Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumThe battle to control America's 'most destructive' species: feral pigs
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINAA layer of frost clings to the grass on the morning Tony DeNicola sets out to check his trap. Its late January in South Carolina. The sun is rising, the fog is lifting, and the frogs are croaking from somewhere in the dark loblolly pines. In a whisper, DeNicola explains what will happen.
I wait for them to tire themselves out and then start tipping them over, he says, shifting a loaded rifle from his shoulder and cautiously approaching a clearing in the forest beside a small cattle ranch.
DeNicola is a Yale-educated ecologist with the build of a wrestler, the jawline of a G.I. Joe, and a talent for making destructive species disappear. Most of the time, he runs a small nonprofit that does the dirty work of curtailing overabundant wildlife in national parks and quiet East Coast neighborhoods. But he came south from Connecticut to tackle Americas most destructive and seemingly unsolvable wildlife problem: the invasive feral hog.
Over centuries, this adaptable, omnivorous creature has rooted its way from Florida to Kansas, inundated Texas and California, and recently has been banging for entry at the northern border of Montana. Today, there are between six and nine million hogs running wild across at least 42 states and three territories. The exact number is difficult to pin down, and the estimated cost of the damage they causeprobably about $2.5 billion annually, according to the U.S. Department of Agricultureis likely an underestimate.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/battle-to-control-america-most-destructive-invasive-species-feral-pigs
mitch96
(13,827 posts)Had a few pig [Wild Hog] roast in Texas while TAD there.
They were trapped next to the Flight line in NAS Kingsville.
mitch96
(13,827 posts)efhmc
(14,709 posts)RainCaster
(10,705 posts)The pigs are a huge problem in parts of Hawaii.
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)Canoe52
(2,944 posts)SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)The Blue Flower
(5,420 posts)It was in an article I read some time ago, so I can't cite a source.