How bad is the Feral Pig problem in the Southwest?

Trichinosis is very easy to kill. The USDA says cooking to 145°F suffices as does freezing. This is how to produce certified pork for charcuteries.


From the USDA Trichinosis Fact Sheet:

Cooking - Commercial preparation of pork products by cooking requires that meat be heated to internal temperatures which have been shown to inactivate trichinae. For example, Trichinella spiralis is killed in 47 minutes at 52° C (125.6° F), in 6 minutes at 55° C (131° F), and in < 1 minute at 60° C (140° F).

Freezing - Experiments have been performed to determine the effect of cold temperatures on the survival of T. spiralis in pork. Predicted times required to kill trichinae were 8 minutes at -20° C (-4° F), 64 minutes at -15° C (5° F), and 4 days at -10° C (14° F). Trichinae were killed instantaneously at -23.3° C (-10° F). The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Code of Federal Regulations, requires that pork intended for use in processed products be frozen at -17.8° C (0° F) for 106 hours, at -20.6° C (-5° F) for 82 hours, at -23.3° C (-10° F) for 63 hours, at -26.1° C (-15° F) for 48 hours, at -28.9° C (-20° F) for 35 hours, at -31.7° C (-25° F) for 22 hours, at -34.5° C (-30° F) for 8 hours, and at -37.2° C (-35° F) for 0.5 hours. These extended times take into account the amount of time required for temperature to equalize within the meat along with a margin of safety.

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/trichin...fact_sheet.htm

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SugarMtnFarm.com -- Pastured Pigs, Poultry, Sheep, Dogs and Kids

They can shoot their own hogs if they feel a need

They can't shoot the hunters that tear up roads, tear down fences, leave gates open, and trash the place

They can't tell the hogs not to come cause problems

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ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

Yeah, some are like that but others welcome them as long as the follow certain rules. Its not really a problem for me but I only have 5 acres and can keep it maintained myself even though there are 2 square miles of wilds behind me. I let some trap and they give me sow meat for trade. Boar you have to cut and feed out or you cant stand the smell or taste of the meat. And always let it hang or bleed out in ice for at least a week or more.

Thanks. In that case the meat could be sold as premium frozen "raw". The price goes up even higher.

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"Do you believe in the devil? You know, a supreme evil being dedicated to the temptation, corruption, and destruction of man?" Hobbs
"I'm not sure that man needs the help." Calvin

When TSHTF, most people won't survive.
Wild hogs have already proven they can survive all over the world.

It's fun to pretend we will all suddenly become efficient hunters in a disaster, but it's not a realistic view for the majority

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ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

The reality is that if you drop the majority of domestic animals out in the wild, including the majority of hogs, most of them will not survive. There is nothing special about hogs that makes them survive nor special about humans that make them not survive. No magic. Evolution will lead to the fittest surviving in their niches. Majorities are meaningless arguments. Mere moot points.

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SugarMtnFarm.com -- Pastured Pigs, Poultry, Sheep, Dogs and Kids

Omnivores like hogs and coon do have an advantage over the specialists.

I'll bet that if you paid $.50/lb for gutted and properly handled hogs you could wipe out some populations.

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"Do you believe in the devil? You know, a supreme evil being dedicated to the temptation, corruption, and destruction of man?" Hobbs
"I'm not sure that man needs the help." Calvin

Feral hogs have already established themselves all around world.
They are omnivores that can adapt to well to most climates

They've been in NC for hundreds of years, and populations still are growing

Most humans now won't survive a true SHTF because they aren't prepared to deal with life without grocery stores for more than a few weeks.

Which goes back to my first statement about the pigs will be eating more of us

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ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

Yup. Just like cockroaches, dogs and humans. Adaptable species that will eat just about anything. Each has its niche.

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SugarMtnFarm.com -- Pastured Pigs, Poultry, Sheep, Dogs and Kids

Human populations are artificially high due to technological advances
If those things are removed, it won't hurt the hogs nor roaches.

The species as a whole will likely survive, but a large percentage of individual will not

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ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

If we keep agreeing like this people will think we're conspiring...

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SugarMtnFarm.com -- Pastured Pigs, Poultry, Sheep, Dogs and Kids

Strangely, we'd heard reports of wild hogs in our area (Houston/Galveston) for years but had never seen any on our property.......until this year. DH found a section of ground on the other end of our property that looked like it had been tilled. We're planning to invite our hunter friends/relatives to come help themselves this winter.

My brother had property outside of Centerville and he had a huge problem w/ them tearing his property up.

I killed this hog in South Central, Missouri. 22LR through the lungs. Third hog I've done so and the issue is only getting worse. And funny enough I have never set out to hunt hogs.

This one was the smallest of the 10 or so. But the only one I could get a shot at. Normally carry a little more weaponry with me, but my buddy and I were a little more hungover than normal. And Squirrels were on the agenda.

They will destroy everything in their path. But this goes to show that humans with a little 22LR will eat a hog long before the hog will eat them.

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Right on. They did it with the Passenger Pigeon, the most numerous species the earth has ever known, and almost succeeded with the bison and the Texas Longhorn. I'm convinced that the most recent fad, the invasive species problem, has become such a cash cow of funding that they want to manage them carefully enough to have enough still available to justify the continuation of that funding, while they are still out there continually fighting them.

There is no pattern or predictability to where a feral hog will take up residence, I've seen them eat one place up and not bother any thing else around.

Maybe all they need is a little dose of PEDV.

Some see them as a problem, others see them as an opportunity... Catching feral hogs is easy, and it's cheaper than feeding them out. Silly fools around here fatten em year round with their corn feeders.

I've counted as many as twenty at a time on my place. Put a few in the freezer, and they're gone for a few months.... Or, bait the trap, catch them all, and you have about six months without them....

one does need to monitor their land regularly, otherwise, they can destroy a meadow or orchard in just days...

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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

I trap and shoot them down here in s tx on my property it's hit or miss on when they show I bait a trap fill the freezer and give to friends then wait till I'm low and repeat and it's cheaper than raising one myself. Down here some farmers beg us to show up and kill hogs cause of the damage they do.

The only wild boar I've seen here were on ranches and they are gone for the most part. They caused a lot of unnecessary grief just so people could point and shoot something to hang on their wall. That being said, if we had a wild hog problem I would also shoot them for dog food. Maybe if Michigan "were" overrun with them the state would be too busy to worry about farmers on the other hand? Lol!