WeenieCampbell.com
The Unwound Third => Jam Session => Topic started by: Johnm on July 29, 2004, 04:32:45 PM
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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?
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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!
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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"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
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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
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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
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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.
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Oh, The Humanity!
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/04/28/america/NA-ODD-US-Hogzilla-Movie.php
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By KATE BRUMBACK, Associated Press
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Hogzilla is being made into a horror movie. But the sequel may be even bigger: Meet Monster Pig. An 11-year-old Alabama boy used a pistol to kill a wild hog his father says weighed a staggering 1,051 pounds and measured 9-feet-4 from the tip of its snout to the base of its tail. Think hams as big as car tires.
If the claims are accurate, Jamison Stone's trophy boar would be bigger than Hogzilla, the famed wild hog that grew to seemingly mythical proportions after being killed in south Georgia in 2004.
Hogzilla originally was thought to weigh 1,000 pounds and measure 12 feet in length. National Geographic experts who unearthed its remains believe the animal actually weighed about 800 pounds and was 8 feet long.
Regardless of the comparison, Jamison is reveling in the attention over his pig, which has a Web site put up by his father ? http://www.monsterpig.com ? that is generating Internet buzz.
"It feels really good," Jamison, of Pickensville, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "It's a good accomplishment. I probably won't ever kill anything else that big."
Jamison, who killed his first deer at age 5, was hunting with father Mike Stone and two guides in east Alabama on May 3 when he bagged Hogzilla II. He said he shot the huge animal eight times with a .50-caliber revolver and chased it for three hours through hilly woods before finishing it off with a point-blank shot.
Through it all there was the fear that the animal would turn and charge them, as wild boars have a reputation of doing.
"I was a little bit scared, a little bit excited," said Jamison, who just finished the sixth grade on the honor roll at Christian Heritage Academy, a small, private school.
His father said that, just to be extra safe, he and the guides had high-powered rifles aimed and ready to fire in case the beast with 5-inch tusks decided to charge.
With the pig finally dead in a creek bed on the 2,500-acre Lost Creek Plantation, a commercial hunting preserve in Delta, trees had to be cut down and a backhoe brought in to bring Jamison's prize out of the woods.
It was hauled on a truck to the Clay County Farmers Exchange in Lineville, where Jeff Kinder said they used his scale, which was recently calibrated, to weigh the hog.
Kinder, who didn't witness the weigh-in, said he was baffled to hear the reported weight of 1,051 pounds because his scale ? an old, manual style with sliding weights ? only measures to the nearest 10.
"I didn't quite understand that," he said.
Mike Stone said the scale balanced one notch past the 1,050-pound mark, and he thought it meant a weight of 1,051 pounds.
"It probably weighed 1,060 pounds. We were just afraid to change it once the story was out," he said.
The hog's head is now being mounted on an extra-large foam form by Jerry Cunningham of Jerry's Taxidermy in Oxford. Cunningham said the animal measured 54 inches around the head, 74 inches around the shoulders and 11 inches from the eyes to the end of its snout.
"It's huge," he said. "It's just the biggest thing I've ever seen."
Mike Stone is having sausage made from the rest of the animal. "We'll probably get 500 to 700 pounds," he said.
Jamison, meanwhile, has been offered a small part in "The Legend of Hogzilla," a small-time horror flick based on the tale of the Georgia boar. The movie is holding casting calls with plans to begin filming in Georgia.
Jamison is enjoying the newfound celebrity generated by the hog hunt, but he said he prefers hunting pheasants to monster pigs.
"They are a little less dangerous."
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It's really impressive to me how weenies will devote 2 pages of posts to "giant hogs"... :D Here is a nice pic of Jamison Stone and his trophy boar.
(https://weeniecampbell.com/yabbse/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ftpimg.sv.publicus.com%2Fapps%2Fpbcsi.dll%2Fbilde%3FSite%3DTP%26amp%3BDate%3D20070525%26amp%3BCategory%3DNEWS07%26amp%3BArtNo%3D70525015%26amp%3BRef%3DAR&hash=fe689b3ef83c983154a78fe177a2c5c53567e114)
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(In the "Too much time on my hands dept.") - It's been a while since this one got any attention...
Take Warning!
http://videos.howstuffworks.com/discovery/35139-pig-bomb-pig-attacks-video.htm
http://feralhogs.tamu.edu/
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Thanks for the link, Stuart. I was able to borrow a laptop and view some of the pieces. Those big feral hogs are emphatically not nice! It's good to see this thread keep going.
All best,
Johnm
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IMHO, a periodic revisit (at least once every couple of years) to this thread is of the utmost importance so that we do not grow complacent and let our guard down re: the immanent threat posed by these unruly creatures.
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I just saw another of these articles somewhere about a 12 year old boy who shot a boar that looked to be about five times his size. I figured it was photoshop-ed. I'll have to try and find it again.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/02/giant-feral-pig-that-ate_n_210229.html (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/02/giant-feral-pig-that-ate_n_210229.html)
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/05/26/1179601736704.html (http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/05/26/1179601736704.html)
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http://www.stinkyjournalism.org/latest-journalism-news-updates-45.php
Of course if there was an undiscovered species of Hippo in Alabama.....
