Feral Pigs---Fact or Unicorn?

[Ghilliesuit]

There are story's about feral pigs that are hard to deny. Escapees from the farm or transport, inter-breeding with wild European boars that were brought over for hunting, US border jumpers; all seem credible.

Without disclosing your honey hole, any sign---tracks, game cams, predator kill sites, sightings or harvests, you, your buddy?

[Firstblood]

They exist on high fence ranches in alberta, a few very isolated populations have been rumoured that escape from ranches en masse but no established populations have never been found in BC, Ive seen one big fat piggy on crown land but it was 100' from the farm it walked off. Saying that CBC said there is so there must be right?

[Drillbit]

I saw one a guy shot last fall in 5-13 by Kluskus. Huge boar. Black and white, must've got away from somewhere.

If I hadn't of seen it, I wouldn't have believed it.

Checked there for tracks/sign in the snow several times for others and never found any sign.

[russm]

I saw a Facebook post a few weeks ago of a bunch of pig parts dumped at rolley lake,lots of people were speculating that they were feral

[Rob Chipman]

According to Ryan Brook, wild pig guru at USask, there are scattered populations established in BC. I saw his map recently but can't locate it now. Anyway, feral pigs are his specialty and he's been studying and tracking them for years. I don't know if they're crossing the Rockies, coming up from the States or escaping inside BC. Can't find the numbers. Google Ryan Brook and you'll find some science on it.

You can find his Facebook page here with a map: https://www.facebook.com/WildPigResearch/

[srupp]

Seen photos of 1 big porker and one smaller one both shot out west off hwy 20 by Riske creek.talked to the rancher and his wife who saw the dead porkers in the lucky hunters truck..the pigs were off a ranch who while experiecing financial issues turned some loose..I did see some tracks while checking the area..was first time I was introduced to pigloos....
Not sure if any survive out there..
I believe there are other examples of escapes..or turned loose
Srupp

[KodiakHntr]

I know a guy who has pictures of a couple of them in the middle of nowhere that he got somewhere around Quesnel while he was working.

Coyotes are pretty hard on piglets, especially in the winter as pigs tend to make trails in the snow and won't get off of them if the snow gets deep.

[MB_Boy]

If you have Facebook you can view this map.

https://www.facebook.com/WildPigResearch/videos/3512752685486954

Unfortunately they don't have a website, just a Facebook page from all I can tell but lots of info.

https://www.facebook.com/WildPigResearch

[IronNoggin]

My Buddy Tad (Member Tadploe here) ran into a couple of them a few years back.
He shot one of them.
I made it into Polish Hunter Sausage, and it was fantastic grits!

Cheers,
Nog

[beretta]

Believe you do not want any kind of established feral swine population in Canada. I live in the Southeast the US and they destroy land. They are very efficient feeders, like a vacuum cleaner with four legs. Their rooting damages golf courses, lawns and farmers crops. They are able to start breeding at sows are able to start breeding at 6 months and can have 2 litters a year, which average about 5-8 piglets. So it doesn't take them long to get the population numbers up. We have a very prevalent coyote population here too and really don't see any real impact on the pig population. I hunt them year round, they do not pattern well. They are very nocturnal, out of the 1500 or so trail camera pictures I probably have less than a dozen during daylight. The best way to try and keep their numbers in check is to trap them using corral style traps.

http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=8331&stc=1

[silveragent]

Read this article last night. It's from The Guardian so treat it with a bit of salt. It paints a picture of the American south west that hunting properties are part of the problem of propagation. They pay poachers or procure live hogs because they are making a lot of bank on booking hunters on their property that they need to restock with pigs.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/15/feral-hogs-florida-pest-profitable-hunting

[Ghilliesuit]

Good capture and advise Beretta.

In Canada we have cold winters and the coyote population was well established before the introduction feral swine, in BC there are thriving cougar and wolf populations as well. A few friends have reported seeing pigs on highways looking for an escape route but none sporting tusks or familiar with moving thru terrain. There are a lot of remote valley bottoms in BC, some, with a good canopy, are almost snow free in winter.

I haven't met dogs nor cats that don't like bacon and a grizz will make short work of even the deepest dens.

[huntinnewbie]

I personally know someone that shot 2 in the back of their property in the South Langley area. They actually sent photos of them to someone in wildlife asking if it was ok to shoot them and the answer was yes like yesterday! This was 4-5 years ago. I saw the pics and they were all black, longish hair and snouts. Could have come across the border from WAshington State. They said they were good eating.

