U.S. war on pigs?

[Harbisgirl]

I wonder what would have happened if the farmer would have told them to arrest him. Not that I would have the guts to, but interesting to see what would happen if this guy was arrested, to see what spin the media would put on this. Might have nipped it in the bud.

 

[kstaven]

I wonder what would have happened if the farmer would have told them to arrest him. Not that I would have the guts to, but interesting to see what would happen if this guy was arrested, to see what spin the media would put on this. Might have nipped it in the bud.

They would have arrested him and then played it up like he was some form of extremist nut. That is the usual scenario and game plan when this scenario plays out. Sad part is the public in general normally buys it without ever looking for the real story.

 

[greybeard]

They won't outlaw GMO's and those could contaminate the whole entire earth's forage and crops. But they will outlaw heritage pigs. Hmmm, somehow I don't think the priorities are in order. It would make more sense to actually take care of "feral" hogs, not ones that actually belong to people. If you're going to go the route of having gov't but in every time something "might" cause a problem you may as well just outlaw everything. Perhaps deer should be outlawed since they cause accidents on the road. Hmm, someone's goat might get out and cause an accident let's outlaw goats. On that note, perhaps all dogs should be outlawed because of a few coyotes and coy dogs that may pose a problem or because an idiot here and there doesn't follow the leash law and they destroy someone's livestock. Sorry for the loss of your acreage, but I highly doubt that was a backyard farmer raising heritage hogs that just happened to get out and destroy your plants in one night. If half the problem is in TX then perhaps TX should pass a law concerning feral not "heritage" pigs or the farmer's CONTROL of their heritage pigs and their containment. Perhaps a law stating they all must have nose rings to prevent excessive destruction if they do happen to get out and branding with permanent ID so the farmer might be held accountable for damage. I don't see someone "stealing another farmer's ID to frame their pig" as being a big problem lol. I don't see the point in taking someone's actual pigs on their farm that are inside their containment though "just in case". Oh lets let all pigs live inside a crate that they can't even turn around in because that is better. I believe insurance may cover your loss and the loss of anything else that may occur from a stray animal or more anyways. Perhaps that should be looked into. Or, you could limit the number of these pigs a farmer could have at one time. If the farmer goes over then some must be sent to slaughter. There are plenty of ways to go about it without eliminating heritage breed pigs. They wouldn't even let the guy in the article send his pigs to slaughter. Ridiculous. Government hard at work.

The genie is already out of the bottle concerning feral hogs in states affected by them--no law can control or eradicate them. Nose rings won't prevent them from reproducing. Year round open season, no limits, no restriction hunting doesn't make a dent in them, from New Mexico eastward to the Florida Atlantic coast and northward as far as Kentuky, Mo, the Carolinas. States are hunting them from helicopters, poisoning them, trying to sterilize them chemically--all to no avail. No fence will hold them out of yards, domestic hog production facilities or pastures and crops. Feral hogs are like the feral dogs we all have to worry about--they are domesticated animals that have escaped, became wild and reproduce in prodigious numbers year round.
I'm not saying everything about the heritage swine law is good, and I hate govt regulation and interference as much as anyone, but any state that takes measures to prevent the establishment of a feral hog population is making a move in the right direction.
(and if anyone is getting their view on feral hogs from any of the TV "reality" shows, forget it. They're all bunk.)

 

[animalfarm]

Do what you can to support the farmers under attack until they get their day in court. The best line of defence is to stop it before it reaches you. We have been warned; the Michigan farmers were smacked in the head when they weren't looking and it isn't just about pigs in the long run.

Greybeard, have they tried putting bounties on feral hogs in Texas? With the rampant unemployment going on, a $1.00 a pig could add up to a pretty good paycheck for some.

The Michigan DNR isn't trying to stop feral hogs from happening; thats just a smoke screen. Follow the money trail and the real culprit rears its ugly head.

 

[greybeard]

I live in Texas. What rampant unemployment?

No bounties that I am aware of for feral hogs here. Historically, bounty programs have cost 10X in administrative costs what paid out bounties are.

The best line of defence is to stop it before it reaches you. We have been warned.