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This thread always makes me hungry for BBQ.
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Jest as long as its Tofu Ribs! ;)
What you didn't know that tofus had ribs?
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My wife and I just played a gig in SE Kentucky last weekend, where we stopped into a local store in a very small town. They had poster defining the different hunting seasons. They have a season for bullfrogs but feral hogs and groundhog are fair game anytime. Ever since the first settlers, hogs and dogs have roamed the back country. Both are considered bad news, shoot on sight. I wonder how gamey a feral hog tastes?
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I have some wild boar bacon in the fridge I'm looking forward to. The couple times I've tasted wild boar, I've enjoyed it a lot and wouldn't say it tastes that gamey. However, most game meats in Canada served in restaurants and sold in stores are actually farm-raised, I believe. I suspect a feral pig shot in the wild would taste somewhat gamier.
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Hi all,
I've had a fair amount of wild boar, most of it from New Mexico, I believe, and all that I've had has been spectacular, just about the best pork I've ever tasted.
All best,
Johnm
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You DO know that cannibals interviewed said that human meat tastes exactly like pork? In fact they referred to it as long pig. I'd want to know exactly where that "Wild Boar" was coming from if I were you. ;)
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I heard a story on the radio about this topic a while back. It turns out that Hogzilla was actually a pet hog that someone raised from a piglet. They sold off their pigs to the owners of the game farm where Hogzilla, who's real name was Fred, was shot. The woman was horrified to find out that her former pet was shot and said that he most likely saw people and thought they would be feeding him. Apparently this all transpired shortly after she got rid of the pig.
Sorry for being a wet blanket.
http://www.nationalledger.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=13&num=13806
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Feral hog season in NJ was extended this year.
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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011925661_rescuedpig22.html?syndication=rss
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Thanks for that, Stuart. That Lisa is one big pig--and only a year old! It's great to see the thread that would not die keep going.
All best,
Johnm
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Speaking as a Yorkshireman, I've never encountered a "Yorkshire pig" before. It looks like a "Large white" to me. Glad they saved her, otherwise her skin would only have been used to make more banj.... ban.... , no, can't bring myself to say it. >:D
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The appearance of a giant hog story just in time for our birthdays probably portends something, but I'm at a loss to speculate what that something might be.
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Wow, using a pigskin to make a banjo head--that's a stretch!
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Wow, using a pigskin to make a banjo head--that's a stretch!
Ouch!
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Wow, using a pigskin to make a banjo head--that's a stretch!
Especially when the pig's still alive!
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From the "Glow in the Dark" dept.:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/19/AR2010081901116.html
http://news.discovery.com/animals/radioactive-wild-boars-increase-in-number.html
Love that self-cooking bacon...
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And they tell us that nuclear power is the way forward!! >:(
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http://www.slashfood.com/2011/04/13/glowing-blue-pork-found-in-china/
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Perhaps I could suggest a new category for this forum: Phrases I Never Expected to Read on Weenie Campbell.
And the first one would be: "strangely glowing meat"
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Perhaps I could suggest a new category for this forum: Phrases I Never Expected to Read on Weenie Campbell.
And the first one would be: "strangely glowing meat"
now now now... improbable stuff has always shown up on weenie, although for this one, rather than a forum of its own (not that it's a bad idea), maybe we just need a major award:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJSmmbmJCLw
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It's been a while...
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/31/opinion/high-above-the-hog.html?_r=1&hp
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I just read that starting tomorrow, stiff penalties will be in place for anyone who releases a feral hog into the wild in Kentucky. A search turned up the following:
http://fw.ky.gov/wildpigfaq.asp (http://fw.ky.gov/wildpigfaq.asp)
http://www.ca.uky.edu/KYWoodlandsmagazine/Vol6_No3/Wildpigspg_8-9.pdf (http://www.ca.uky.edu/KYWoodlandsmagazine/Vol6_No3/Wildpigspg_8-9.pdf)
So many wild hogs, so little time...
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Thanks so much, Stuart, for continuing to keep tabs on and post information to links on this very important topic. I love the questions in the Q & A link.
All best,
Johnm
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Hi John:
It looks like we were about to go through all of 2012 without a feral pig story--but we were saved at the last minute by this timely news item.
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http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20130103/NEWS02/301030029/-1/NEWS/Pigs-don-t-fly-Essex (http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20130103/NEWS02/301030029/-1/NEWS/Pigs-don-t-fly-Essex)
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Eeeewwwww.
Sent from Mr. Page's iPhone using Tapatalk
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I saw that they are selling wild hog traps down the road at the local feed and seed. They are a problem here in the southeast.
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I should add that the forest where the Euroweenie gathering takes place, is now said to be home to a number of wild boar. Though not huge ones, so far as I am aware.
