Not Exactly a Fine Pig-Me-Up

 

Mutated Canadian feral/wild boar… are heading to/probably already in the United States… in droves. These super-pigs have been found in several states… and are reproducing at a horrific rate, destroying domestic crops and livestock, tearing up the land and taking over. According to the US Department of Agriculture: “Feral swine are not native to the Americas. They were first brought to the United States in the 1500s by early explorers and settlers as a source of food. Free-range livestock management practices and escapes from enclosures led to the first establishment of feral swine populations within the United States. In the 1900s, the Eurasian or Russian wild boar was introduced into parts of the United States for the purpose of sport hunting. Today, feral swine are a combination of escaped domestic pigs, Eurasian wild boars, and hybrids of the two.”

Feral hogs are one thing (we already have them in 35 states… see above map), but these evolved, rather large, furry super-pigs are now coming into the United States like an angry Mongol Horde. Pigs are among the most intelligent animals (sorry dog and cat lovers), and they are wildly adaptable. This big new breed has even taken to building “pigloos” to endure the freezing Canadian winters (see photo above).

Who are these beasts and why did it take so long for these nasty and huge oinkers to reproduce to this level? Steve Karnowski, writing for the November 25th Associated Press, explains: “In Canada, the wild pigs roaming Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba pose a new threat. They are often crossbreeds that combine the survival skills of the wild Eurasian boar with the size and high fertility of domestic swine to create a ‘super pig’ that’s spreading out of control.

“Ryan Brook, a professor at the University of Saskatchewan and one of Canada’s leading authorities on the problem, calls feral swine ‘the most invasive animal on the planet’ and ‘an ecological train wreck.’… Though [pigs and boars have] roamed parts of the [North American] continent for centuries, Canada’s [super-pig] problem dates back only to the 1980s when it encouraged farmers to raise wild boar, Brook said. The market collapsed after peaking in 2001, and some frustrated farmers simply cut their fences, setting the animals free.

“It turned out that the pigs were very good at surviving Canadian winters. [T]hey eat anything, including crops and wildlife. They tear up land when they root for bugs and crops. They can spread devastating diseases such as African swine fever to hog farms. And they reproduce quickly. A sow can have six piglets in a litter and raise two litters in a year.

“That means 65% or more of a wild pig population could be killed every year and it will still increase, Brook said. Hunting just makes the problem worse, he said. The success rate for hunters is only about 2% to 3%, and several states have banned hunting because it makes the pigs more wary and nocturnal — tougher to track down and eradicate…. [Ordinary w]ild pigs already cause around $2.5 billion in damage to U.S. crops every year, mostly in southern states like Texas.”

These bigger super-pigs pose an even bigger threat. It’s not as if they are cute critters that you want to run up and pet. They are true omnivores and can hunt and kill as well. And yes, they are even aggressive to humans, and there is even a recorded fatal attack from an ordinary wild pig in Texas in 2019. But these new oversized super-pigs are badder, stronger and more daring than anything we are used to.

“Eradication of wild pigs is no longer possible in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Brook said. But the situation isn’t hopeless everywhere, and a few U.S. states have eliminated them. The key, he said, is having a detection system that finds them early and fast, and then responding quickly.

“Brook and his colleagues have documented 62,000 wild pig sightings in Canada. Their aerial surveys have spotted them on both sides of the Canada-North Dakota border. They’ve also recorded a sighting within 18 miles of Minnesota… ‘Nobody should be surprised when pigs start walking across that border if they haven’t already,’ Brook said. ‘The question is: What will be done about it?’

“Brook said Montana has been the most serious about keeping wild pigs out. It banned raising and transporting wild pigs within the state. ‘The only path forward is you have to be really aggressive and you have to use all the tools in the toolbox,’ he said… That could include big ground traps with names like ‘BoarBuster’ or net guns fired from helicopters. Some states and provinces embrace crowdsourced ‘Squeal on Pigs’ tracking programs. Scientists also have studied poisons such as sodium nitrite, but their use risks harming other species.

“Minnesota is among the states trying to prevent the swine from taking hold. The state’s Department of Natural Resources is identifying gaps in its management plan and seeking new prevention steps. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is using aircraft and drones to beef up [argh!] surveillance along the northern border.” AP. Invasive pest control can be cruel, but not attempting to contain them could decimate US agriculture.

I’m Peter Dekom, and this massing group of undocumented porcine aliens crossing a largely unmonitored US border just might pose a greater threat than the hordes of desperate people amassed on our southern border.