Yep, you have been warned. I'm living in one of 39 US states adversely affected by feral hogs. Some northern states have heard the alarm and are listening and learning, like New York:
http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/70843.html

Other states are crying 'foul' and putting their heads in the sand. I don't believe in throwing babies out with the bathwater, but once the genie is out of the bottle, man ain't gonna put it back in no way no how. You have been warned.

 

[that's*satyrical]

They won't outlaw GMO's and those could contaminate the whole entire earth's forage and crops. But they will outlaw heritage pigs. Hmmm, somehow I don't think the priorities are in order. It would make more sense to actually take care of "feral" hogs, not ones that actually belong to people. If you're going to go the route of having gov't but in every time something "might" cause a problem you may as well just outlaw everything. Perhaps deer should be outlawed since they cause accidents on the road. Hmm, someone's goat might get out and cause an accident let's outlaw goats. On that note, perhaps all dogs should be outlawed because of a few coyotes and coy dogs that may pose a problem or because an idiot here and there doesn't follow the leash law and they destroy someone's livestock. Sorry for the loss of your acreage, but I highly doubt that was a backyard farmer raising heritage hogs that just happened to get out and destroy your plants in one night. If half the problem is in TX then perhaps TX should pass a law concerning feral not "heritage" pigs or the farmer's CONTROL of their heritage pigs and their containment. Perhaps a law stating they all must have nose rings to prevent excessive destruction if they do happen to get out and branding with permanent ID so the farmer might be held accountable for damage. I don't see someone "stealing another farmer's ID to frame their pig" as being a big problem lol. I don't see the point in taking someone's actual pigs on their farm that are inside their containment though "just in case". Oh lets let all pigs live inside a crate that they can't even turn around in because that is better. I believe insurance may cover your loss and the loss of anything else that may occur from a stray animal or more anyways. Perhaps that should be looked into. Or, you could limit the number of these pigs a farmer could have at one time. If the farmer goes over then some must be sent to slaughter. There are plenty of ways to go about it without eliminating heritage breed pigs. They wouldn't even let the guy in the article send his pigs to slaughter. Ridiculous. Government hard at work.

The genie is already out of the bottle concerning feral hogs in states affected by them--no law can control or eradicate them. Nose rings won't prevent them from reproducing. Year round open season, no limits, no restriction hunting doesn't make a dent in them, from New Mexico eastward to the Florida Atlantic coast and northward as far as Kentuky, Mo, the Carolinas. States are hunting them from helicopters, poisoning them, trying to sterilize them chemically--all to no avail. No fence will hold them out of yards, domestic hog production facilities or pastures and crops. Feral hogs are like the feral dogs we all have to worry about--they are domesticated animals that have escaped, became wild and reproduce in prodigious numbers year round.
I'm not saying everything about the heritage swine law is good, and I hate govt regulation and interference as much as anyone, but any state that takes measures to prevent the establishment of a feral hog population is making a move in the right direction.
(and if anyone is getting their view on feral hogs from any of the TV "reality" shows, forget it. They're all bunk.)

Ick. That does suck graybeard. But I still don't think it should give the gov't the excuse to harass heritage hog farmers. My piggies stay in their pen just fine, come up for scratches, and their nose rings do the job (to an extent, really their feet do the most tearing up) for a while anyways though they may need to be replaced at some point. Have they established hog hunting season yet like a deer hunting season? Seems to work for keeping deer numbers down a little anyways. Perhaps they could make it so all boars must be altered except a select few that are kept for breeding. This would at least help prevent any escapees from breeding like wild fire. Spay/neuter programs worked pretty good for getting dog and cat numbers down although of course there still are quite a few. You said it above yourself, it's really too late to pass a law at this point for the wild hogs that are on the loose anyways. Why harass people with heritage hogs who aren't doing anything wrong? I wonder if they couldn't draw them into a certain area with a food type lure then harvest and slaughter.

 

[alsea1]

My husband would happily come hunt some wild hogs. Just let us know where they are.
But as far as the gov. moving in and not allowing a person to raise pigs or anything else I resent that.
Its just our governments way of taking yet more control over our lives.
Just say NO

 

[greybeard]

Ick. That does suck graybeard. But I still don't think it should give the gov't the excuse to harass heritage hog farmers. My piggies stay in their pen just fine, come up for scratches, and their nose rings do the job (to an extent, really their feet do the most tearing up) for a while anyways though they may need to be replaced at some point. Have they established hog hunting season yet like a deer hunting season? Seems to work for keeping deer numbers down a little anyways.

