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Post by Coolkat on Jul 17, 2024 8:51:28 GMT -8
5,000 feral pigs were killed to save a California national park www.sfgate.com/la/article/channel-islands-feral-pigs-fox-19549631.phpI know that I'm supposedly not educated in the right field to be able to make decisions like these some decisions just seem obvious to me. Especially when you have a non-native animal that for the most part has destroyed parts of the island's ecosystem.
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driftwoody
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Post by driftwoody on Jul 17, 2024 17:11:53 GMT -8
Are those pigs tasty barbecued?
We eat everything.
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BigLoad
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Post by BigLoad on Jul 17, 2024 19:30:14 GMT -8
That's a lot of bacon.
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Travis
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Post by Travis on Jul 17, 2024 19:38:45 GMT -8
I have a close friend who always has a friendly pig among her menagerie of farm animals and assorted pets. She knows well enough how I feel about the destructive nature of the feral pig population on the continent. So perhaps to annoy me, she expounds at length about how adorable her little piggy is.
In my turn, I provide the most eloquent disgust I can muster about the entire species she seems to adore. There upon follows my vociferous protests against hers, respectfully expressed, of course. If only our national politics could be so benign that we remain the best of friends.
But, thanks to your link, I'll be happy to tell her of the good news from the Channel Islands.
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Jul 17, 2024 21:26:12 GMT -8
There are hog culling videos on YouTube. The number of feral hogs in places like Texas is amazing. The farmers use infrared scopes and hunt the armies of them at night. I hate to say it but I root for the farmers.
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Post by Coolkat on Jul 18, 2024 4:44:14 GMT -8
I don't hunt as the thought of killing any animal makes me recoil inside. However, I must admit in cases like these I see the wisdom. I'm not even sure if these animals would get much sympathy from me as they are just so totally destructive. left to themselves they'd probably so destroy things that they'd end up starving themselves to death. Another situation that doesn't elicit much sympathy is the pythons in Florida (even though I don't live there).
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ErnieW
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Post by ErnieW on Jul 18, 2024 16:28:40 GMT -8
Rabbits in Australia are another bad one. It was really bad but they ended up using biological warfare on them. It greatly reduced their numbers but you can't eat their rabbits because they are infected. They do still do night culls because some are resistant. Tasmania using a number of methods actually became rabbit free.
Australia also has a feral cat problem. Being a cat lover cat culling video are pretty upsetting although being a cat lover I know too well what efficient hunters they are. Cats put a pretty big dent in the bird population here in the US.
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Post by klickitat on Jul 28, 2024 9:15:01 GMT -8
In the battle of Pork VS Park, Park wins.
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Post by swmtnbackpacker on Jul 29, 2024 8:20:58 GMT -8
The pigs were invasive so they had to go. Sorta wish a bunch had been sent to pork farms, probably for different feeding before the inevitable conversion to pork chops, bacon, etc.. but likely no way to make that economically even with marketing.
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driftwoody
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Post by driftwoody on Jul 29, 2024 15:13:41 GMT -8
With clever marketing, Wild Bacon might command a premium price.
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trinity
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Post by trinity on Jul 29, 2024 16:21:14 GMT -8
I have very mixed feelings about this. After all, the pigs didn't ask to be brought here. And from a purely practical standpoint, I do not believe any efforts to eradicate wild hog populations are going to be successful. Pigs are extremely intelligent and adaptable, and they breed year-round. We have been overrun in many areas here in Texas, so I have seen firsthand the damage they can inflict on the landscape. There are intensive hunting and trapping efforts, which are barely making a dent. We humans eradicated most of the apex predators in North America, then introduced pigs into the wild and are now treating wild pigs as enemies. But, as usual, "the enemy is us".
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Jul 29, 2024 17:40:45 GMT -8
I have very mixed feelings about this. After all, the pigs didn't ask to be brought here. And from a purely practical standpoint, I do not believe any efforts to eradicate wild hog populations are going to be successful. Pigs are extremely intelligent and adaptable, and they breed year-round. We have been overrun in many areas here in Texas, so I have seen firsthand the damage they can inflict on the landscape. There are intensive hunting and trapping efforts, which are barely making a dent. We humans eradicated most of the apex predators in North America, then introduced pigs into the wild and are now treating wild pigs as enemies. But, as usual, "the enemy is us". I think the key is that this is an island. There’s a very firm boundary to the area they can occupy and limits to where they can go. Still an uphill battle, but it has to be done. As for the pigs, sure, it’s not their fault. But let’s be realistic: livestock animals are bread to be killed and eaten. And the native fauna didn’t ask to have their habitat destroyed. Similar thing in NZ: I have zero sympathy for the rats, stoats, and possums (Aussie possums, WAY less nice than our US sort). If NZ fails to control their population (I’m not holding my breath for success with the goal of being predator-free by 2050), then a whole lot of birds that exist nowhere else are going to be extinct. I’ll take a kiwi over a stoat any day.
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swiftdream
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Post by swiftdream on Jul 29, 2024 17:55:50 GMT -8
When I was very young and not quite legal to work on a farm I wanted to work and earn enough money to travel America. One of the farmers I worked for had several locations of pig operations, one for fattening up the ones headed for market, another for getting the sows pregnant and the new state of the art barn for the birthing and weaning. At the fattening area there was one day that I had to castrate 80 pigs. First I had to catch them, them do the cutting and squirt a solution to guard against infection. They were smaller at that point. The sows getting pregnant were big. There was one boar and he was huge and mean. The birthing place they had large litters and the little pigs were fun to pet. The pigs were super smart. That farmer had a friend who was also a farmer and he was always drunk. One day both of them disappeared for a few days on some kind of bender and I grew bored so I tossed a pack of firecrackers into the pen with the fattening pigs. They were curious and all gathered around the firecrackers pushing each other to get close and see if it was good to eat. Then the firecrackers started popping and the pigs stampeded into the pole barn and hit the side so hard they pealed off the bottom two 2x12s and just kept going until they disappeared over the horizon. I was stunned but hey I was also 15 years old and just nailed the 2x12s back on and covered the firecracker material. He returned the next day and I told him that they had disappeared so we went and rounded them all up. That was actually kind of fun. Then since they had tasted freedom they found ways to escape every single day which left me off the hook. Yes they are super smart.
I also know a fellow in Mississippi who is dealing with very destructive feral hog populations and he uses an AR-15 every time he drives anywhere. I’m very glad I don’t have to deal with that. The feral hogs can destroy the environment for all the native species like the rabbits in Australia do.
After working on the farms for two summers I put it all down to experience, did travel America, never went back home and decided I’d never do manual labor for a career ever again. It was a self fulfilling prophecy.
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Travis
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Post by Travis on Jul 30, 2024 3:22:38 GMT -8
I think Columbus released pigs into the Caribbean Islands in 1493 and De Soto released them into the Southern States by 1539. As if that weren't bad enough, various hunting groups have been releasing wild hogs as recently as the early to mid 1900s.
So we as humans have been messing up a very long time. But true to form, we take what we consider the lesser evil and call it "right." Fact is, I don't think there is any "right" way to correct the problem. But it is a huge problem.
Sorry folks, if that leaves your bacon with with a bitter aftertaste.
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Post by Coolkat on Jul 30, 2024 3:40:42 GMT -8
I’ll take a kiwi over a stoat any day. I have no idea what a stoat is but just by the name I agree with you. Kiwi so much more pleasant to say.
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