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I should add that the forest where the Euroweenie gathering takes place, is now said to be home to a number of wild boar. Though not huge ones, so far as I am aware.
They are very big, Simon. However, also very shy so you rarely see them. We have a large population in the woods of East Sussex near where I live, but although I'm often out there walking, I've never seen one. You do see evidence of their digging - they like bluebell bulbs, for instance. My son had one run across the road in front of him when driving home one night.
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And while I think of it, we have this to look forward to:
http://wildboar.org.uk/ (http://wildboar.org.uk/)
Interesting how here in the UK we call them all "wild boar" irrespective of gender - some are certainly "wild sows". The American term of "wild hog" is more correct (for once!).
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"?And you can pook, and you can shove,
but a Sussex pig he wun?t be druv!?
Surely one for the quote drive?
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Plant a garden with no fence around it, put up a motion detector with a camera. Wait. It sort of it like build it and they will come.
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As a conservation biologist who makes part of his living doing feral hog control here in New Mexico, I was gratified to accidentally come across this thread.
This may have been covered already, but keep in mind that they're damned good to eat.
We're going to be running an event called "hog school" somewhere in S. New Mexico sometime during the summer of 2013. Maybe we can time it before Pt. Townsend so that people can make a major road trip out of both events.
We'll be covering hunting, butchering, cooking. You might even learn how to make a "cajun microwave", my person favorite cooking method.
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Well Joe, you've got my interest! Easy road trip for me since I'm in El Paso, ...I'll even bring a contingent!
Where in southern NM?
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Hey Slack,
We're still looking for the ideal location, which will include lots of hogs that need, uh, dispatching, a bunkhouse at which to stay, and a kitchen, at a place that does not charge dude ranch prices. Looking at areas around Lincoln National Forest, so not too far from you. I'll keep you updated...
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http://imgur.com/hGF0IYn (http://imgur.com/hGF0IYn)
This has been your giant hog update.
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Thank you Eric for this very valuable service.
That thing is scary looking.
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Thanks, Eric.
What ever happened to "catch and release?"
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Thanks for the link, Eric. Ugh, that dude is ugly as blue mud.
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We like to joke about them, but like all invasive species, they're no laughing matter.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/28/us/hunting-ranches-resist-efforts-to-curb-feral-swine.html?hp&_r=0 (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/28/us/hunting-ranches-resist-efforts-to-curb-feral-swine.html?hp&_r=0)
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This article just makes me think we should outlaw hunting rifles too. I find the whole Idea of "hunting ranches" absolutely repugnant.
Here's something I wrote in a facebook discussion that pertains.
"While people are straining nerves , budgets and imaginations in an attempt to ascertain whether or not there is intelligent life "somewhere in the universe" we are surrounded by it here on Earth and by a million languages which we are too undeveloped to recognize as such. The literature of the birds will one day astound us. The epics of the ants will rival Homer. The wisdom of the ruminants will humble us and the nose of the canid will unravel every medical mystery."
And then there's this:
A German Shepherd went to a Western Union telegram office, took out a blank form and wrote:
"Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof. Woof."
The clerk examined the paper and politely told the dog, "There are only nine words here. You could send another "Woof" for the same price."
"But," the dog replied, "That would make no sense at all."
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More feral hog news:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/opinion/bruni-malicious-but-delicious.html (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/opinion/bruni-malicious-but-delicious.html)
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My bad. I read this article with great interest on the day of publication, and simply forgot the high level of interest in feral hogs here on this country blues and ragtime guitar internet forum. I now realize that I did a great disservice by failing to post a link. I'll try not to let it happen again.
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I now realize that I did a great disservice by failing to post a link.
Oink!!
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... the high level of interest in feral hogs here on this country blues and ragtime guitar internet forum...
I think you meant to say, "...the high level of interest in country blues and ragtime here on this giant / feral hog internet forum..."
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The thread that just won't die!
Mmmmm Bacon.
8)
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Nothing strange about craving pigmeat!
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Big pigs go world-wide....
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10885580 (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10885580)
The text probably requires a little explanation. The hunting method is back-to-basics. The two hunters went out with their four dogs and armed with bayonet-style knives. No guns. Once the dogs bailed up the pig, the hunters went in with their knives to "stick" it -- stab it to death. Needless to say, the pig takes a dim view of this, so it's a bit fraught for all involved. (Bear Grylls has been to New Zealand... but he's regarded here as a bit of a softie.)
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OK, so I too crave pigmeat, but I didn't realize I was supposed to report on reports of wild pigmeat. Like I said, I won't screw up again.
That story from NZ is pretty amazing. I've actually been to Wairarapa, but didn't go on a wild boar hunt. Kinda glad about that.
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The language in the NZ article cracked me up, having lived there for a long time (24 years). Took me right back.
I heard a couple of hair raising stories from folks encountering big angry pigs out in the NZ bush, one of them was a mother protecting her piglets.
Carrying a bayonet sounds like a good idea, but a big ass shotgun might be better if you're not exactly Rambo.
