"Super pigs" — called the "most invasive animal on the planet" — threaten to invade northern U.S.

MicroWave@lemmy.world to News@lemmy.world – 391 points – "Super pigs" — called the "most invasive animal on the planet" — threaten to invade northern U.S.
cbsnews.com

An exploding population of hard-to-eradicate "super pigs" in Canada is threatening to spill south of the border, and northern states like Minnesota, North Dakota and Montana are taking steps to stop the invasion.

In Canada, the wild pigs roaming Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba pose a new threat. They are often crossbreeds that combine the survival skills of wild Eurasian boars 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."

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The most invasive animal on the planet.

I think humans win that trophy.

To be fair, we are behind the whole invasive species thing

"Who is more invasive? The invasive species or the invasive species who imported it?" -- Obi Wan Swinobi

Yeah, way into the planetary infestation phase too, and already triggered the 6th mass extinction event.

We should handle it the same way we treat invasive animals 🙂

At least they sound like a viable game animal. Invasive species to you, 100lbs of free pork for Billy out in the woods. We use it to control deer populations from exploding in certain areas where we've removed the top predator though, and we just kinda take its place. Can potentially help with any animal that has the misfortune of being both tasty and economical to go out and hunt for.

Won't eradicate them or anything, but will help keep them in check. It's a facet of that old alliance between hunters/fishermen and environmental activists.

Unfortunately they'll still see population growth....

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.

They are clever animals. You have to play the long con if you want to deal with their populations. Ive seen things where they actually feed them and gradually pen them in and the liquidate the whole drove.

My family in GA does a lot of this. They are farmers & have been successful in keeping feral hogs out of their fields. Hunting & trapping absolutely does work, you just have to know what the hell you're doing.

I shoulda opened the article instead of just reading the synopsis. That is concerning.

I'll point out though, that since it's a new prey animal to the area, it will take time for the locals to learn how to hunt it effectively. It's behavior needs to be learned first, so effective approaches can be devised.

But ... delicious, economical and challenging is also something a hunter might find interesting.

All the more bacon! And something useful to do for all those trigger-happy Americans.

People have been setting up cages with bait and trapping them by the dozens.

You're blowing this way out of proportion.

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Just declare open season and no bag limit on pigs in all northern states. I guarantee you all the Bubbas and outdoorsmen will take care of it.

They're not able to keep up with the breeding in Texas, and there's even helicopter tours where you can try and wipe out whole herds at a time.

I have seen this in Louisiana, too. They will use helicopters(I even saw one mounted with a light machine gun) and gun down hundreds at a time. It still isn't enough, and they have a lot of Bubbas down there hunting them in one way or another.

To your point, I ran across this video of an eradication attempt. Insane numbers being killed but they keep coming.

This is already the case in Saskatchewan and it hasn't managed to curb the population.

Right, under Canadian gun laws, so they're plinking them with bolt action .308s

Wait til SuperPork wanders into AR country...

Actually, some states ban hunting with AR-15's because the round isn't deadly enough for a clean kill.

My smart-assed comparison:

https://imgur.com/a/kolUESz

But to be fair, if you want to engage multiple targets, the AR is far more controllable.

In many states it is, not just northern. Iirc Texas will pay you to take an AR into a field and take out as many as you can. People even organize hunts from helicopters hunting herds like they should have Fortunate Son playing (no full auto though just ARs and typically BYOAR and ammo iirc.)

These are super pigs, we'll need an upgrade.

AR-15-2 when?

Well, you'd just increase the calibre. AR-10, technically a predecessor.

It's actually pretty easy to find AR-15s in larger calibers, modular design for the win I guess.

For example, with a little bit of work you can have them fire these fellas

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/.50_Beowulf

Okay, actually a lot of work, including probably having to do your own reloading, but still.

For sure but I'd still take .308 over one of those proprietary calibers. Or 6.5 grendel if I can't pick .308.

But you can find AR-15s in .308!

Well you'd need an AR-10 lower, upper, BCG, dust cover, barrel, barrel nut, handguard, bolt catch, gas block, buffer weight, lpk, mag catch (unless DPMS AR-10, they fit the AR-15 mag catch), and muzzle device, making it an AR-10.

The triggers, hammers, stocks, grips, tubes, mag rel buttons, and safties are interchangable though, yes.

How!? Why!? It's meat. There shouldn't be a surplus of meat.

Guns, invasive, and well they breed in surplus so talk to the boars.

