David Prendergast , loved agriculture at his house in the small , Miramar , creation that borders the Everglades. Finally, one day in May, he discovered that his vegetation had been ruined and his plants had been sown.
Although Prendergast felt for the animals, a family of wild hogs had also visited his home over the previous few days, as have other people ‘ meadows in various disorganized says, causing panic in the neighborhood.
” I guess they’re hungry”, he told the , South Florida Sun Sentinel , on Friday, a couple of weeks after the fear had subsided. ” And they’re displaced based on the development that’s going on in our area”.
As their numbers continue to grow rapidly, wild hogs, an aggressive species that Spanish settlers first introduced to Florida in the 1500s, have then appeared in at least 35 states. This raises the threat of a devastating people explosion known as the “feral pig bomb.”
The animals are the biggest threat to agriculture because they play catch in the soil, rot, and eat corn, which is their favorite crop. However, other problems loom on the horizon: Across the lake, wild pigs carry a deadly disease that could destroy the , U. S.  , meat market. In addition, growing numbers of pigs and the expansion of once-wildland development create more probable for ruinous gardens and unique, but still possible, attacks on humans.
” Sadly the only option we have right now is devastating removal”, said John Mayer, a research professor and director at the , Savannah River National Laboratory , in , South Carolina , who has been studying exotic animals for over 40 years. ” A lot of people do n’t believe there’s such thing as a pig- proof fence”.
State like , Florida , and , Texas  , have huge borne the brunt of the wild pig issue and struggled to manage it as the condition grows more grave nationwide. Officials have incentivized hunters by instituting few restrictions, and people have followed — by helicopter, drone, machine gun and various combinations of the three — all year long. Yet some, including hunters themselves, question whether the approach is overkill, especially in areas where the animals are a vital food source.
” Agencies have created this scenario where they want to eliminate the wild hog”, said Bishop , Wright Jr., a longtime hunter based in , West Palm Beach. It has been successful in eradicating the wild hog and eradicating it, not to keep the hog.
” Praying to God”
Craig Greene , rarely feared for his life when he trapped wild pigs, at least until a day in 2008 when he was sure he was going to get eaten alive.
In a rural DeSoto County field, the veteran animal trapper was attempting to bait a trap in a cow field. But when he opened his sour corn, the pigs ran out of the woods, taking him off guard. He had no choice but to enter his own, approximately 3 feet-high trap. Greene is 6- foot- 2.
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After the cowboys had already passed that day, Greene had cautioned everyone else against going out there. No one arrived to save him.
” I’m on my hands and knees, praying to God”, he told the , South Florida Sun Sentinel. ” I did n’t have a pocket knife or nothing to protect myself”.
Eventually, after what felt like several hours, the hogs wandered off and Greene made it home alive, though as he walked, he could n’t be too sure they were n’t just waiting in the trees for the right moment to pounce.
” I know when they kill you, they’ll eat you while you’re screaming”, he said. ” I’d rather get eaten by an alligator”.
Though rare, wild pig attacks outnumber all species of shark attack combined. The risk for dangerous interactions increases as the pig population grows and people establish new lands where the hogs once roamed free.
” They’ve been here for 200 years and now everywhere they go they’re getting pushed out”, Greene said. ” They’re doing so much major construction. Because the gated development faces a preserve, pigs are now appearing in people’s yards.
Hogs love acorns, so anyone who builds a house around an oak tree can expect a visit, he added. They often are n’t scared of people.
” I’ve had phone calls like,’ Oh my God, I’m in my car right now, this pig is slamming his head up against my truck,'” Greene said.” ‘ Come help me.'”
A pig was on the loose in a hotel parking lot and slammed itself into cars one time, prompting the police to call him.
Recent hog sightings have worried residents across , Florida, where the pigs now exist in all 67 counties.  , Sarasota County, where Greene lives, has some of the biggest problems, he said, along with , Charlotte , and , Arcadia. The pigs prefer the inland areas in the middle of the state, from , Clewiston , to the sugarcane fields in , Belle Glade.
A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman said in a text message that” there are a number of factors that contribute to wild hog reports from the public.” ” Seasonal food availability/mast production, year- round reproduction, and increased human population in , Florida , resulting in more people living in areas near ranging wild hogs are large contributors to wild hog observations and/or observed evidence of wild hog damage”.
In , Flagler County, marauding wild pigs became so widespread earlier this year that officials , created a feral hog dashboard , for sightings, according to the Daytona Beach News- Journal.