Grilled wild pork is delicious, I have to say.
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Grilled wild pork is delicious, I have to say.
Well, now, that's exactly why you would crave pigmeat, ain't it? Unless of course you're referring to some other kind of pigmeat.
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I had some diving friends in NZ who ran a fishing boat out of Houhoura, Northland. They had some jet black feral hogs and naturally they got to eat a lot of fish guts, heads, tails, fins and so on.
The pork tasted fishy and generally disgusting. A heavy wood smoke would probably have fixed it.
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Well, it all sound idyllic, except for the fishy flavor. Of course, I would have thought you and your friends would apply heavy wood smoke anyway. Certainly the Hawaiians are famous for that technique; I don't know whether the Maori and more recent New Zealanders do it too.
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The only thing better than a Giant Feral Hog story is a Drunken Giant Feral Hog story :)
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/09/swigging-pig-hogs-18-beers?CMP=twt_gu (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/09/swigging-pig-hogs-18-beers?CMP=twt_gu)
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Strewth! (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=strewth)
Re smoke BBQ, I had to learn how to do it when I got to Texas. Fire & emissions regs where we lived out in the woods near Auckland NZ wouldn't let us burn charcoal, it was propane gas barbies only. Now I wouldn't dream of cooking outside any other way. Those pigs up in Northland though ate so much fish byproduct it would have been hard to kill the taste no matter what you did. Similar to feeding chickens garlic or onions, you taste it in the eggs, or so I understand.
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Yep there's a 'no fish or garlic for the chickens' rule here too. I'm too stingy to buy charcoal though and cook on ash embers :P
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So glad to be able to update this most important thread:
http://www.wate.com/Story/24931790/conetoe-man-bags-500-pound-bertie-county-hog (http://www.wate.com/Story/24931790/conetoe-man-bags-500-pound-bertie-county-hog)
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Thanks a ton (or quarter ton) ERD, glad he is butchering for the freezer - makes me even more curious as to how a pork chop would taste
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Am I alone here in wanting these amazing wild animals to be alive rather than hunted to extinction by redneck cowboys with guns?
Sent from my HUAWEI MT1-U06 using Tapatalk
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What? ...you don't like bacon?
Seriously PS, feral hogs are a problem - they are in no danger of being hunted to extinction by rednecks...as people will keep feeding wildlife and they are indirect beneficiaries. Don't know what the rules are in North Carolina (where the story originates), but I'm sure it is similar to Texas.
http://feralhogs.tamu.edu/faq/ (http://feralhogs.tamu.edu/faq/)
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this one is walking distance from my house. not that I would normally walk that far ...
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/wild-boar-strikes-fear-into-the-hearts-of-walkers-29966566.html (http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/wild-boar-strikes-fear-into-the-hearts-of-walkers-29966566.html)
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This will give you an idea what kind of problems wild hogs can present. It is a facebook flash player video, so hope you can see it.
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=312596595557298&fref=nf (https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=312596595557298&fref=nf)
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Good Lord, there's a zillion of them! It's like the armies of Rome.
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As someone commented, it's the Aporkalypse!
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Feral hog is good eats...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUSK_w_JdjY (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUSK_w_JdjY)
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Mothers! Hide your daughters! (And your sons too, for that matter!) :P
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Always like to check in on this thread.
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That video reminds me of a very similar clip from Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown episode on Sicily. There's a scene at a farm where the hogs roam free through woods, and the farmers show up in trucks to feed them regularly. Then they shoot one in the head, bleed and butcher it on site, and start cooking.
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The ultimate version
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/videos/the-terminator-pig/ (http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/videos/the-terminator-pig/)
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I don't know that the hogs in the video that was posted are feral pigs, in the sense of being domestic varieties gone wild. They look more like a wild species, like razorbacks or javelinas.
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I agree with you Johnm, they looked like javelinas to me.
Which of course gives me a perfect segue to posting my javelina pics - taken last May. :P This is southern Arizona and they obviously were not too wild, the cabin hosts fed them regularly.
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As it happens, I opened the two vids on the previous page in reverse order, on separate tabs, so I was treated to Blind Boy Fuller's soundtrack over the Facebook clip of the wild pigs. That was definitely the way to watch!
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There was an article in Acres USA within the past year saying that due to the plethora feral hogs some states are banning some of the heritage breeds of hogs from farm use. When diversity is a narrow as it is today, this is not a good thing. The older breeds can live better under the "root hog or die" paradigm of old than the modern factory breeds. This is all part of a bigger struggle that needs no more mentioning on a blues site.
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Is it me or did Marlon Brando hog all his scenes in Aporkalypse Now?
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From today's NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/11/us/louisiana-sheriffs-office-will-dispatch-pig-killing-posses.html?_r=0 (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/11/us/louisiana-sheriffs-office-will-dispatch-pig-killing-posses.html?_r=0)
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Surely a song in there somewhere!
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I can never resist this thread.
I'm gonna suggest key of C or G in standard--it's too happy a subject for E or A.
