Feral Pigs

[Dstark5625]

I seem to hear more about feral pigs all the time and all the destruction they cause.  It also seems that in most states it is legal to shoot them anytime you see them, no season, no limit.  I've been wondering if anyone has ever heard of there being any in MN anywhere, or if anyone has them around them.  I can't imagine it'll be too long before they invade.

[bpjon]

I seem to recall a story about a few being found in WI, and the WI DNR going absolutely crazy over it.  I believe there are some populations of them in MI as well.

It's also been said that there are two types of states in the lower 48; those with feral pigs, and those that will be getting feral pigs.

[UncleDave]

Here are some links on related stories I found about wild boars in WI.

From MPR:

http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2005/10/26_kelleherb_feralpigs/



Here's an article regarding feral pigs in Minnesota from Wisconsin Public Radio:

Pigs gone wild, but not up north
Bigger problem in other areas of the state

State wildlife officials are asking those heading out to hunt this fall to keep an eye out for feral pigs. They want ‘em shot. But as Ben Ranallo reports, northern Wisconsin doesn’t have that problem.

Feral pigs are known by many names: wild boars, razorbacks and European swine to name a few. No matter what the name the pesky pigs can cause some severe damage. That from Superior Wildlife Biologist Fred Strand who says although state officials are asking hunters to eliminate the evasive pests, hunters in Douglas County and other parts of the north shouldn’t encounter any this fall. “We did have a number of feral pigs in northern Douglas Country in 2004 and 2005 and as far as we know those are gone now. We had a lot of publicity out encouraging people to shoot them and to report them to us so we knew where they were, and then we did some shooting ourselves, and as far as we can tell there are no feral pigs out there right now.” Strand says domestic and wild pigs are not native to North America and many feral pigs have either escaped from farms or are decedents of escapees. He says the Department of Natural Resources’ call to eliminate feral pigs statewide is aimed at high populations in some southern counties. “They do damage in the rooting. In that they can do extensive rooting which can cause some minor erosion that might open up an area that’s more susceptible to invasive species coming in. And then from an agricultural standpoint is that they can carry diseases that could be transmitted to other domestic animals particularly domestic pigs.” Strand encourages anyone who spots a feral pig to kill it if possible and report the sighting to the DNR.

[Randy Kaar]

i would like to get one of those bad boys!  ham and ribs!

randy aka bh

[UncleDave]

Until this topic came up, I never knew they were in the north country at all.  I always thought they were in the southern U.S.