WILD PIG, Sus scrofa

[James Curry]

Wild Pig, Sus scrofa

Scientific name: The genus Sus is the Latin word for pig. The species name scrofa is also Latin, and means "breeding sow."

Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Mammalia
Order: artiodactyla
Family: Suidae

Size: Body size ranges from 1.1 - 1.5 m (3.6 - 4.9 ft) in total length, with a height of 0.9 m (3 ft) at the shoulder. These animals weigh as much as 181.4 kg (400 lbs).
Color: Hair color is variable from brown to black.
Other things to look for: The body shape of the Wild Pig is similar to that of domestic pigs, with a few differences which make them distinct. The Wild Pig is generally thinner, has coarser hair, and has longer canine teeth, called tusks, than domestic pigs do.

The Wild Pig can breed year round. The gestation period is 115 days. Litter size ranges from 1 - 7 piglets. A Wild Pig reaches sexual maturity by one year of age.

Wild Pigs, also called Feral Hogs, have been established in North America since 1539, when the first European settlers brought them to Florida as domestic pigs. Another race of wild pig, the European Wild Boar, was released in New Hampshire, North Carolina, Missouri, Arkansas, and Tennessee in the late 1800s and 1900s for the purposes of hunting. A Wild Pig will eat almost anything that has nutritional value, including tubers, roots, shoots, acorns, fruits, berries, earthworms, amphibians, reptiles, rodents, and even newborn fawns of the White-tailed Deer. Humans are the major predators of this species, but large carnivores like the Black Bear and the Mountain Lion are capable of preying on young adults. Piglets may be preyed upon by bobcats, foxes, and coyotes. Wild Pigs have a negative impact on the environment. The extensive disturbance on soil and vegetation as a result of their rooting habits affects plant communities and may cause shifts in plant community structure. They also compete for food with native animal species, particularly mast crops (acorns) which are important sources of food for wild turkey and deer. During the summer months, Wild Pigs create wallows in wet sites, destroying the integrity of the plant and soil community.


Wild Pigs can be found in certain areas of the Coastal Plain and Blue Ridge mountains in Georgia. They are locally common in mountainous and forested bottomland areas of the southeastern United States.

[sara]

Feral Pig
Order Artiodactyla : Family Suidae : Sus scrofa Linnaeus

Description. Feral pigs in Texas are descended from introductions of European wild hogs for sporting purposes, and from escaped domestic swine that have established feral populations. European wild hogs have several distinguishing characteristics that set them apart from domestic or feral hogs. Among these are brown to blackish brown color, with grizzled guard hairs, a mane of hair (8-16 cm long) running dorsally from the neck to the rump, a straight heavily tufted tail, and ears covered with hair. Characteristics of feral hogs are varied, depending upon the breed of the ancestral stock. European wild hogs and feral hogs interbreed readily, with traits of European wild hogs apparently being dominant.

Distribution in Texas. Feral pigs have established sizeable, free-ranging populations in various places on the Rio Grande and Coastal Plains, as well as the wooded country of eastern Texas.

Habits. Good feral hog habitat in timbered areas consists of diverse forests with some openings. The presence of a good litter layer to support soil invertebrates and/or the presence of ground vegetation affording green forage, roots, and tubers is desirable. Hogs are also fond of marsh and grass-sedge flats in coastal areas, particularly if wild grapes are common. During hot summer months, "wallows," or depressions dug in the mud by feral hogs, are much in evidence near marshes or standing water, such as along roadside ditches.

On the Texas coast, feral pigs eat a variety of items, including fruits, roots, mushrooms, and invertebrates, depending on the season. The major foods in spring are herbage, roots, invertebrates, and vertebrates. Fruit, invertebrates, and herbage are most common in fall and winter diets. Herbage eaten by feral pigs includes water hyssop, pennywort, frog fruit, spadeleaf, onion, and various grasses while important roots used for food include bulrush, cattail, flatsedges, and spikesedges. Fruits and seeds such as grapes, acorns, and cultivated sorghum are important, and animal matter ingested by feral pigs includes earthworms, marsh fly larvae, leopard frogs, snakes, and rodents.

Feral pigs can have detectable influences on wildlife and plant communities as well as domestic crops and livestock. Extensive disturbance of vegetation and soil occurs as a result of their rooting habits. The disturbed area may cause a shift in plant succession on the immediate site. Feral pigs also compete, to some degree, with several species of wildlife for certain foods, particularly mast.

Feral pigs generally breed year round; litters range from one to seven, averaging two per sow. An average of one to three suckling pigs usually accompanies brood sows. The heat period is only about 48 hours in duration and the average gestation period is 115 days.