I went down to the bayou, tried to kill me a wild hog,
Said I went down to the bayou, kill me a wild hog,
Told my woman, I ain't gonna be your dog.
I come back from the hunt, my truck full of wild pork,
Came back from the hunt, truck bed full of that wild pork,
Gon' fire up the smoker, get my guitar and my tuning fork.
Alright, that's enough of that. Gotta get some work done. Bring on some more verses, y'all.
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The saga continues:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/can-wild-pigs-ravaging-the-u-s-be-stopped/?WT.mc_id=SA_ENGYSUS_20141023 (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/can-wild-pigs-ravaging-the-u-s-be-stopped/?WT.mc_id=SA_ENGYSUS_20141023)
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It just goes to show you how advanced Weeniecampbell is - this griping saga was broken by WC in 2004 and now finally - Scientific American!
(5 million strong - ouch!)
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Yeah, even though we get a chuckle out of these posts, it really is a serious problem. And from a humane point of view, the hogs didn't ask to be put in this position. Obviously, not an easy problem to solve.
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The Hog issue has reached the BBC...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-29747529 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-29747529)
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Yeah, even though we get a chuckle out of these posts, it really is a serious problem. And from a humane point of view, the hogs didn't ask to be put in this position. Obviously, not an easy problem to solve.
With the right rifle and information on location, we could have a mess of bar-b-que....might not solve the problem, but sure help out some.
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'Gargantuan' wild hog weighing nearly 800 pounds caught in Texas
just no end to this exciting story.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/outdoors/article/Nearly-800-pound-hog-caught-in-Texas-6043871.php#photo-7445088 (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/outdoors/article/Nearly-800-pound-hog-caught-in-Texas-6043871.php#photo-7445088)
"A ginormous hog that tipped the scale at 790 pounds is living carefree, and getting fed and watered down in his corral ? for now.
The hog was bagged after what could be a catch of a lifetime for Blaine Garcia and Wyatt Walton on a ranch Jan. 16 in De Leon, a town about 35 minutes west of Stephenville and 95 miles southwest of Fort Worth."
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Pig war dispatches from Hays- & Caldwell counties, central Texas. Plenty of feral pig data punctuated with mildly amusing alliteration. Disappointingly, while there are a couple of pig portraits (porktraits?) in the body of the text there's not a single photo of a live pig in the story's accompanying gallery, mostly just shots of good ol' boys fixin' to blaze away with AR15s and night vision. http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/local/war-against-feral-hogs-rages-on/nprbX/
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https://youtu.be/R3YxlbYiLhA
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The final two paragraphs of that Statesman article are priceless for anyone who values our Mercan gun culture. That image is gonna stay with me a long time--drunk shotgun-wielding Texan in flip-flops gets taken down by feral hog who's faster AND smarter than he is.
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Feral hog is good eats - almost (almost) makes me want to move back to the Hill Country
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In large pig news today: http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2016/02/09/pound-pig-escapes-from-farm-tries-vote/6nVB9bGJAyYCD0cAb9NiWO/story.html?p1=Must_Reads
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Meanwhile, across the Atlantic:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/08/world/europe/italy-tuscany-chianti-wine.html
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It's almost as if they're .....organizing....
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They are very intelligent creatures. Smart enough to know it's better in Tuscany than Texas.
Now how did that lyric go? "T for Tuscany, T for Tennessee, you gotta tell me momma, got to leave Texas today . . .."
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"...the grapes sucked by wild boars.? Talk about being impatient!
"What's that vintage you're sippin' there Rupert?
"Oh, I reckon about 1:37 pm..."
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http://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/books/hogs-wild-new-collection-from-the-versatile-ian-frazier/
Love that cover...
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You guys lose anything?
http://abc7ny.com/news/deputies-search-for-owner-of-600-pound-hog/1517820/ (http://abc7ny.com/news/deputies-search-for-owner-of-600-pound-hog/1517820/)
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Next month I will be teaching mandolin up in Brasstown, NC where friends usually invite us over for supper and we eat wild hog. They live close to the earth.
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Giant Hog Update: Now Radioactive
https://tinyurl.com/Radioactive-Boars-in-Fukushima (https://tinyurl.com/Radioactive-Boars-in-Fukushima)
This has been the Giant Hog Update
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Giant Hog Update: Now Radioactive
https://tinyurl.com/Radioactive-Boars-in-Fukushima (https://tinyurl.com/Radioactive-Boars-in-Fukushima)
This has been the Giant Hog Update
A Hellhog on our trail?
Pan
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A Man, A Plan, A Hog...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/29/opinion/sunday/a-plan-to-poison-the-wild-hogs-of-texas.html
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You have to wonder how the authorities could approve the use of such a dangerous drug as warfarin in the first place. They really must be getting desperate.
