Wildlife expert details feral hog control practices By LYNN MONTGOMERY | East Texas Edition  ©  www.countryworldnews.com January 8, 2004 -- The management of wild hogs, a big problem for landowners, was discussed during the recent Northeast Texas Farm and Ranch Pesticide Applicator Clinic in Paris. "There are two categories of ranchers, in regards to hogs. Those that have them and those about to have them," began Ted Pepps, wildlife biologist for the Texas Cooperative Extension-Texas Wildlife Services, formerly known as the Texas Wildlife Damage Management Services. Pepps explained that many of the hogs are feral hogs meaning wild hogs from domesticated ancestry. Today's wild hog can either be a straight feral hog or a hybrid of a Eurasian wild boar and a feral pig, which could have the characteristics of the Eurasian. "I would say there are no Eurasian hogs left in Texas," he said. As far as Russian hogs, the biologist stated a Russian boar will readily mate with a feral hog or a domesticated animal, and depending upon nourishment, that sow could have anywhere between two to six, or more, piglets. The hogs' diets range from mammals, to plants, to anything they can put into their mouth. Pepps shared a story with the audience regarding this topic. While working at a ranch in South Texas, the ranch's bird dog kennels were cleaned each day; washing fecal matter, dog food, whatever was in the kennels, into a cesspool. "Within an hour, you would see feral hogs swimming around, eating whatever was in the cesspool. It reduced the temptation to eat wild pork." Hogs can carry many diseases, including brucellosis (a disabling disease for humans), pseudorabies, and tuberculosis, to name a few. Another disease is trichinosis transmitted to humans by eating undercooked pork. The biologist told the audience there are several control methods (cage traps, snares, hunting with dogs, and aerial hunting) and each was discussed. After asking how many had heavy cage traps (that takes several men to load and unload), Pepps detailed an easy way to make a trap using portable panels constructed out of utility panels. "If I was going to spend the money, it would not be on a heavy trap. I would have a portable trap, and would spend the money on the gate." The gate would not be a "guillotine" type door, but a root-up door is designed to let a hog in, but not out. Another suggestion was pre-baiting the trap. The major disadvantages of cage traps is the hogs may not like what is in there, and some hogs are trap shy and will not go into the trap, Pepps added. Another method of catching hogs is to use a snare made of 1/8-inch cable. The locking device is made out a heavy duty washer or angle iron. "Don't tie your snare to a fence unless your hobby is building fences," Pepps cautioned. "Snares are very effective tools, but there are disadvantages as well. You can only get one hog at a time. A big hog may occassionally break it and sometimes you might get a non-target catch." As far as hunting with dogs, there are several to choose from: hounds, blue lacies, pit bulls, black-mouth cur, among others. This type of hunting also comes with a list of disadvantages - a well-trained dog is hard to find; holding facilities costs; vet bills due to injuries; time committed to train (including breaking them from chasing other animals); lessened effectiveness in hot weather; and it's often hard to find enough land to hunt on with your dog. "We have had high success with aerial hunting in areas with less foliage, or a sparse canopy cover," he stated. Disadvantages of aerial hunting are it can be hazardous, an agreement for the aerial hunt has to be signed by landowners, and obtaining enough land to fly over. Some landowners have considered a less hands-on method for controlling hogs, but Pepps explained "there are no registered pesticides labeled for the control of wild hogs. This means any cocktail that you devise to poison feral hogs is illegal."

 

February 1, 2003

Texas' wild hog numbers lead country

By BEVERLY MOSELEY
Land & Livestock Post

They tramp over property lines without a care, leaving damaged fences in their wake. They turn modest mud puddles into huge wallows. They root their way across lush hay meadows, leaving them looking like mine fields.

Feral hogs are the demolition experts of nature. And they continue to increase their numbers in Texas, not to mention their damage to crops, pastures and wildlife habitat.

“I tell people in East Texas there are only two types of landowners. Those that have feral hogs and those that are going to get them,” said Billy Higginbotham, extension wildlife & fisheries specialist at Texas A&M University at Overton. “I don’t think anybody can totally eradicate them. The best we can do is try to manage them.”

Higginbotham said Texas has the largest feral hog population, followed by California and Florida. He estimated Texas’ population at around one million to two million head.

