Topic: Giant Hog

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Did any of you see the wire service photo/story about the giant feral hog that was killed near Alapaha, Georgia on June 17th?? It was ungodly huge, half a ton, and looked to be as big as a buffalo.? Reminds me of a story John Jackson told about a farmer near where he lived who had a hog as big as a horse--I always figured it was a bit exaggerated, but after seeing this I wonder.? The story is on page A-17 of the July 29th Seattle Post Intelligencer.
All best,
Johnm?

[frankie]

the giant feral hog

Saw it...  assumed that the ditch the guy was standing in was the beginnings of a barbecue pit...  Ribs for the whole county!

[OMpicker]

That is one BIG hog.? Here's a link to the page, which includes a photo (the story says they had to pick it up with a backhoe, and that its head was as large as a compact car tire).

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apus_story.asp?category=1110&slug=Hogzilla&searchdiff=0&searchpagefrom=1

[motmot]

Alapaha, GA, is about 200 miles west and south of my hometown of Allendale, SC, and things can grow big down there: fish, hogs, snakes, and the like ... and tales of fish and hogs and snakes and the like ...

The newspaper reference to "Faulknerian myth" may be apt.

Cheers,
mot

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I just noticed in today's paper that there will be a National Geographic Special on TV tomorrow night (March 20) devoted to "Hogzilla".  I know you will all want to see it to find out the truth of the tale.
All best,
Johnm

[lindy]

A few more details on the story are available at

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/19/national/19hog.html

It's worth taking a few minutes to click on and view the accompanying slide show . . . I like the picture of Hogzilla's grave.

Oink, snort,
Lindy

[Johnm]

Hi all,
I have been catching up on some reading and recently finished an excellent article in the December 12, 2005 New Yorker by Ian Frazier, focusing on the  fascinating topic of the proliferation of feral hogs, entitled "Hogs Wild".  I was shocked and disappointed to find out that when Hogzilla was disinterred for the National Geographic TV Special (which incidentally, drew the second-largest number of viewers in the channel's history), he measured in at a piddling 7.5 feet long and eight hundred pounds, rather than the twelve feet long and one thousand pounds that had originally been reported.  Darn! 
Anyhow, Frazier's article is tremendously interesting and seems to indicate that feral hogs may soon be coming to a location near you.  They are apparently back in England for the first time in several hundred years.
All best,
Johnm

[Stuart]

John:

Thanks for the tip on the New Yorker article. Years ago my father use to tell me about his experiences when he was stationed at Fort Benning, GA during WWII before being sent overseas. One of them was about how the wild hogs/boars would get into the garbage pits and how he would have to get some of the GIs to catch them and get them out. I remember him saying that they were dangerous and that some we huge--although I assume not nearly as big as Hogzilla. As I recall, snares and nets were involved, as well as some interesting trips to transport them far away from the base so they wouldn't come back. I guess it was the Army's version of "catch and release." Strange things happen in this world.

Stu

[Stuart]

There's a song "Wild Hog In The Woods."  I have it by Lonesome Luke and His Farm Boys, on "Kentucky Mountain Music," CD 5, track 13. It has been done by others as well. I did a quick Google search and found that it is also the name of a radio show, a coffee house, and who knows what else. Hogzilla lives on in song.

[Buzz]

My friend, Adkins, goes each winter to Ohio to hunt wild hogs, with bow and arrow, with old friends who are real hunting pros--one even has written books about making bows. Says these big feral fellows, like over 300# don't hardly feel an arrow, glimpse at the direction they came, and it feels like a gnat to them, and they amble off to root some more. You got to aim just right to bring one down, and then they are so big, angry, can charge and gore you. Then later, the bow-maker, Torges, cures and smokes the meat himself, and his feral hog bacon is the absolute best thing I have ever tasted. Torges sends some to Adkins, who shares with us, thank you very much.  Had it with Eggs, had it in Carbonara pasta, in stew. Anyway you slice that meat, it is great.

Miller

[Stuart]

"Deja Vu All Over Again" or "Hogzilla, we hardly knew ye!"

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/10677789/detail.html

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,242199,00.html

[Johnm]

Wow, Stuart, thanks for posting that!  It's been too long since we had a "huge feral hog" post in these parts.  If this recent one is bigger than Hogzilla, it was a hell of a big hog. 
All best,
Johnm 

[Stuart]

Hi John:

I caught it in last Sunday's Seattle Times (January 7; page A5). It took me a while to get around to finding and posting a link. Glad that you enjoyed it!

Regards,

Stuart

[Cambio]

Ah, to live in a neighborhood where you can hang a hog from a tree!  I remember when I was a kid, there was an old timey farmer down the road who would hang and butcher hogs and steer from a tree in his front yard, while all of us kids watched, slack jawed. 

[Stuart]

Oh, The Humanity!

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/04/28/america/NA-ODD-US-Hogzilla-Movie.php