Post by James Curry on Jan 25, 2006 10:03:10 GMT -5
Wild Hog Population Growing Out Of Control
POSTED: 9:59 pm EDT August 7, 2005
Lovett Williams knows wild hogs. As a biologist he has studied them, but he has also hunted and eaten them, been chased by angry sows and even had a hog step on his head during a fishing trip.
Wild hogs have gone hog wild in Florida, with their population growing to 500,000. While some people like to hunt and eat them, others curse them for the damage they do to crops, lawns and young trees. The hogs also carry diseases that are harmful to humans and other animals.
"They can be destructive animals and we have some concerns about them," said Bruce Hill with the Florida Division of Forestry. "When they go to feeding and rooting, they tear up everything."
Feral hogs are found in every one of Florida's 67 counties and 35 states. The highest concentrations in Florida are north and west of Lake Okeechobee. Dense vegetation, abundant water, forested tracts and limited interaction with humans make the area a pig's paradise.
The animals, which were introduced to Florida by Spanish explorers in the 1500s, have become such a nuisance that some residents in the Fountainhead neighborhood in Melbourne reportedly carried guns to ward off a herd of about 20 hogs that invaded the area last fall.
"They just rooted up the grass and yard real bad," said Jim Hood, a resident of one of the residents who suffered damage." One of the neighbors had her flower bed destroyed and they hit other yards."
The hogs were coming from city airport property. The Melbourne Airport Authority lined up two trappers to capture the hogs in cages baited with corn. Hood said they captured 27 hogs.
The hogs breed year round in Florida. They produce two to three litters a year - sometimes with as many as 13 piglets each, said Bill Giuliano, an assistant professor of wildlife ecology at the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
Mark DuBois, production manager of Callery-Judge Grove, a 4,000-acre citrus operation in western Palm Beach County, said herds of wild hogs are a constant problem, digging up trees, tearing up irrigation lines, and wallowing in groves.
"When eight or 10 of them get together, they just go down the rows, rooting up trees. They are not after the tree, but what's under the tree," DuBois said.
The hogs arrived first in what is now Charlotte County. The Spanish explorers gave many as gifts to Native Americans, who helped spread them around the state, Guiliano said.
Besides being destructive, the hogs pose a threat to humans and other animals because they carry diseases such as cholera, psuedorabies, tuberculosis and salmonella. They also can infect livestock with ticks, fleas, lice and other parasites. The diseases can be devastating to some livestock.
The hogs also can consume young poultry, lamb and goats. Millions of dollars are spent every year to try to prevent damage from hogs, Giuliano said
On state and federal public lands, hogs are considered legal game and may be taken during specific hunting seasons. Some hunters pay up to $100 to $2,000 for a trophy wild hog.
"They are very easy to hunt. They aren't very wary," said Williams, a sixth-generation Floridian. Although their eyesight is poor, a whiff of humans with their sensitive noses will send them running.
For years, Williams and a friend have owned the Fisheating Hunting Camp in Glades County and offered hog hunts, which are sometimes done with dogs that track the hogs and others that wrestle them to the ground.
There is no concentrated state program to reduce the wild hog population. And controls such as trapping and hunting the animals as a sport or for their wild meat, can do little to stem the burgeoning feral hog population.
"They reproduce faster than rabbits," Williams said. "It's difficult to control hogs. Unless you build a good fence, you don't get rid of them."
On The Net:
Lovett Williams
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida
www.local10.com/news/4820687/detail.html?rss=mia&psp=news
POSTED: 9:59 pm EDT August 7, 2005
Lovett Williams knows wild hogs. As a biologist he has studied them, but he has also hunted and eaten them, been chased by angry sows and even had a hog step on his head during a fishing trip.
Wild hogs have gone hog wild in Florida, with their population growing to 500,000. While some people like to hunt and eat them, others curse them for the damage they do to crops, lawns and young trees. The hogs also carry diseases that are harmful to humans and other animals.
"They can be destructive animals and we have some concerns about them," said Bruce Hill with the Florida Division of Forestry. "When they go to feeding and rooting, they tear up everything."
Feral hogs are found in every one of Florida's 67 counties and 35 states. The highest concentrations in Florida are north and west of Lake Okeechobee. Dense vegetation, abundant water, forested tracts and limited interaction with humans make the area a pig's paradise.
The animals, which were introduced to Florida by Spanish explorers in the 1500s, have become such a nuisance that some residents in the Fountainhead neighborhood in Melbourne reportedly carried guns to ward off a herd of about 20 hogs that invaded the area last fall.
"They just rooted up the grass and yard real bad," said Jim Hood, a resident of one of the residents who suffered damage." One of the neighbors had her flower bed destroyed and they hit other yards."
The hogs were coming from city airport property. The Melbourne Airport Authority lined up two trappers to capture the hogs in cages baited with corn. Hood said they captured 27 hogs.
The hogs breed year round in Florida. They produce two to three litters a year - sometimes with as many as 13 piglets each, said Bill Giuliano, an assistant professor of wildlife ecology at the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
Mark DuBois, production manager of Callery-Judge Grove, a 4,000-acre citrus operation in western Palm Beach County, said herds of wild hogs are a constant problem, digging up trees, tearing up irrigation lines, and wallowing in groves.
"When eight or 10 of them get together, they just go down the rows, rooting up trees. They are not after the tree, but what's under the tree," DuBois said.
The hogs arrived first in what is now Charlotte County. The Spanish explorers gave many as gifts to Native Americans, who helped spread them around the state, Guiliano said.
Besides being destructive, the hogs pose a threat to humans and other animals because they carry diseases such as cholera, psuedorabies, tuberculosis and salmonella. They also can infect livestock with ticks, fleas, lice and other parasites. The diseases can be devastating to some livestock.
The hogs also can consume young poultry, lamb and goats. Millions of dollars are spent every year to try to prevent damage from hogs, Giuliano said
On state and federal public lands, hogs are considered legal game and may be taken during specific hunting seasons. Some hunters pay up to $100 to $2,000 for a trophy wild hog.
"They are very easy to hunt. They aren't very wary," said Williams, a sixth-generation Floridian. Although their eyesight is poor, a whiff of humans with their sensitive noses will send them running.
For years, Williams and a friend have owned the Fisheating Hunting Camp in Glades County and offered hog hunts, which are sometimes done with dogs that track the hogs and others that wrestle them to the ground.
There is no concentrated state program to reduce the wild hog population. And controls such as trapping and hunting the animals as a sport or for their wild meat, can do little to stem the burgeoning feral hog population.
"They reproduce faster than rabbits," Williams said. "It's difficult to control hogs. Unless you build a good fence, you don't get rid of them."
On The Net:
Lovett Williams
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida
www.local10.com/news/4820687/detail.html?rss=mia&psp=news