I guess I'm just not making myself clear. The State of Texas has gone way beyond establishing a season. The official State of Texas Parks and Wildlife policy is this (in a nutshell) :
There is no CLOSED season, there is no bag limit, there is no size or age limit on feral hogs in Texas and most other states where they have become a problem. There is no restriction on the way you kill them. They can be hunted by trapping, poisoning, shooting, knifing, drowning or anything else from 1 second after midnight Jan 1 to midnight December 31 with absolutely no restrictions other than you have to have a valid hunting lic and they don't really even care if you have that if you are on your own land or other private property with landowner permission. In the more western part of the state where the sorghum and cotton fields are, with clear visibility, the State has authorized the hunting of feral hogs from the air in helicopters. On public lands, such as state or National forests, you just have to have a valid hunting lic, but no other restrictions apply. In short, the State wants them ALL dead-gone-eradicated-exterminated-extinct--whatever adjective you want to use. You don't even have to pick up the carcasses--game wardens say just leave em laying if you want to. WAR--kill 'em all is the official policy. And we are doing our best, but not making a dent in the overall population of feral hogs. I am surrounded by 60,000 acres of Sam Houston National Forest. The hogs descend out of that forest by night and day on to my place wreaking havoc in pasture, yard, and gardens with impunity, and it's not like I haven't tried to fence them out. They'll run right thru a woven hog wire fence or barbed wire fence at a dead run and never even squeal. Electric? Not a chance. Won't even phase them. I've had good dogs gutted from front to rear in less than a minute--20 ft from my front steps. They don't just eat the grass in the pasture--they root it up looking for roots, rhizomes, bugs and worms and you'd swear someone came in with a 6' power tiller behind a 50 hp tractor during the night and built a big garden where your hayfield used to be. They tear into chicken coops and pens, into domestic hog pens and pastures and it is virtually impossible to keep them out and domestic hogs in. They have no natural enemy other than man, and travel in herds of 10-40. They are eatin machines and have fear of nothing but man, and not even much of that. A 2 million strong and constantly growing population.
They are a menace beyond description and believe me you do NOT want them around.

Perhaps they could make it so all boars must be altered except a select few that are kept for breeding. This would at least help prevent any escapees from breeding like wild fire. Spay/neuter programs worked pretty good for getting dog and cat numbers down although of course there still are quite a few. You said it above yourself, it's really too late to pass a law at this point for the wild hogs that are on the loose anyways. Why harass people with heritage hogs who aren't doing anything wrong? I wonder if they couldn't draw them into a certain area with a food type lure then harvest and slaughter.

The feral hog population in Texas, La, Miss, Ga and other states began as heritage and other domestic hogs that escaped their owners. This is a pig forum--you folks know the breeding cycle and age of breeding already. Do the math. Think it can't or won't happen where you live? It probably already has begun and you just don't realize the extent of it. Don't have them yet? You better pray like hades you never do.
I don't want to offend anyone, and again, I hate regulations and nosey officials with a passion, but we here in the lower part of the US have already been where ya'll are now. We didn't know-we just didn't... how could we? and now-- it's too late--For us. Learn from us.

 

[that's*satyrical]

Wow, no I really had no idea. At all. But there must be something that could be done. A law is obviously a day late & a dollar short. A national guard, for pig hunting in overrun states??? lol I still like my idea of a large bait & slaughter. Everyone loves bacon. Use the sales of the pig meat to help pay for more bait & slaughter.

 

[greybeard]

Feral hogs are extremely lean meat--very little if any fat. Not enough to make bacon, but most people do make sausage, by mixing retail ground pork fat with feral hog meat.
Most of them yield pork chops with a center about the size of a small cell phone. Itsy bitsy.

A few restraunts have carried feral hog on thier menus--the meat has a distinctive taste--not bad, just different.
As far as I know tho, because of disease cross contamination risks, there are only 2 facilities in all of Texas that can process feral hog meat for resale. Been awhile (12 months) since I looked into that, and the law may have changed.