[Rob Chipman]

"a grizz will make short work of even the deepest dens."

I doin't think the issue is that predators can't kill them. I think it's that they reproduce so quickly that they withstand a lot of predation. They're in California and Oregon, and there's cougars and coyotes there.

But, your comment made me hit google to see if there are wild pigs in places south of the line with G-bears. Guess what? Idaho and Montana are worried about wild hogs.....coming form Canada! Go figure!

[Ohwildwon]

BC has a predator imbalance...

Be pretty tough to get established

without them showing up in droves

on farm land...

[Rob Chipman]

^^^ Might be true (them getting established, not the pred imbalance). What I got from the Montana and Idaho concerns is that any wild pigs here probably are escapes from here rather than coming form the prairies. They survive in Siberia, though, where wolves are their main predator, so there's no doubt they're robust. I doubt we'll be hunting them here anytime soon, mind you.

[Ghilliesuit]

From what I've been told, farm or transport escapees probably don't have tusks, they are removed when piglets are young. In the wild, they are an excellent digging tool and a formidable weapon. After a brood is established and raised young in the wild, they are smarter than most predators, reproduce like crazy, eat almost anything---a real survivor.

Cougars are lone hunters, a healthy boar or mother defending her young is probably is not a good choice for the next meal, not when there are unaccompanied younger, inexperienced choices. A pack of wolves or a grizz, different story.

I don't think they came from Alberta except in a truck. The passes are high and at least one boar and sow are needed to establish a colony. US border jumpers have the Okanagan, Kettle, Columbia and many other rivers and streams that lead north.

[KodiakHntr]

Piglets have their wolf teeth cut when they are a day or two old. Those aren't their tusks. Domestic hogs still grow tusks.

Coyotes have an easier time picking off piglets when the snow is deep and pigs are on their established trails between bedding and feeding areas. Trails are narrow and a sow will be in front with piglets single file behind her. Pretty easy for something to ambush a little porker when it is going past and a sow can't do much in deep snow. On the ground in the open though there isn't much that is safe from a pig. Pigs are FAST with an incredibly short turning radius. I raised a lot of hogs for a few years, and have a heeler that is pretty agile that would round up escapees from the hog pens and put them back. Pigs could out maneuver him until he figured out their usual movement patterns. Open ground where a hog can maneuver easily I don't think coyotes would have much impact on them at all.

[Rob Chipman]

They hunt them with dogs in Florida, but they're generally bigger than any coyote as far as I can tell. Piglets, I am sure, have a high mortality in the wild (probably why they have so many, right?).

Do you think your heeler could have killed one of the bigger hogs if he'd been so inclined or just move them where he wants them to go?

[KodiakHntr]

When they hunt hogs with dogs, the dogs don't kill the hog, they just hold it in place until the catch man can get in close enough to grab hind legs and the knife guy can then stick him in the ribs. On a pig heavier than say 50lbs a dog wouldn't have long enough teeth to get through to anything important on a pig to kill it inside of a few hours.

My heeler is hard on groundhogs, muskrats, field lions, stuff that size. Stuff in that 5-15lb range he is pretty murder-y, there is zero change he could kill a 60lb pig. A 60lb pig is immeasurably stronger than a 60lb dog (and my heeler is about half that). If you ever picked up a 2 day old piglet to clip its wolf teeth or buck out its nuts the first thing you notice is that for something the size of a big kitten they are very heavy. Its pretty much picking up a moving brick of squealing kicking contracted muscle. Pretty much any hog older than 12 weeks old is going to be pretty immune to a coyote, and probably pretty hard for a wolf to catch. A pig can turn 180* in less than 2 body lengths when it is running at full speed, and it will hit top speed in probably 2 body lengths. They are explosively fast. Not much else out there can do that simply by virtue of their body form, longer legs, higher center of gravity.

I sold a couple of live hogs that turned into a rodeo (it ALWAYS does if you have multiple pigs). They were 225-240 on the hoof, both pigs ended up out and loose, and we coerced one into the trailer with some grain and the heeler decided the other one needed to go back into the pen while we were still messing with the first one. He got the pig lined out headed for the gate... Which was closed. Hog gates need to be built beefy, and this one was vertical spruce 2x4's with a half inch gap between them and sandwiched between 2x4's top and bottom. The hog hit the gate hard enough to spread the center of the 2x4's apart 4" and crack them. And then the heeler latched onto its ass, and the hog set its feet and pushed its head through the gate, and pushed until it broke the 2x4's enough to get through. It broke five 2x4's, at once.

