Feral Pigs Running Hog Wild Across United States

[hatrack]

Booming numbers of wild hogs are colliding with motorists, devouring crops, spreading disease and terrifying landowners from tony towns on the Pacific Coast to the swamps of the Carolinas. Feral pigs wield four-inch razor-sharp tusks and breed so prolifically that their populations are escalating dramatically in some places.

"We know that Texas has more feral hogs than any other state," says Billy Higginbotham, a professor at Texas A&M University. "With 1.5 million in the state, we will never eradicate them. The best we can hope for is to keep their numbers under control."

So-called feral hogs are descendants of swine that fled farms or boars that were released by hunters for sport. They are thriving in the wild, in some cases reaching 400 pounds or more.

What all feral pigs share in common is an unbridled appetite for everything from lady-slippers to acorns to zucchini. They've been known to tear up hundreds of acres of soil in a few nights looking for what is beneath, ruining crop land. If they don't find enough food in the wild, they'll plow through trash cans and yards.

And they reproduce like rabbits, breeding litters of a dozen or more piglets twice a year. "I've seen as many as 19 babies," says Trent Horne, a 35-year-old hunting guide from South Carolina. "They follow the sow around like ducklings follow a mama duck. Alligators get the little ones down here. Snakes get some, too. But wild pigs are smart, and mama pig is a pretty good protector."

EDIT

http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/0513Wild-Hogs-ON.html

[FreakinDJ]

1. I thought you said "Federal Pigs" meaning....

Will you know..

Then I saw this and became really alarmed. "We know that Texas has more feral hogs than any other state," and I thought isn't that Bushies home state

[NMDemDist2]

2. wow that is an offbeat article as promised eom

[efhmc]

3. They cause untold damage on the ranch. One man I know makes big

bucks off night hunts devoted to killing feral hogs. They are no hunting laws for them so they can be killed any time and any place.

[hatrack]

4. Fire up the barbeque!!

Fresh roasted, acorn-fed pork - MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!

[efhmc]

6. I think the stuff tastes nasty but many love it. But you know maybe this

could be a source of protein for people that need meat.

[Webster Green]

7. Nasty?....I think wild boar was the best meat I ever tasted

It was way better than any store bought pork I've had.

[el_gato]

8. It's good meat, I know I've killed a few

fun to hunt as well, especially since they don't really belong
there anyway.

[smiley_glad_hands]

5. Oh, I thought you were talking about republicans.

[alarimer]

9. I hit one with my car

One early morning on my way to Austin. It was also really foggy so I was driving pretty slow. All it di was puncture the tire, no other damage but they can potentially cause a lot of damage, especially the really big ones.

[AngryAmish]

10. I once read about a guy who kills them with a knife.

It had like a 12" blade. He would jump out of a tree and cut the boar's throat. He was craaaazy.