Misconceptions About Wild Hogs Hamper Control

More Michigan citizens are learning the hard way about the destructive nature of wild hogs. Since wild hogs started escaping from game ranches and related facilities about 10 years ago, the animals have been roaming the state mostly in bands of six to 20. They have caused crop damage and torn up lawns searching for grubs. Citizens who have seen the damage in Michigan or in other states readily understand why every effort should be made to eliminate wild hogs.

But despite considerable news coverage about wild hogs, legislators and the general public still don't seem to get it. There are several important misconceptions that hamper our ability to shut off the faucet leaking the invasive species into Michigan and to remove the estimated 3,000 to 5,000 wild hogs already roaming our state.

Many people seem to think it's somebody else's problem, that none of the wild hogs are in their areas. Even where wild hogs have been confirmed and have caused damage in the past, one frequently hears comments like, "Yeah, there were some here a few years ago, but somebody must have shot them because I haven't seen any or their signs in a long time."

In reality, Michigan's hogs are nomadic, moving as far as 50 miles in a few weeks. They move out of many areas in response to hunting pressure, especially during the gun deer season from November 15 to the end of December. But unless you live deep in a city, if the wild hog population continues to grow, wild hogs will be coming to a neighborhood near you. Cases in point include the wild boar that showed up on a popular hiking/jogging trail in a suburban area in Oakland County and the two wild hogs that chased a little girl in Ann Arbor in Washtenaw County. Wild hogs are not just a problem "out in the boondocks." A major problem experienced in other states is that a wild hog population in the early stages of expansion will tend to occupy lots of scattered areas but at densities too low to attract much attention. Then a few years later, sseemingly all of a sudden, you have a whole state full of hogs. In Michigan, wild hogs had been confirmed in 12 counties in 2004. Now in 2010, wild hogs have been confirmed in 69 of our state's 83 counties. None of the 69 counties has a huge population of wild hogs at any given time, but the stage has been set.

Another problem is that many people think the wild hogs running around Michigan are domestic pigs escaped from traditional farms. They are often shocked to find out that the wild hogs roaming and reproducing in Michigan are full or part Russian wild boars of Eurasian strains. The wild hogs were brought into game ranches and raising facilities from Canada and other places precisely because they show differences from their domestic cousins. The wild hogs tend to be taller at the shoulder, leaner, meaner, and faster. They will readily interbreed with domestic pigsÑthey are the same species and the domestic strains were developed from wild boar stock. So, there are lots of hybrids around, too. But Michigan's population of wild hogs includes a lot of animals very close to the classic Russian wild boar.

Another big misconception is that wild hogs are pretty much vegetarians. Actually, they will eat anything and are voracious predators and livestock killers. In Florida, wild hogs readily kill and eat newborn calves—this is a big problem on the cattle ranches in the south-central part of that state. Wild hogs have even been known to kill cows weakened from giving birth. In Australia, wild hogs of the very same type we have in Michigan take up to 40 percent of young sheep in some high production areas. In part of Texas wild hogs killed so many young, that the Angora goat industry had to be shut down there. And in Hawaii, wild hogs feed heavily on goats and even wild sheep that live high in the mountains.

In temperate, wooded states, wild hogs easily scent and kill newborn deer fawns. They also take a toll on ground-nesting birds, although there is little information on how much the wild hogs impact turkeys, grouse, pheasants, and other game species. Many studies have shown that wild hogs have devastated local populations of rare birds in the South. Even buried eggs of turtles and other reptiles and amphibians are not safe from wild hogs. Wild hog predation on such species in Florida and South Carolina is significant.

Michigan citizens need to get educated in a hurry about wild hogs. The species has a global track record of destruction that is well documented on the Internet and in the scientific literature. If we don't want to become yet another demonstration area for the wild hog, we need to ban wild hogs from being imported to or raised in our state and get serious about removing the ones already in the wild. We can't afford not to.

Dr. Patrick J. Rusz
Director of Wildlife Programs