Posted on 10/30/2005 4:59:41 PM PST by SJackson
Wisconsin's wild pigs deserve to be shot.
That needed to be said before some pack of porcine protectors starts picketing to save the poor creatures' bacon.
We have nothing against pigs in general, mind you. We respect the domesticated pig for its intelligence - it's one of the smartest of farm animals - and for its purpose - most of us enjoy a ham sandwich or pork chop every now and then.
But wild pigs are a horse of a different color, so to speak.
Wisconsin has recently joined the list of places confronting the problems created by a growing wild pig population, possibly descended from game farm escapees. These ornery animals don't belong here. They destroy crops and habitat, threaten other wildlife and spread disease. Consequently, the state Department of Natural Resources is urging hunters to shoot them.
Good.
It's already legal to shoot wild pigs. A small game license is required, except for landowners hunting on their own property.
That makes the recommendation to hunt the hogs far different from a controversial suggestion earlier this year to hunt feral cats, which also cause trouble in the wild. That suggestion, discussed by the state's Conservation Congress, would have required a change in state law to permit cat hunting. Thankfully, the idea was shot down after cat lovers raised a ruckus. There are better ways to cope with wild cats.
But the options for dealing with wild pigs are few, especially since they have virtually no natural predators in Wisconsin. Hunting makes sense. In fact, Australia and New Zealand blast the beasts from helicopters.
California has such a problem with wild pigs destroying archeological sites and wildlife on Santa Cruz Island that officials have hired a New Zealand hunting business to get rid of the population.
Let's hope Wisconsin can handle its pig problem in-house and without going to the expense of winding up any whirlybirds.
So if any animal lovers are considering taking up the cause of the wild pigs of Wisconsin, we advise them to think twice. Forget Babe, the pig of movie fame. Forget Wilbur, of "Charlotte's Web." Forget even the pigs of George Orwell's "Animal Farm." We're talking about nasty, mean animal with tusks.
We're better off with them dead. Fire away!
Picked up a .17 HRM just for stuff like this.
Ummmmm... Wild bacon!
This has to be a put on I have yet to hear or see a wild pig around here, it doesnt describe exactly what the damage is either. Deer would seem to be a bigger pest than any pigs their bodies litter our roadsides Im sure deer are involved in more property damage than pigs.
Our deltas have the same problem.
Oh. I was thinking more along the lines of pounding fuses up their rumps and turning them into anti-personnel bombs.
I don't know where here is, but I think this is largely a problem in the southwestern part of the state. However in three (four?) years the DNR has gone from no opinion at all as to the status of a wild pig, the assumtion being it's domestic, to shoot all you can, though you pay for your neighbors domestic that got loose. I have to think there's a reason.
.17
Wild Pig
No, No, and No.
wild poke chops!
You'd better file off the front sight. Beacuse if you try to shoot a Wild Pig with a .17 cal that olde hawg will take it away from you and put it where the "Sun don't Shine"!
Time to turn 'em loose!
/jasper
Huh? Pigs revising human history. Are these Orwell's pigs? How does a non carnivore destroy wildlife? I can see it eating the habitat, but not the other animals. These journalists have got to be made to read Animal Farm to get their stories believable.
There is no need to bring in hired hunters in choppers. All they have to do is get the word out to hunters that they can come to the infested areas to hunt the things. Legal hunting grounds are shrinking, private landowners don't want hunters and those that do, charge an arm and a leg.
They're not talking Guinea Pigs here.
a non carnivore
Bullsh*t!!! Pigs are very carnivorous!!!!!! They will bite the hand that feeds it, They EAT their babies!!!!!!!!!! They are worse than omnivorous, altho technically they are. But spend some time feeding pigs and trying to keep them. They are the meanest livestock on the planet!!!!!!!
You're not supposed to tell them you shot it!
Here in Missouri we have Shoot Shovel Shut up laws. Thank the Lord.
30.06 will work just as well.
Disease is a huge problem. Many midwestern states have spent millions of dollars eradicating pseudorabies in hogs. I think everyone has been declared pseudorabies free by now. The very last thing in the world we need is to have this disease reintroduced to our domestic herds. It will break a lot of farmers if it does.
One of the thing the peta freaks don't realize is that many of the things they decry as cruel, like debeaking chickens or cutting off the tail of pigs, are done for their own protection.
I've heard from people that raise them that if a pig gets wounded or bitten by another pig, they will keep attacking that pig until it is fdead - and then attack any other pig with blood on it, until basically they're all either dead or seriously wounded.
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