I am just shocked. The South is pretty freaken good at authentic BBQ and they have a wild boar problem. Can't you guys just like eat them all?

I mean it isn't like none get eaten, just not all of them. It isn't just regular hunting, it's basically an Emu War but instead of the Aus military it's militias of angry farmers tired of hogs tearing up their crops.

They reach maturity fast, are basically always fertile, short gestational periods, and have large litters. It's like trying to eradicate mice/rats by shooting them.

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Cody and the people at Some More News have been warning us for YEARS of this menace: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkJemc4T5NYZRH_2kTRBKeYVf6mmx0lQK&si=-A-aUBoR8svt17W2

More like... Some Boar News!

I think we’ve categorically shown that indeed, always some boar news.

I can hear him screaming now incoherently as he chugs his wet juice down his glug hole. The poor ignored hero we all didnt deserve.

Do they not taste good or something?

No, Thėy təste aɓSlutelƴ awefull!

-Sined, Not Ae Pig

REEEEE! Absholuutely, what thish guy RRRREEEEEEE shaid.. Tashtes like sssshhiiit..

I've seen a little video on them. Apparently their meat is not good for consumption and tastes horrible due to their diet. But I've never tried super pig before, so right now it's only speculation.

Apparently their meat is not good for consumption and tastes horrible due to their diet

I wonder how much selection pressure humans are applying in favour of this trait, since it's the ultimate defence against human predation . One of the best defences that Canada geese have is that they taste terrible too.

If they are anything like the wild boars in Texas they are incredibly gamey, which some people don't mind and others can't stand. I'm sure that there is a way to prepare them that makes them more palletable

and we all made fun of that 30-50 feral hogs guy

truly we were the fools all along

No, we made fun of the fact that the dude was imagining himself going full Doom through an ocean of pig blood to reach his kids on the other side.

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I love problems we can eat our way out of... if we almost wiped out the buffalo these little shits shouldn't be an issue.

Buffalo weren't eaten to almost extinction. And they don't give birth to 10 calves at a time.

I almost wish they were eaten to death, they were actually left to rot on the plains ...

A problem I've heard with them is that they're super smart. You trap one boar in a bear trap or something and that's the only boar you're catching from that region with that same type of trap.

Super-pigs threatening to invade America?

I knew all that military spending would come in handy

What are chances US loses the North American Boar War?

100 %. Well, probably it'll become sort of a frozen conflict and a steady income for the ammunition industry, sort of a lose (US) — lose (boars) — win (ammunition industry) situation.

The only enemy boars have to fear is influenza.

Can't this be solved in a way where we get tons of super bacon?

Yeah, actually. The regions this will spill into have lots of hunters.

Give a tax break to Hormel, Hillshire Farms, and Oscar Meyer

"most invasive animal on the planet"

Oh, just wait until you find out about humans...

I know this is bad, but I also know I'm not the only one whose first thought was, "super bacon".

Can wild wolves keep them in check? Coyotes seem too small to kill an adult wild pig. (I have no idea.)

The pigs are mainly around agricultural areas. We're on the bare edge of the Canadian prairie (10km from the edge of forest that extends 2500km to the west and however far to the tundra) and we rarely see wolves even here. They aren't really a predator for the Russian boar that are now endemic in our area.

Between the 3 of us here on the farm, we've probably shot (and eaten because they're delicious) about 200 of them over the last 5 or 6 years. And we've knocked them back a bit on our own land, but they just breed over on other people's farms and give ours a wide berth now.

Biggest one we shot was over 500lbs

500 lb wild pig??? Holy shit!

It had tusks on it the length of my hand, and I don't have small hands. Wish I could find the pics, had to get a tractor over to even move it.

Shot a few more in the 200-400 range but most of them have been sub-100lbs, lots of piglets. What I've found is that mom will often push the young out of the bush ahead of her (or the group of mature sows) and wait 15-20 minutes before sticking her nose out. If you wait and pop mom, you can clean up the young as they mill around her.

Sounds cruel, and I get no enjoyment out of killing things (and even less out of having to gut and butcher), but between keeping them in check and putting meat in the freezer of everyone around here, it's been a success. Being Russian boar, it's not like the cold here was going to get them, despite hitting -40 most winters.

I don't consider it cruel as long as the meat is used (except for the young ofc).

But it sounds like you know enough to teach others how to do it right.

One question ... do you have abattoirs or butchers in your area where you take deer/elk/moose for butchering, cause they'd be a big help.

