.

a reply to: crowf00t

hmmmm....never thought of that....

I always figured it was because pig and people taste similar, so if you don't ever eat what is being served to you as 'pig', you wont ever wind up eating people unknowingly.

Sentry towers around and within agricultural areas.

Like in the movie "Aliens" with the space Marines, it would be similar to the sentry system they deployed in the tunnels. Something like that with thermal and motion detection capabilities coupled with target identification technology that pinpoints ONLY pigs.

You can set specific parameters and perimeters for abatement with multiple types of deterrent measures, i.e., different calibers, projectile types, and even the ability to determine the level of response to any incursions, large or small. Meaning, they are only eliminated if they cross certain predetermined zones. The idea needs a lot of refinement, but I think you understand what I'm getting at.

BEFORE you laugh, because I'm snickering a bit myself, what better way is there to stand guard over your crops and land 24/7 365?? I know there would be target identification and acquisition concerns, but it can be perfected in a lot of ways to safeguard against mishaps.

Cost effective? Probably not. Fun to build, test and deploy? You bet your a**! Lol.

Just a thought, please don't beat me up too bad.

a reply to: Coelacanth55

Well, to be fair, Mr. Ted Nugent had something to do with the wild boar problem in MI.

But we do have a problem, although not as bad as it was. One small town near me had a "hunt" off the record.

a reply to: MoreCoyoteAngels

If you've ever been part of a Sadhu group of Aghori; They'd say more like a sweet beef and a very fine line between the two based on the fat.

The sweet part is the dietary intake of sugars is usually much higher than any other animal... The fat part is more of a rancid smell from all the preservatives also from dietary intake.

So if you were to go down to your local convenience store and get some dried jerk beef in the flavor of teriyaki? "Dogs don't know it's not human." Would be a good catch phrase as wild dogs more than any other animal show up around those sorts of pyres.

Trust me when in India and going to a bbq? That fine line to know if it's beef or human is a razor thin smell... Remember the beef is what is sacred and the humans are just the one's practicing being that.

a reply to: crowf00t

If we are talking about ancient taboos against certain vittles, human would not be as sweet or fatty or preservative spoiled. That would only apply to 20th century forward.

If you can reincarnate into a cow, could you also not reincarnate into a chicken or a fish or a goat or a pig? I never understood why cows are special.

originally posted by: MoreCoyoteAngels
a reply to: Coelacanth55

My friend loves hog hunting with pit bulls and knives.

Foothills of Ventura.

lol mate you must put me in contact with your friend . This sounds exhilarating !!

Vermin... problem is alot of soft headed people think you can trap and move them.

You cant there is only 1 way to deal with them kill them, Declare them vermin so they can be harvested 365 with no limit and you might manage to slow the spread.

They breed way to fast and are amazingly quiet in the woods if they think there is any threat.

(personally I prefer to only shoot those about 125 lbs or less, get real gamy the bigger they get)

a reply to: MoreCoyoteAngels

The oldest branch of Buddhism says that such a re-incarnation happens too fast to know if one 'self' is a cow or chicken etc... Due to all of the consumption of those animals; That liberation is akin to sitting there waiting for a redeath then some 'blind ass' says what you are when really it was you that were the blind ass in not knowing.

Doing that enough one realizes those doing without pork on purpose in a community or close by after you having eaten it? Craving and desiring it as meat... Will then be mentally sleep eating all over you.

Those not knowing it call that phenomena 'phantom pains'.

a reply to: asabuvsobelow

I have heard some stories.

Amazing thing is the dogs dont often get hurt, and they love it!

I think they are dressed out and served on the BBQ.

There are people that roast them in the ground. Have a big party.

Hills around here are full of them.

a reply to: crowf00t

So I still don't get the sacred cow thing.

a reply to: MoreCoyoteAngels

Oh for sure the Pit-bulls are way smarter than the Hogs they know how to handle them , it's literally what a Pit was bred for .

I've wanted to go to Texas and join a hunt but can't seem to find the time.

a reply to: asabuvsobelow

Im near Ventura Ca. There has always been a steady population of boar here. And deer. Haven't had venison since my father and uncle passed.

Here in Eastern Tennessee we have our share, although the hogs a getting smarter, mostly nocturnal, as they get their asses shot off in the daylight.

a reply to: Coelacanth55

They are a nuisance and threat to the local wildlife in on the Cape Canaveral/Merritt Island Wildlife refuge(NASA property) and as well as all over any sizable wooded area in Florida.

NASA contracts people to hunt them, and they are popular target amongst sportsman. Since they are an invasive species it is always open season. A lot of rednecks use dogs to trap them, put them in a pen and feed them a clean diet for a week or two before slaughtering them.

I encountered a sow with almost a dozen piglets in the Haulover Canal area(Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge) when I was passing through on a boat and took s little break. I quickly made my way to safety if a boat...wondering if maybe I should have brought a firearm with me despite it being NASA property. Luckily she didn't think I was a threat, but I know wild boars and sows can be extremely aggressive and have attacked and killed people.