Have a problem with wild hogs?

[Chad]

NPR's Renee Montagne describes efforts to reduce the population of wild hogs in Georgia. So far, community members are dining on the swine to lessen the problem.

click here for audio link.

Chad

[fresco]

I think the wild hogs in Georgia are descendents of domestic hogs. But domesticated "wild boars" have become a nuisance in many places where they've been introduced, including Alberta and Germany because they slip out of pens and breed like crazy. There was a story a couple of days ago about a a wild boar invading a house in Berlin. Apparently there's quite a herd of them around Berlin.

[fifi]

We have a real infestation here in SE suburban Houston. They tear up the yards and esplanades rooting for grubs and such. I turned onto Bay Area Blvd the other day near a nature preserve and there was momma pig and piglets. That sucker had to weigh 1000 lbs. She was HUGE! They all looked pretty tasty to me.

[sequim]

It is sad that we are so removed from where our food comes from that and so citified that most people would not consider eating a "problem animal" as a way to control them. Out here in Washington state, it's the geese who have become a problem (they don't like to migrate anymore because the pickin's are so good in our mild climate) and have to be gased or frightened away or just hated. Aren't geese considered a delicacy? I love Jim Harrison's writings because he is constantly talking about going out and catching his food from duck to deer to beyond. I realize that going out and shooting an animal in residential areas doesn't work, but it's dismaying that there doesn't seem to be some good way to capture abundant, problem animals and eat them!

Edited January 16, 2004 by sequim (log)

[fresco]

The goose population in and around Toronto is completely out of control. But any suggestion of harvesting these beasts and distributing them to food banks has been stymied by the animal rights people. Shows where their priorities are.

[sequim]

I was once a member of PETA. I once tried to be a vegetarian because I felt bad for how the animals were treated.

I no longer am either. I was not happy being a vegetarian. I need and want to eat meat. Now I just hope to have the animal be humanely treated before death. I believe in the Native American way of respecting the animal that it gave its life and try not to waste anything. I like Jacques Pepin's philosophy (from reading his autobio). He wastes nothing, he eats just about everything.

[jsolomon]

You should see how poorly American food producers are treated!

Umm, am I the only one that saw the headline and thought about bacon?

Jinmyo, you are exempted from answering.

[wesza]

My experience with Wild Pigs began when I lived in Honolulu and my son would go out with my neighbors kids joining a Pig Hunt.

In Hawaii since most hunters don't have dogs trained to chase the Pigs, it appearently wasn't unusual to encourage to kids to act as a pack and chase the Pigs.

All the kids thought that this was the fun part of the hunt, but when I found out about it my son was grounded complaining that I was mean.

The most important thing that I learned about the Hunts was:

Wild Pig can be tough. They were tough in spirit before being caught, but were even tougher after being cooked. Especially the Hawaii way of Spit Roasting or even Kaluha Roasting. The only ones that tasted pretty good after being butchered and marinated were the young ones.

The other VERY IMPORTANT POINT was that the always must be cooked WELL DONE as the majority were likely infected with TRICHNOSIS.

It amazing how quickly domestic pigs adapt quickly becoming ferel. There was a negligable population in the Northern California community of Cloverdale before the State dedicated a large area around a newly formed Resevior Dammed in the area. Even before the Lake was filled there began a problem with the Wild Pigs everywhere that there was any farming or whatever. Don't know if it's still a problem or it's under control but it seemed to happen overnight. At least in Hawaii there not that many places they can expand into, like California.

Irwin

[fifi]

I think they were going to try to get some bow hunters after them. My nephew got a small one a few weeks ago. I didn't get any of it that he BBQed but I did have some posole made from the leftovers. Good stuff.

[Mayhaw Man]

The goose population in and around Toronto is completely out of control. But any suggestion of harvesting these beasts and distributing them to food banks has been stymied by the animal rights people. Shows where their priorities are.

Geese are a problem all over North America, at least snows, blues, and rosses are anyway. They can destroy fields lying fallow in the winter overnight. They will land, pull up anything that looks like food and leave the field a muddy water holding pit. On the morning after New Year's day I was in Morehouse Parish, Louisiana and saw roughly 1/2 million (estimated that morning by the federal game warden we saw at breakfast who had seen the same flock) geese get up off of some rice fields right next to the highway. As a nature lover it was a pretty awe inspiring sight. The farmer that owned the field that had been occupied by the geese would not have felt that way.

Our season on hunting them in Louisiana (it varies nationwide, but is more or less the same as far as the idea here goes) has been extended for the third year in a row until Feb 6. There are no limits. Hunters can use mechanical calls and any other method of attraction they wish. Shotguns can be carried unplugged (that's more shells per gun for all you non hunters) and you may shoot 1/2 hour before daylight and 1/2 hour after dark.