It wouldn't be worth the cost for deer, but there are butchers that will do elk/moose at about $1/lb hung weight. I've only ever done them myself, between my own tags and helping friends/family, I might skin and cut up 20 deer in November, usually with a couple moose and/or elk thrown in. Most of it just gets put into grind, the backstraps and a few roasts for jerky might be taken out, though elk and moose give nice steaks and roasts as well.

Most of the people I know do the same, except all of the deer goes to jerky and sausage ... cause the deer eat too much pine and spruce. lol

What I’ve found is that mom will often push the young out of the bush ahead of her (or the group of mature sows) and wait 15-20 minutes before sticking her nose out.

Sacrificial piglet.

Imagine thinking about a working natural ecosystem (co)existing in the same era as humans, preposterous.

:'(

I'd imagine wolves wouldn't be able to. Predators don't survive by picking hard fights.

Sounds like we need super wolves. Make them bigger, like the ones in Lord of the Rings :)

If it's similar to the boars we have in some areas here, the wolves better bring the whole gang and protective equipment :/

Oh, ok, so like literally, not a title about overseas mutated police force ...

A close one with all them nuclear reactors being hacked to produce, em, hybrids.

The Duke is waiting for the day, until then he waits for his Supply of bubblegum to run out

I'd say we could use Spider-Pig to stop the Super Pigs, but you're not supposed to mix Marvel and D.C.

EDIT: Guess you guys aren't Simpsons fans.

The risk is that if these pigs cross with a hypothetical manbear then we would have an unstoppable being that's half man, half bear, half pig.

Free pork should never be an issue.

It is when it's fucking up everything else and not really free in that they take a lot of effort to find and kill. Pigs are very smart.

Stupid solution suggestion: set up plenty of bait traps that'll cage them. Barbecue ensues.

In Texas we can shoot 'em from helicopters with fully automatic weapons. (Seriously) 🤠

Do you play Panama by Van Halen while you do it? Cause I’m imagining that right now.

Hell yeah, right after Fortunate Son and Ride of the Valkyries

It's one of those things that could really only happen in 'murica 😆

Unless there's a lot of clear view of the herds (not many places for the pigs to hide from sight), that sounds counterproductive. Then again, I really don't know squat about Texas other than stereotypes. Mostly barren desert? What about rocky outcrops?

No rocky outcrops, west Texas is a barren wasteland like you're thinking, but in east Texas, we have some pretty good forest action going on.

I have a pig and they're too smart. You can catch a load of them, but if any get away, and some will, they will not come near that trap again.

If we can wipe out the passenger pigeon, we can surely wipe out some nice tasty pork.

I think we better do what the pigs say guys. The threats sound like they've got a bone to pick with the US.

Where are all those hunters that hunted everything else to extinction when you need them?

They're not even calling them 'Billionaires' anymore. What has the world come to...

Time for an “Eat Pig” campaign!

This is just the plot of the book Termination Shock.

Wait til the meth gators start coming ashire…

I had the same thought but it was the south yeah?

Someone better call Red, the Drone Ranger...

@somemorenews

I was going to get out the big Cody Logo to shine it in the nighttime clouds to alert him, but, then I realized, he already knows.

Do some of these “super pigs” wear capes? I bet some of them can fly.

This helps for sure. And this. Those pesky coyotes seem get along also too well. Time for some harvesting (sic!) and then get out those ARs and gatlings we still have some boar families to massacre.

Yes there are singular cases where wolves can change a whole ecosystem for the good, but what about muh crops and livestock.

The thing that annoys me is that sheep dogs etc al work great! Don't kill the wolves, just give ranchers working dogs.

Poetic justice? History repeats itself.

Hard to eradicate? Some 556 oughtta clean that problem up nicely

That's also what I thought before reading about Texas' wild pig problem. There are plenty of motivated firearm users in Texas. Yet Texas has problematic numbers of wild pigs (https://www.texasmonthly.com/travel/texas-feral-hog-problem-swine-country/), and the pigs have spread to 35 of the States.

I can't find the numbers now, but one report I read stated that 70% of the wild pigs need to be culled per year in order to keep their numbers under control year over year. But even if we only had to kill 20% of the wild pigs, and only in Texas(https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/nuisance/feral_hogs/), that would still be 520,000 rounds as long as everyone were one-shot -one-kill.

Feral pigs have been a problem in various places around the world for decades. Guns haven't solved it there, won't solve it here.