They're also a problem in Delaware county. For those of you interested in hunting hogs, I found this article:
Sullivan on alert for wild pigs Vicious hogs escaped from hunting camps Text Size: | |
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ShareThis Photo 1 of 2 | Zoom Photo + Hancock farmer Peter Andersen says wild pigs ate 11 acres of his corn crop this year – a loss of $10,000. And the feral pigs could transmit disease to domesticated ones. A pig killed along the Sullivan border recently tested positive for a disease called pseudorabies.DAVID DOONAN/For the Times Herald-Record By Times Herald-Record Published: 2:00 AM - 10/01/11 HANCOCK — Peter Andersen's latest encounter with vicious pigs came early one September night when he pulled his truck into the driveway.
In the woods across from his farmhouse, Andersen could see a 300-pound hog rooting for food. The third-generation farmer ran into his house, grabbed his German sniper rifle and fired one 8 mm round into the pig's side.
The pig ran a short distance and dropped dead. Loud squeals echoed across the hills as roughly 30 other pigs sprinted away. Andersen shot again and again.
Hog encounters Hunters with small-game licenses are encouraged to kill hogs. There is no season on hogs, which means they can be shot anytime. Basic hunting rules still apply, so do not shoot them within 500 feet of a home, business, school, etc.
Wildlife experts also want to hear about your hog sightings. Call the DEC Bureau of Wildlife at 518-402-8862.
In two minutes, he fired nine shots and killed eight pigs. He also proved two points:
"I'm a very good shot," Andersen said with a serious chuckle, "and these animals need to be destroyed."
Feral hogs are an emerging problem here on the western rim of Sullivan County, where experts say they pose a threat to crops, livestock and human safety. A 2010 study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed wild boar sightings at eight locations in Sullivan County, including Bethel, Callicoon and Fremont.
Andersen alone has killed upward of 30 feral hogs over the past five years.
Most of the wild hogs are Russian boars. The largest of them grow to be 400 pounds, with razor-sharp tusks that can measure 3 inches or longer. Such hogs are so numerous and destructive in places like Florida and Texas that people who chase and hunt them have their own reality TV show called "American Hoggers."
The fearless hogs have already killed one dog in New York and chased several hunters through the woods.
"It's a safety concern," said Trish Westenbroek, livestock educator for Sullivan's Cornell Cooperative Extension. "Most people don't realize just how vicious these hogs really are."
Escapes from hunting campsFeral hogs are not native to New York. Wildlife experts said the pigs have escaped over the years from hunting camps that import and breed exotic animals for visitors to hunt on large, fenced-off preserves.
That includes a camp called Pond Ridge Hunts, which breeds the boars in Bethel and Hancock. Preserve owner Zbyszek Trunirz acknowledged that the pestilent hogs on Andersen's farm belonged to his company. He said fallen trees broke the fences on his property, allowing the pigs to get loose.
New York does not regulate feral hogs. It also stopped trapping and killing the pigs in 2009 because the effort was too costly. Current control efforts are limited to the USDA and local hunters and farmers, but experts believe state authorities must plug the regulatory gap before more swine escape and begin breeding in the wild.
"It's a growing problem, and we would like to eradicate them from New York," said Kelly Stang, a state Department of Environmental Conservation wildlife biologist.
"But until the source of them is plugged up, it's silly to be spending millions of dollars on a trapping program."
Feral hogs are already breeding in the wild in central New York.
Despite reports of sows and piglets in Sullivan County, it's still unclear whether they're reproducing here.
Path of destructionIt is clear that they're causing trouble. The voracious boars are known for tearing apart lawns and devouring crops. One herd ate 11 acres of Andersen's corn this year — a loss of $10,000. Westenbroek said one also entered a commercial pig farm near Jeffersonville in 2008 and cut a sow with its tusks.
Disease is a concern. A pig killed along the Sullivan County border recently tested positive for a disease called pseudorabies, which can spread among pigs and kill entire herds by preventing reproduction.
"If that disease gets into commercial pork farms, it would essentially shut them all down," Stang said. Pseudorabies does not affect humans.
The USDA has set up cameras on land along the New York-Pennsylvania border to track and trap the pigs. Landowners like Andersen, meanwhile, are holding onto their guns with fingers crossed.
"If they find out these hogs are actually breeding out there, then we're in trouble," he said. "But for right now we've got hope."
abosch@th-record.com