“From 1985 to 1995, an explosion happened to the population,” said Higginbotham. “Now every county in East Texas has feral hogs. They have a tremendous home range. They move along creeks and rivers just like they were a highway.”

In East Texas, hog damage can be seen in coastal bermuda grass pastures and hay meadows.

“They’re looking for grubs, worms and roots,” he added.

To the west and north of East Texas, near the Red River, hogs are damaging row crops. In South Texas, they damage peanut crops. And, in southwest Texas, hogs are known to prey on lambs and kid goats.

“You have to go as far as the west Transpecos region and parts of the Panhandle to find counties with no hogs,” he said.

Feral hogs are either wild domestic hogs, European wild hogs or a cross between the two. Adult hogs can weight more than 400 pounds. Sows [females] and their young travel together in small groups. Boars normally join up with groups just for breeding purposes.

Management and Control

From a wildlife standpoint, landowners want to control hog populations because they compete for food with native species such as white tail deer, Higginbotham said.

“Hogs will out-compete deer for feed,” he added.

Acorns are one source of food that both hogs and deer enjoy. East and Central Texas had an abundant acorn crop last year. There should be a noticeable increase in feral hog numbers this spring because sows are in good breeding condition, Higginbortham said.

He noted that now is a good time for landowners to work at controlling their hog populations.

“January through February is a good window of opportunity to trap, because feed supplies are lower. A percentage of the hogs will probably be pregnant. You can do a lot of good by trapping now. A sow can have four to six pigs in a litter and in six to eight months her daughters can become pregnant,” he said.

There are three legal methods for controlling hog populations in Texas; live trapping, shooting and hunting with dogs.

“You’re not going to control the hog population with a gun,” Higginbotham said. “Anything you do, hunting, shooting and using dogs has to be done on a sustained basis.”

In fact, he said, feral hogs are so smart they’ll “go nocturnal” when there is a lot of shooting in one area. Indeed, landowners might never see the hogs, but their damage will be visible. Hog signs to look for include rubs on fence and telephone posts and pine trees.

“Anything with a lot of sap,” Higginbotham said.

He also noted that since food supplies are lower right now, hogs will come to baited traps easier.

Landowners typically use shelled corn to bait traps. However, Higginbotham suggested fermenting the corn for a few weeks to sour the grain.

“The smell from the fermented corn will also help draw them in. Hogs have a tremendous sense of smell,” he said.

Urban Control

Recently, wildlife biologist Linda Tschirhart-Hejl from Texas A&M has been receiving calls from homeowners on the west side of Bryan. She said the area still has a lot of brush and most of the time homeowners see a lone animal and some damage.

“A lot of times, hogs come in and do their thing and keep on moving, she said.

Tschirhart-Hejl suggested that homeowners use cyclone or electric fencing as hog deterrents.

“Hogs are real susceptible to electricity,” she said.

She also recommended that homeowners not feed wild hogs or try to catch or corner them.

“They are a wild animal and they can get aggressive,” she said.

Hog Hunting

Hog hunting continues to gain popularity in Texas because there is no season on them.

“They can be hunted 365 days of the year. When deer season is over, people want to keep hunting,” Higginbotham said. “A lot of people like to catch hogs with dogs. That’s gotten real popular.”

Feral hogs are considered exotics, but a generic hunting license is required by hunters, he said.

“Although, if they are damaging crops, landowners do have some leeway,” he added.

Once caught, there are several options for disposal.

“We don’t recommend that anybody catch hogs and stock them somewhere else,” he said.

Higginbotham said options include carrying hogs to a slaughter facility or holding them on site. However, he stressed that if hogs are held “for any amount of time,” there are guidelines from the Texas Animal Health Commission that must be followed.

Guidelines include stringent fencing and space considerations. For example, hogs must be kept certain distances from commercial pork operations due to disease considerations such as hog cholera, he said.

For hunters that dress-out hogs, health precautions should be taken.

Higginbotham said swine brucellosis, or “undulant fever,” is transmittable to humans and can be contracted while dressing and gutting hogs. Hunters should wear rubber gloves and eye protection. Also, he added that handling the reproductive tract is the main way hunters contract swine brucellosis.

“You’re not going to know if the hog has brucellosis just by looking at it,” he said.

According to the Texas Animal Health Commission, symptoms of people infected with brucellosis include chills and fevers that come and go, along with flu-like symptoms such as fatigue, body aches and headaches.

 

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