What is also strange, to me anyway, are the numbers cited in that article, specifically the pet food guy processing 5000 pigs a month. In my 10 years in central Texas, in many trips out to the hill country, I saw one wild pig in all that time. It ran across the road in front of me as I was driving across Hays County at dusk. I mentioned it to a friend out there and he was surprised, grilled me on where I'd seen it, and commenced to worry about his garden.
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...got a .38 Special, Boys, but I believe it's most too light...
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/weird/ct-wild-hog-alabama-20170720-story.html
Apparently the hog didn't think so.
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The WaPo story has more meat shakin' on its bones, much like that hog: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2017/07/20/this-alabama-hunter-shot-and-killed-an-820-pound-hog-after-it-wandered-into-his-front-yard/?hpid=hp_hp-cards_hp-card-national%3Ahomepage%2Fcard&utm_term=.7ec8e032ad27
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By the looks of that sucker, I would have opted for a Gatlin' gun.
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Meanwhile, things are hotting up in Virginia, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/virginia-acts-to-reduce-population-of-wild-pigs-the-most-invasive-animal-in-us/2013/11/24/aa4077ca-52b9-11e3-9e2c-e1d01116fd98_story.html?tid=a_inl&utm_term=.5f3657cbd4e4#comments
Be sure to read the comments at the end.
If you're not a wapo subscriber you will need to go incognito. If you don't know how to do that google is your friend, but in Chrome just right click on the link and select incognito mode.
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Thank you, I do subscribe, found I had to, because the Amazon Washington Post's coverage of the new regime in Washington is second to none, but I missed this wonderful article. There's just so much to love here, from the headline description of "the ?most invasive animal? in U.S." to the caption on the first pic characterizing them as "the 'rototillers' of nature," on to the name of the deer and feral hog biologist for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Charlie Killmaster. There's a man who was born for his job. Anyway, the article goes on to observe that "[t]hey eat like hogs," as if we didn't know that. But when you take it all in, what the article really reminds me of is the kind of thing they used to make us read about Communism back in the '60s. Except I'm beginning to think the feral pigs may really take over.
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When my father was in the Army during WWII, he was stationed at Fort Benning GA. He told me wild hogs used to get into the garbage pits. They used to capture them and truck them far enough away from the base so they wouldn?t come back. Several of the local GIs who had experience with them would tie knots in one end of a short length of Manila rope so it could be swung as a weapon. They would get down in the pit and when the hogs came near, they would whack them across the face as close to their eyes as possible. A few whacks and they had all the aggressiveness beat out of them. Then they'd rope them, haul them up, put them into the back of a truck and off they went. In retrospect, I wonder why as guys training for war they didn?t just shoot them, but I guess the Army (or at least whoever was in charge) had its reasons.
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Dumpster diving, giant hog style:
https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2018/02/12/Shocked-witness-films-massive-boar-king-eating-from-dumpster/7951518447568/
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I'm surprised that sow didn't knock the dumpster over. I'm also shocked that they've got wild boar in Hong Kong. You'd think the people would've squeezed them all out by now.
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More wild boar in the Far East:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/japanese-towns-struggle-to-deal-with-an-influx-of-new-arrivals-wild-boars/2018/03/05/59af237e-1722-11e8-930c-45838ad0d77a_story.html?utm_term=.c15a2625a863
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With reports of boars rampaging through the ghost towns around the Fukushima plant, some people worry if the animals are becoming radioactive
LOL. Yes I'd be worried too. Probably worse would be the mutations down the generations.
Status report from here: No wild hogs spotted in the area today, or since we moved here in 2014. I'm keeping a look-out though. Plenty of black bears, no wild pigs as yet.
If they start showing up I will upgrade our arsenal (a 1940's .22 I've never bothered to load let alone fire). I will also put the DIY pig roaster, made from an old fuel oil tank we got for a few bucks on craigslist, into service.
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Everything old is New again
https://youtu.be/j_HPxFg8V-g
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Thanks, Kokomo for the link to the interesting article. I also read the linked article in the WaPo story:
https://tinyurl.com/ycm24o6h
And by chance there was one on Fukushima in today's SA Daily Digest:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/clearing-the-radioactive-rubble-heap-that-was-fukushima-daiichi-7-years-on/
And NG had an article on Chernobyl a while back:
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/060418-chernobyl-wildlife-thirty-year-anniversary-science/
Sorry for the thread drift, but it's not totally unrelated to the problems in Japan and the effects on wild boars and other animals in the area affected by the Fukushima reactor meltdown.
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Everything old is New again
Indeed. I watched the whole thing. Good to see some high production values from Nat Geo, who have gone downhill in my estimation in recent years. My estimation is based on the crassness of their website.
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It's been a while, so...
https://globalnews.ca/news/4892187/theo-800-pound-pig/
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It never gets old! Along similar lines, maybe an Almiqui update might be in order...
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Hi Eric:
I check from time-to-time, but I haven't seen anything in several years. My guess is that most articles written about the species would appear in journals, and perhaps in Spanish. I'll keep looking though.
