Fellow Nimrods,
I propose that we urge Maverick to create a new category for postings -- one on "Dangerous Hogs" or "Dangerous Hog Hunting." Every so often I get myself into one tight situation or another relating to hog hunting (this is beyond the humiliation suffered at the hands of the "Beanies" that I run into at "all the things anyone could possibly desire" outdoor and gun stores). It having been my birthday yesterday, I noticed a "dangerous hogs" article in the newspaper and decided to just sit down and read the thing -- never mind the time.
This article led me to the Houston Chronicle on the web -- Where I searched for other reportings of dangerous hogs. Three of the articles I found follow below:
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As one Tomball resident can attest, the mishandling of feral hogs can severely impair one’s health
By SHANNON TOMPKINS Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Sept. 17, 2009, 11:43AM
Shannon Tompkins Chronicle
Texas' 2 million or so feral hogs cause tens of millions of dollars in damage to agriculture by competing with native wildlife, wreaking havoc on deer feeders and food plots, and otherwise spoiling hunters' efforts.
Like most landowners who have dealt with feral hogs, James Belcher carries a grudge against the wild swine population that has over the past two decades exploded and swarmed like furry locusts across the Texas landscape.
They've pillaged Belcher's 115 acres in Cherokee County, ceaselessly rooting his pastures and timberland and turning them into rutted messes. They destroy wildlife food plots and deer feeders, or seize control of those feeding areas to the exclusion of other wildlife.
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But the 76-year-old Tomball resident's reason for antipathy toward feral hogs goes deeper than just the damage they do to his land and the wildlife on it. Feral hogs have significantly damaged his health, and he wants other Texas hunters to learn the simple steps they should take to protect themselves from similar experiences.
“People need to know that they should be cautious when they handle those pigs, and always wear gloves,” Belcher said. “I wouldn't want what's happened to me to happen to anybody.”
Belcher contracted brucellosis while cleaning a feral hog, and has been battling the disease's debilitating effects for months and faces many more months of treatment and health challenges.
“It has been a nightmare,” he said.
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Belcher's experience with the bacteria-caused disease is a cautionary tale for hunters and others who handle some of the estimated 1.5 million to 2 million feral hogs infesting Texas.
Brucellosis is one of several transmissible diseases feral hogs can carry, and is fairly common in the animal's population
Research indicates about 10 percent of Texas feral hogs test positive for brucellosis bacteria. But in some pockets of the state — East Texas in particular — brucellosis infection rates as high as 20-25 percent have been documented.
Brucellosis bacteria is found in bodily fluids, concentrating in reproductive organs, milk and viscera. Brucellosis in animals generally causes spontaneous abortions and other health-related problems.
Feels like the flu
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1 shot, 1 stabbed after feral hog hunt
By DALE LEZON HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Sept. 16, 2009, 1:49PM
One man was shot and another was stabbed during a quarrel about money after a hog hunting trip in Brazoria County, authorities said.
Paul Orchard was stabbed and John Bates was shot about 6:15 p.m. Tuesday in the 6200 block of County Road 62 in Sweeny, according to the Brazoria County Sheriff's Office.
No charges have been filed.
Bates was wounded in the upper left arm and was flown by medical helicopter to Memorial Hermann Hospital-Texas Medical Center. He is in stable condition.
Orchard was stabbed in the upper left arm and left hand and his condition is unknown, the police report said.
Investigators said Orchard was riding a four-wheeler along the road just after he had finished feral hog hunting in a nearby pasture. He carried a .410-gauge shotgun with him.
Bates saw him and stopped him, deputies said. The men argued about money Orchard apparently owed Bates and a fight broke out.
During the scuffle, Bates pulled out a knife and stabbed Orchard. He also grabbed the shotgun barrel.
As he pulled on the gun to get it away from Orchard, the shotgun erupted and Bates was hit.
The case will be referred to a Brazoria County grand jury to determine what, if any charges, will be filed.
dale.lezon@chron.com
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Commentary: Wild hogs wreaking havoc
By SHANNON TOMPKINS Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
June 27, 2009, 10:11PM
It was hard to keep from running into feral hogs this past week. They cropped up in conversation with friends, inside the Crock-Pot at Mom’s house, in a news item and right there in front of my truck’s bumper.
Around dusk this past Sunday, a grizzled looking sow of about 75 pounds bolted from thick cover in a ditch along Highway 71 between Columbus and La Grange, clattered across the pavement and came within a hog hair of meeting the front end of a F-150 doing about 70 mph. Still don’t know how I missed the pig.
