For most people, the closest they”ve come to a wild hog is slab of bacon.
But that could change if the fast-growing “wild hog problem” isn”t controlled in parts of the U.S., including Mississippi, said Bill Hamrick, of the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries at the Mississippi State University Extension Service.
These wild hogs, Hamrick explained Tuesday to the Rotary Club, aren”t pets gone bad — they”re smart pests that are wrecking crops and threatening ecosystems.
Wild hogs do more than $1.2 billion in damage per year, according to conservative estimates, Hamrick said.
“They”re a serious threat to landowners,” he said.
Wild hogs, which are attracted by afterbirth or fetal tissue, can even occasionally prey on newborn livestock like lambs, goats, calves and deer, he said.
They also are disease carriers, carrying at least 45 different external and internal parasites and diseases that can affect livestock and, in some cases, humans.
Highly adaptable, wild pigs have thrived in America, spreading as far north as Michigan and Oregon. Now, wild hogs exist in at least 45 states.
Twenty years ago, the problem was almost non-existent in Mississippi. But since then, illegal transportation and natural growth have led to a significant increase in the wild hog population, especially in the southeast corner of the state.
The most efficient way to remove pigs from an area is to trap them, Hamrick said. Corral traps — circular traps that use a trap door — are the most effective traps and can hold the largest number.
For hogs that have become “educated” about traps, the next best way to capture them is through dog hunting, Hamrick said.
For other kinds of traps and how to build them, or for more information, visit WildPigInfo.com.
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