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Just in time for Christmas:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/16/science/feral-pigs-canada-texas.html
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We had a rash of horse slashings. At first folks though there was some evil person out there going after the horses but when the law enforcement folks looked into it they found it was the work of wild hogs. This is on the NC/SC border around I-26. A fellow at a local jam said they sent their horses out of the area. So they are getting to be more of a problem all of the time.
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While we've been hunkered down, they've continued their ways:
https://www.theyucatantimes.com/2020/09/wild-pig-population-in-the-us-is-growing-at-an-extraordinarily-rapid-pace/
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I'm pretty sure I saw Feral Swine Bomb open for the Dead.
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Gotta admit 'Feral Swine Bomb' is a great name for a band.
Stuart, many thanks for keeping us apprised of this developing situation. And I'm so glad that Texas does not stand alone.
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While we're on the subject of band names, how about the "Borneo Bat Hawks?" They are a species of hawk that preys on bats and lives in Borneo. I saw them featured on a PBS nature show last night.
When I first saw the photo in the feral pig article, I swore the pig in front was laughing.
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Giant Hog/Radioactive Hybrid Terror Pig update:
https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/01/radioactive_hybrid_terror_pigs_fukushima/ (https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/01/radioactive_hybrid_terror_pigs_fukushima/)
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Yikes!
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Folks we have dodged the bullet again:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2021/nov/24/the-swine-bomb-is-2021-the-year-wild-hogs-take-over-the-world
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Folks we have dodged the bullet again:
It's still early...
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Lol... this is a great topic.
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There is hope. I know folks who eat them. I have eaten them and they are delicious.
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I have eaten them and they are delicious.
That's what the pigs are saying about us.
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I have eaten them and they are delicious.
That's what the pigs are saying about us.
It's man eat pig or pig eat man!
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I have eaten them and they are delicious.
That's what the pigs are saying about us.
It's man eat pig or pig eat man!
Let the punishment fit the crime.
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Personally, I'm "rooting" for the pigs. I think the rest of the world will do so much better with pigs as the dominant species. Humans are so ... piggish. And pigs, actually, are not. Ah, but then, "absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Wax
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So true. Up to a point. That point is when you're walking through the woods and happen upon a mother and her babies. Better have a shotgun, running shoes or fast ATV. Preferably all three. And a smoker.
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From today's NYT:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/01/us/pigs-san-francisco-california.html
"They are tearing up lawns, ripping through golf course fairways, threatening the drinking water and disturbing the harvests at Napa vineyards."
Is nothing sacred? The saga continues...
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What has become more apparent with this thread adding to our greater awareness to the feral pig situation, is that they are everywhere! They are easy to find, but as stated above, be ready to defend yourself. They are so adaptable.but at least they haven't crossbred with coyotes, wolves and wild dogs...yet.
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Texas has some advice for California regarding their newly found hog problem. A number of links in the story as well - don't see how we missed most of those.
https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/california-feral-hog-problem/
North America’s first swine arrived in Florida with Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in 1539. He brought thirteen, and within three years there were seven hundred. Fast-forward almost five centuries and now there’s, like, a gajillion wild hogs. The federal government estimates that they do about $2.5 billion in annual damage nationwide. None of this is news to Texans, of course. We’ve been waging war against these porky SOBs for decades.
But there is a group of people for whom the porcine devils are newly a menace: Californians. Residents are so frustrated by the pigs’ exponential population growth, and the damage that population can wreak upon a soccer field or (God forbid) a vineyard in Napa Valley, that a state senator has proposed legislation that would waive the $25 fee required to hunt a feral pig. Welcome to the good fight, Cali.
If what happens here happens there, Californians will likely be failing to put a dent in their pig population for many years to come. So, happy for any opportunity to Texsplain something to the coastal elite, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to draw up a list of suggestions.
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"to Texplain something", very good! And Sid Miller would be hilarious if he wasn't so dangerous.
I've been researching how close to NYS the porcine hoards have got. Shocked to find they're here already, introduced by people with hunting reserves that quickly found pigs are master escape artists.
The funny thing with the law here is people aren't allowed to hunt them except on said reserves, and also farmers etc with a "nuisance permit" can take them out. Hunting is big here, it could put a big dent in the population. However, the thinking at NYS DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) is that encouraging hunters encourages pigs being brought into the state for hunting. Which is how they got here in the first place. Sort of a "circular firing squad" situation. :)
I understand the logic was correct a few years back, but these days anyone releasing a pig here risks getting lynched by the locals, who no longer think of bacon and chops when considering feral pigs. There's plenty of information available these days to dispel any such sporting- or culinary notions. As such, it should be open season on them I reckon. The crossfire would be intense.
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And a good summation as well re: our future verlords: "Feral hogs might be better leaders than our current politicians."
Sid Miller, lord I miss jim Hightower. I am surprised author Emily did not include his phrase "Pork-chopping" for shooting hogs from a helicopter.
Oudads are a big problem in south texas. And these exotic game ranches are off the charts. Re:Ox Ranch -- you can hunt exotic endangered species and in your down time, drive around in vintage army tanks. Sounds like Disneyland doesn't it?