We sold a boar to the neighbor for his breeding program, that was over 700lbs. Pretty gentle as far as boars go, which was lucky as he had tusks that were probably 5" above the gum line.
They taught him to wear a chest harness and a leash so they could move him around and stake him out on a picket pin (lol) and a piece of steel cable to break raw land for garden patches. They were having a family reunion at their place when they noticed Brutus was roaming loose. They managed to catch him, but he was getting agitated with the number of people around that started running. They did get him tied off to the roll cage on their Razr, but when he was running around he turned really sharp and slipped a hip out of joint (post mortem inspection) that made him really mad. On three legs he built enough speed to drag a parked, shut off Polaris Razr. And not just drag it, he drug it fast enough that when he ran into the side of their Ford Ranger he caved in the drivers door. They had to sort his biscuits with a 45/70 before someone got hurt. They ended up with over 600lbs of sausage and pork chops, so he was likely way over 700lbs. (Which surprised me that he was edible even, as he had nuts the size of footballs.)

I'm fairly convinced that pound for pound, there probably isn't an animal that is stronger than a hog.

[firstshot]

Well that was an entertaining read!

A few hog farmers and a case of beer would make for some good stories I bet!

[Rob Chipman]

"When they hunt hogs with dogs, the dogs don't kill the hog"

Exactly what I've heard.

"I'm fairly convinced that pound for pound, there probably isn't an animal that is stronger than a hog."

Interesting. I haven't had your experience but from what I've seen I think I'd agree.

Thanks for the info!

And wtf is a "field lion"? :-)

[cameron0518]

I saw 2 a couple years ago hanging out with a group of wild turkeys. How "wild" the hogs were though, I am not sure. Definitely caught me by surprise.

[KodiakHntr]

Well that was an entertaining read!

A few hog farmers and a case of beer would make for some good stories I bet!

HAHAHAHAHA, those were only the ones I'll talk about on an open forum...


"When they hunt hogs with dogs, the dogs don't kill the hog"

Exactly what I've heard.

"I'm fairly convinced that pound for pound, there probably isn't an animal that is stronger than a hog."

Interesting. I haven't had your experience but from what I've seen I think I'd agree.

Thanks for the info!

And wtf is a "field lion"? :-)



Field Lion... I first heard that term on a 'Murican forum. It's a feral house cat.
I like cats, I have a couple spayed female cats in the house and a monster of a neutered siamese male out in my shop. I don't run a fleet of barn cats out in my barns, but my closest neighbor does in his. And every two or three years they start to spill over onto my place when the local fox population is low.
I don't like having to deal with feral housecats, but I'll go on a Field Lion Safari with the heeler and a 22 mag when the populations warrant it.

[wideopenthrottle]

I recently watched a 4 or 5 part series on the Serengeti...I saw a warthog stand up to a hungry lion and scare it off (I know it is a "dramatization" type story but still good footage)...in super slow mo the cat was just a tiny bit faster than the pig avoiding its tusk thrusts but just barely so it backed off pretty quick

[Rob Chipman]

"Field lion" - k, that is funny!

[quadrakid]

I was watching vids from the southern states where they trap hogs. When they get intact males they deball them and release them so they will be fit to eat in the future.

[Rieber]

I recently watched a 4 or 5 part series on the Serengeti...I saw a warthog stand up to a hungry lion and scare it off (I know it is a "dramatization" type story but still good footage)...in super slow mo the cat was just a tiny bit faster than the pig avoiding its tusk thrusts but just barely so it backed off pretty quick

Were you watching the Lion King with the Grandkids?

Did you notice a talking Meercat? :lol:

[lakelander]

I'm fairly convinced that pound for pound, there probably isn't an animal that is stronger than a hog.

How about a Wolverine? Pound for pound those things are invincible...

[KodiakHntr]

How about a Wolverine? Pound for pound those things are invincible...

A wolverine is meaner and more ferocious, sure. But stronger? Unlikely. Different body shape, different muscle configuration and density. Pigs are just denser. Hogs are surprisingly heavy for their size. Even a "fat" pig is predominantly muscle with relatively light bone structure. A 300lb hog is physically going to be half the size of a 300lb bear.
I'll definitely watch the show though if you can round up a wolverine and a young hog of equal weight and figure out a good harness system and set them up tail to tail, tractor pull style though.