” This quality of life has been severely dampened by the chronic anxiety, fear, anger and exasperation felt by our residents” , , Nancy Crouch, a resident of the Grand Haven development in , Flagler County, said during a county workshop. ” … I do n’t want to be in the news for, you know, not doing anything about feral hogs that are attacking humans”.
Drones, helicopters, and automatic rifles spell danger for pigs
Still, when it’s a matter of life or death, humans pose a far greater threat to pigs than hogs could ever pose to humans.
In , Texas, people can sign up to shoot the pigs with automatic rifles from moving helicopters. In , Mississippi, legislators have proposed a bill this year that would allow , the use of drones , to hunt hogs. In , Florida, the wildlife commission requires no license to hunt them. There is no offseason, and most places do not have bag or size limits. Because they are plentiful and make for easy, accessible prey, killing hogs has long been a rite of passage for young hunters in the area.
YouTube videos of people spraying hogs with bullets from helicopters or taking them out with military-grade snipers have received millions of views in recent years thanks to the internet. Last week, a popular streamer named” Tfue” was lambasted online for livestreaming himself hunting pigs in , Florida. In the video, a pig, squealing in pain, can be seen running away after he shoots it multiple times.
” I feel bad”, Tfue says, then laughs. ” You want to spear him dude? I do n’t want him to suffer”.
Later, to defend himself, the streamer , posted on X a list of problems , the hogs pose to , Florida.
A hunter himself,  , Wright Jr. worries that killing pigs indiscriminately, along with the rise of predators like the Burmese python, could upset the natural balance in places like South Florida’s Everglades where they are a vital part of the food chain. He wishes that authorities for wildlife could relocate the hogs to areas where they have been overhunted.
” When I was a kid, hogs were everywhere down , South Florida , way”, said , Wright Jr.” The panthers and the snakes have pretty much decimated the hog population. Not that there is a bag or size cap for the snakes or the panthers.
He added,” There’s hardly any hogs due to all three predators, man being one of them”.
Although it is common, Mayer contends that using traps and euthanizing is the best way to actually reduce the number of pigs.
Hunting does n’t capture enough of these animals in a given year to keep populations low, he said. For hunting to be successful, these things simply crank out too many little feet annually.
The extent to which hunting has reduced wild pig populations in , Florida , is unclear. A representative for the wildlife commission did not respond to inquiries about their numbers or whether they had decreased in some areas.
The damage to the economy both in , Florida , and nationwide is real. In order to knock over trees or eat the saplings, farmers have hired Greene to remove pigs from orange groves. Nationally, wild hogs are estimated to cause$ 1.5 billion in economic damages per year, according to the , U. S Department of Agriculture. And while some areas may benefit from a hog or two, research has shown that they have overwhelmingly destroyed , Florida , ecosystems and habitats while competing with native species.
Meanwhile, a disease the wild pigs spread called African Swine Fever has wrought havoc in , Asia , over the last few years and could devastate the U. S. pork industry if it ever crossed the ocean.
” It’s the ultimate kiss of death for pigs”, said Mayer. ” If it ever got into this country the way it spread through Eurasia, it would be the death knell of , U. S.  , pork industry. You would n’t be able to buy bacon anymore”.
Scientists are working on less violent solutions, like oral contraceptives, but” they have n’t really cracked that nut yet”, Mayer said, because they do n’t know how that might affect the predators who eat the pigs.
Wild hog cuisine has also become more desirable, at least for some people. Greene has clients in , Miami , who buy his pigs to cook around Christmas or , Thanksgiving, sometimes 50 at a time.
There are” a lot more wild boar dishes in restaurants right now,” said Mayer. However, we wo n’t “boil our way out of this.”
A true pig- proof fence may not exist, but a reinforced fence has brought peace to Prendergast ‘s , Miramar , neighborhood, at least for now. Word is that the hogs, who he thinks are a mother, father and child, have wandered off to terrorize nearby communities.
Prendergast enjoys watching the birds on the lake across from his home in his free time. He wishes for every 1 acre of developed land to be divided between 2 acres of wild land and 2 acres of developed land. He does n’t have too much ill will toward the pigs. But he’s glad they’re gone.
” Those guys, they can do damage, I’ll tell you that”, Prendergast said. ” They can do damage”.
©2024 South Florida Sun Sentinel. Visit , sun- sentinel.com. Distributed by , Tribune Content Agency LLC.