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...As such, it should be open season on them I reckon. The crossfire would be intense.
Jeez--And I was thinking of following #6: "Infiltrate." Now I'm going to wear body armor under my hog suit. The horror!
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Interesting the way this thread has evolved from being about individual hogs that had grown to gigantic sizes into being about the numbers of wild hogs being gigantic. Or maybe that would be better characterized as "almost interesting".
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You Texans think you know what a big pig is? Hah!
I lived in Taiwan for five years (Stuart spent many years there, too). One spring I was invited by my Chinese language teacher to visit her home village, one of four that trade off a regional agricultural festival every year. Regardless of where the festival is held, a major highlight is the "biggest pig contest." For a farmer to win this contest is a dream come true--hog heaven, I suppose.
Here's the winner from 1998:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znBzfCV8iOU
Grunt. Snort.
Lindy
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Interesting the way this thread has evolved from being about individual hogs that had grown to gigantic sizes into being about the numbers of wild hogs being gigantic. Or maybe that would be better characterized as "almost interesting".
Well then I guess it's evolved to reflect everything we've learned about the massive problem these things are if they move to your town, no matter what size they are. It's a problem that's growing exponentially anually, maybe even faster, I don't have the numbers. "Almost interesting", you think? Perhaps we can just abandon the countryside and barricade ourselves behind city walls. Naturally, the pigs will just dig under them. Think about it Johnm, they're within 40 miles of my farm, and probably digging up Slack's garden sooner or later.
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I wasn't commenting on the proliferation of wild pigs as being "almost interesting", Rivers, but rather my boring observation on the thread's changes over time.
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Well then I apologize for misinterpreting the thrust of your post. Since this long running thread is on the
Unwound Third Jam Session board, where things are a little more loose, naturally things will evolve to reflect the concerns of the times. Gigantic pigs are currently less interesting to us, who live "out beyond the black stump" (as kiwis would say), than the prospect of getting gored by one or more on a spring walk in the woods. I'm not about to start carrying a .45 with me on those jaunts, I want the risk reduced.
I'm fairly pissed at the idiots who caused this environmental catastrophe, all for their own hunting pleasure. Doesn't mean we can't continue marveling at the giant hog stories. They are not mutually exclusive.
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Hi all,
Here's a way to deal with the problem, at least with regard to the offspring of the wild pigs:
https://youtu.be/oa5-YIXSe_4
All best,
Johnm
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Fascinating. The bicycle wheel seem superfluous, but on the other hand I have never successfully trapped a pig.
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Hog Update:
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/feral-hogs-cocaine-italy-911863/
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Seems like a day doesn't go by...
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/15/science/invasive-species-pigs-crocodiles.html
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Problem solved!
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What's next?
https://www.npr.org/2023/01/20/1150270579/toadzilla-cane-toad-australia-record-largest
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Stuart I thought about posting that article, but got distracted, so thanks for posting, perfect. Ha!
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What's next? Super Pigs:
https://www.fieldandstream.com/conservation/canada-wild-pig-population-explosion/ (https://www.fieldandstream.com/conservation/canada-wild-pig-population-explosion/)
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It keeps me thinking about smoked pork ribs. Maybe not enough fat on them...but I wonder if anyone has tried this hybrid for pork ribs. heh
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Slack, are there Javelinas down your way? Saw a squadron of them at Bosque Del Apache last week.
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Yes, we have some in the Franklin mountains, many more are in south Texas however. Love Bosque del Apache - assume the sandhill cranes were still hanging out?
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They're still there, along with the Snow Geese, fewer than last year. Heading back down on Thursday.
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They've made the cover of Texas Monthly... again!
Apocalypse Sow: Can Anything Stop the Feral Hog Invasion?
https://www.texasmonthly.com/archives/#current
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Well Slack, I hope they don't start moving north. Gotta give them credit though, for defeating "a heavily armed Ted Nugent."
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Stuart, do I sense a case of "topic drift" ... moving from giant/wild hogs, destroying everything in their path, to snapping turtles?
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I think "thread crawl" might be more appropriate in this case. I do think that we might be better served by creating a separate topic so the giant hogs and wild pigs don't feel encroached upon. (How would you like it??!!) I'll do it and let the moderators modify it as you see fit.
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I'm just teasing you Stuart... leave the snapping turtle. If we get a menagerie we'll just change the topic title! ;)
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Exploding hogs headed for the US Border:
https://nypost.com/2023/11/22/news/exploding-wild-pig-population-on-western-canadian-prairie-threatens-to-invade-northern-us-state/ (https://nypost.com/2023/11/22/news/exploding-wild-pig-population-on-western-canadian-prairie-threatens-to-invade-northern-us-state/)
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Wild pigs to the north! Wild pigs to the south! Wild pigs to the east! Wild pigs to the west! We're surrounded by assassins! Oh, the humanity!!
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Texas wishes Minnesota, North Dakota and Montana much luck!