[IronNoggin]

A wolverine is meaner and more ferocious, sure. But stronger? Unlikely.

Skin a wolverine once. Have a GOOD look. Then get back to us.

Cheers,
Nog

[KodiakHntr]

Skin a wolverine once. Have a GOOD look. Then get back to us.

Cheers,
Nog

Oh I've skinned or seen skinned everything that has a hide in the province...
And while I am of the mindset that if wolverines could be bred to live in urban areas there wouldn't be a homeless issue anymore and likely crime rates would go way down fairly rapidly due to shitrats not skulking around anymore in the shadows, I don't think the body form on a weasel lends itself to the same magnitude of strength that a hog has. That's all.
But I'm not really interested in arguing about it because it would likely be easier to prove what happened to Amelia Earhart, so fill ya boots.

[northof49]

Were you watching the Lion King with the Grandkids?

Did you notice a talking Meercat? :lol:

Now thats funny...LoL

[IronNoggin]

... But I'm not really interested in arguing about it because it would likely be easier to prove what happened to Amelia Earhart, so fill ya boots.

Roger that. Not really "arguing" so much from my end.
Dealt with a lot of wolverines and pigs in my time.
My tip of the hat would go to the former, pound for pound.
But as you say, we will really never know.

Have a great day!

Cheers,
Nog

[Hankus]

I've seen them in Alberta but never seen here. At one time there were a few AB WMUs where you could send in for a $50 bounty if you could produce a set of ears.

A friend found a bunch while scouting whitetails and we hunted them periodically. In terms of sign they weren't very subtle. They bombed around spruce swamps leaving tracks like little drunk rototillers. That population made it through a few winters but a serious snowfall did them in; it seems that their short legs couldn't outrun the wolves.

They were really good eating, tasted something like a pig mixed with a domestic cow. A slow-smoked shoulder yielded tasty pulled boar tacos.

They were also surprisingly tough. A buddy hit one squarely in the shoulder with a 9.3 and it went another 80 yards before it piled up.

Can't comment on their origins, but these ones were about 70 pounds on the hoof, mottled colouring and tiny tusks. I'd definitely hunt them again if given the chance.

[Dour]

I seen a old global news clip on YouTube about pigs in bc. The clip was a few years old. But it was on Christina lake. I guess they had/have a pig issue. Big enough it made the news. I’m not sure if they hunted them out. But it was an eye opener to how much damage they can do.

[beretta]

Tough animals
https://youtu.be/zbfE_VVs1Bw

[Linksman313]

Oh I've skinned or seen skinned everything that has a hide in the province...

Thanks for all the info Kodiak
Ever skin a "Field Lion"?
I have heard there are many ways?


I seen a old global news clip on YouTube about pigs in bc. The clip was a few years old. But it was on Christina lake. I guess they had/have a pig issue. Big enough it made the news. I’m not sure if they hunted them out. But it was an eye opener to how much damage they can do.

They must have brought them in to take over security for the "Pot Bears" once their contract was up lol. You know pound for pound their tuffer then them too!

Have a good one
Links

[boxhitch]

A wolverine is meaner and more ferocious, sure. But stronger? Unlikely. Different body shape, different muscle configuration and density. Pigs are just denser. Hogs are surprisingly heavy for their size. Even a "fat" pig is predominantly muscle with relatively light bone structure. A 300lb hog is physically going to be half the size of a 300lb bear.
I'll definitely watch the show though if you can round up a wolverine and a young hog of equal weight and figure out a good harness system and set them up tail to tail, tractor pull style though.Yupp, depends on how one defines 'strong'
I bet a wolverine could be folded in half, try that with a pig.
I remember a story long ago, may even have been in Outdoor Life mag, about how a vehicle hitting a pig on the road could wind up being flipped over, as the pig rolled underneath and when the legs came up they were so stiff they could toss the car up. One for Ripley's maybe.

[tater]

I seen a old global news clip on YouTube about pigs in bc. The clip was a few years old. But it was on Christina lake. I guess they had/have a pig issue. Big enough it made the news. I’m not sure if they hunted them out. But it was an eye opener to how much damage they can do.

There is a German gentleman outside of Christina Lake that imported European Boars and was raising them back then. He had several escapees that were causing big problems. I have a buddy that smoked one in his wife's garden almost ten years ago. Gave me a shoulder to slow cook.

Spectacular meat, but not worth the ecological damage that they bring to an ecosystem.