Feral hogs seem to be everywhere. At least they are in Texas, where we are cursed with the nation’s largest population (an estimated 1.5-2 million animals and growing) of the amazingly destructive, prolific and adaptable non-native wild swine.
Environmental strain
Yes, feral hogs are challenging to hunt and outstanding on the plate. But those are their only positive attributes. They cause more than $50 million a year in losses to Texas agricultural interests, what with their rooting and wallowing and appetites. They probably do that much or more damage to rural and suburban lawns and gardens and other property.
Feral hogs compete with native wildlife for food and space, even eating their neighbors. Biologists call feral swine “opportunistic omnivores,” meaning they’ll eat just about anything they can grab or root from the ground. They are tough on amphibians and reptiles — lizards, frogs, snakes and such — and will devastate turtle nests, as folks along the Atlantic Coast discovered when they found feral hogs plundering egg-laden nests of endangered sea turtles.
If they stumble upon a newborn goat, sheep or deer, they’ll eat it, too. With deer fawns hitting the ground across the state over the past weeks, at least a few have fallen prey to feral hogs. A friend called this past week to tell of finding the remains of three fawns on his hog-infested lease. The telltale rounded cloven hoof prints of feral hogs surrounded all three remains.
The evidence was circumstantial, but it appeared, the friend said, a sounder of feral hogs stumbled upon newly minted fawns, which, doing what fawns are hard-wired to do, refused to move. The pigs killed and ate them.
While not a major predator on deer fawns — certainly not in the same class as coyotes and feral dogs — feral hogs are a threat to newborn deer fawns.
And, as I almost found out the hard way this past week, they are a health risk, as well as an economic liability, to humans.
Expensive encounters
Collisions between hogs and motor vehicles are rising in Texas and across the country as the feral hog population expands. That’s mostly anecdotal observation; hard data on pig/car crashes in Texas or the nation are hard to come by, but there are some broad hints.
A study in South Carolina looked at 179 hog/vehicle collisions. Cost of repairing a vehicle involved in such a collision averaged $1,346, the South Carolina study, released in 2007, reported.
Researchers figured an estimated 27,000 hog/vehicle collisions annually result in about $36 million in vehicle damage, nationwide.
That’s nowhere near the estimated 1.5 million deer/vehicle collisions resulting in $1.1 billion in damage seen across the nation each year.
And, while they do occur, human deaths resulting from the hog/vehicle crashes are rare — certainly far fewer than the annual 150-200 deaths resulting from vehicles hitting deer. But hog/vehicle crashes do kill and hurt people.
Then there’s the brucellosis issue.
Feral hogs carry and transmit swine-related brucellosis, a bacterial disease that can infect humans. Research indicates about 10 percent of feral hogs in Texas carry swine-related brucellosis.
Hunters who clean and handle feral hogs without taking precautions — wearing gloves, being careful to avoid getting blood on cuts, thoroughly cooking feral hog meat — risk contracting brucellosis.
According to the Texas Department of State Health Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Texas annually sees 20-40 cases of swine brucellosis in humans. Many of those cases track back to exposure to feral hogs — mostly hunters cleaning the animals without taking minimal precautions.
Brucellosis is rarely fatal for humans; the afflicted simply wish they were dead. It’s like a really bad case of influenza and, if untreated, can cause long-term health problems.
And the threat of feral hogs spreading swine brucellosis to domestic pigs and other livestock is of great concern to the commercial livestock industry.
With all those negatives associated with feral hogs, its no wonder states that are not yet infested with the animals or have small populations are taking drastic measures to prevent the pigs from establishing or spreading.
Lawmakers get involved
North Dakota is the latest state to pass a law making it illegal to import, transport or possess a feral swine; hunt or trap them; sponsor, promote or assist in hunting or trapping feral swine; or profit from the release, hunting or trapping of a feral hog.
A person convicted of violating those prohibitions faces a fine of as much as $5,000 per violation.
North Dakota’s ban on hunting, killing, transporting or releasing feral hogs or profiting in any way from those activities is meant to address the main way feral hogs are expanding their range. People are trapping, hauling and releasing feral hogs to establish populations that can be hunted, and from which money can be made.
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I am certain that after you have read the three articles above, you will agree to help me convince Maverick that we need another topic area in which we can post our experiences relating to DANGEROUS HOGS.
-- Little Eddie