The funny thing is the reason that they have all of the restrictions lifted is that no one hunts them. Eating a goose at this end of the flyway after it has flown a couple fo thousand miles is much like eating a shoe with fat attached. Hunters here (and other places I am sure) have very little interest in shooting birds that they can't or don't eat. Skeet are much easier to shoot and a hell of bunch cheaper as well, if someone is looking for is a chance to hit airborne targets.

THis does not count for Canadian Geese. The limit on Canadians is one. THey are not overpopulated, quite the opposite.

[fresco]

It's the Canada geese that are the problem here.

[Arey]

THis does not count for Canadian Geese. The limit on Canadians is one. THey are not overpopulated, quite the opposite.

That's because up here in New Jersey and other Mid-Atlantic states , both State and Federal Game Officials have yet to have found a way to make Canada Geese return to being migratory. They're all over the d**m place all year round! Snow Geese are a problem too.

[suzilightning]

We have a real infestation here in SE suburban Houston. They tear up the yards and esplanades rooting for grubs and such. I turned onto Bay Area Blvd the other day near a nature preserve and there was momma pig and piglets. That sucker had to weigh 1000 lbs. She was HUGE! They all looked pretty tasty to me.

when we had our tour of the king ranch last march/april. the guides mentioned that they contracted with someone who would harvest the boars and have pig roasts with them. sounds good to me

in aransas pass we had a young one walk right up to our car. probably looking for food since the tourons probably feed it.

[JosephB]

That's funny, I was just inquiring on eG about buying wild boar. Wild Boar Are these Georgia pigs related?

[Mabelline]

OOhwee, feral hogs. I believe that the Arkansas razorbacks are outcrosses of escaped domestics and wild. Then some brilliant guy 100 years ago imported the real wild and scary Russian ferals to Texas. They are a blight. But they will cookup good with a smoker. My middle daughter got 49 stitches from a feral hog when we were in a deercamp. The hog got the death penalty.

[Mayhaw Man]

That's funny, I was just inquiring on eG about buying wild boar. Wild Boar Are these Georgia pigs related?

This is an interesting web site about wild boars. The population here in Louisiana is out of control as it is in many parts of the South. I see them often in the woods when we are deer hunting and sightings are becoming more and more frequent in suburban areas as the animals search for new sources of food.

[KatieLoeb]

It's the Canada geese that are the problem here.

WIth all due repect to our Northern neighbors - Amen. These suckers are EVERYWHERE, even in the middle of the city in any open space they can find. Humongous gaggles of hundreds of birds apiece. They're nasty creatures and they leave bird crap everywhere. And I'm bloody sick of them using my car for target practice

[mamster]

Furthermore, I've heard that Canada geese are lousy eating. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

[Mabelline]

MM, thank you for that site. Russians in particular seem to have a lot of Brucellosis.

If you ever notice, I can get carried away about B. There's a good reason. My auntie Evelyn caught B. from contaminated cattle she and my uncle were butchering. The disease Undulant Fever is a tidy little side effect. Once contracted, she couldn't get around warm-blooded animals any longer, which was disasterous for her and my unc. because they milked out at least 150 cows.

Edited January 17, 2004 by Mabelline (log)

[fifi]

At a deer lease that my nephew frequents, the owner begs the hunters to shoot any pigs that they see.

Geese are pretty much unlimited again, I think. They aren't really worth much, but we did get about 5 pounds of livers last year. We made the damndest pate. We poached them in sherry, whizzed them in the food processor with some cognac and cream and added a bit of green peppercorn. Incredible stuff. Made even better when we saw a similar preparation at Spec's for about $100 a pound!

[Mayhaw Man]

Furthermore, I've heard that Canada geese are lousy eating. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

Confirmed

I believe that I referred to them in my post above as "shoe leather with fat attached". I stand firmly by this assessment.

[Mabelline]

And some still have their little bitty shoelaces attached

[JosephB]

That's funny, I was just inquiring on eG about buying wild boar.  Wild Boar  Are these Georgia pigs related?

This is an interesting web site about wild boars. The population here in Louisiana is out of control as it is in many parts of the South. I see them often in the woods when we are deer hunting and sightings are becoming more and more frequent in suburban areas as the animals search for new sources of food.

We better start eating these things in a hurry.

[Mayhaw Man]

As with many things, the key to solving the population problem is to get diners in the Northeast to start chowing down on them. The population will quickly drop as we ship them up to our Northern neighbors who are convinced that they are really missing something.

A fine example of this would be Paul Prudhomme's use of redfish in the early eighties. Demand for what had previously been a fish of second rate value on the market (we ate them, but they were not really popular in other parts of the country) went through the roof and in a very short period of time the population of Gulf Coast Redfish dropped precipitously close to zero. Blackened redfish, that one single dish of questionable origin and quality, just about caused the end of the species. Blackened boar steaks anyone?

Now if we could just do that with wild hogs and geese..........

[Mabelline]

While we are talking about animals causing havoc to be wreaked in fields, etc., I have to add the effect that 200 of my neighbor's guinea hens made to a 50 acre alfalfa field. It was pitiful.