WILD HOGS!

Sus Scrofa

GENERAL INFO: Wild Hogs can be traced back to 1539 when DeSoto brought them with him to Southwest Florida. In just under 500 years, the population has exploded to over 500,000 here in Florida. They are intelligent animals that adapt well to their surroundings. They will eat about anything that they can find, usually making a mess along the way. They can be found in every county in Florida. They have been known to reach weights of up to 800 pounds. Males develop tusks that can extend outside of the mouth cavity, and are often used as devastating attack and defense weapons. They also have highly developed senses of smell and hearing, have very good eyesight, and are extremely intelligent.


THREAT: The most common problems associated with Wild Hogs are the destruction of crops, rooting in pastures and tearing up your manicured yard/landscaping. Hogs can be very aggressive if surprised or threatened. This is true especially when a mother has young nearby. They are very strong and more than capable of killing humans.


REMOVAL / PREVENTION: Wild Hogs have to be trapped and removed from your property. However this does not mitigate in any way their population explosion. Human ignorance about the situation allowing for practices like catch and release is not only false "feel-good" sentiment, but contributes greatly to native habitat and wildlife destruction. Responsible culling of their populations is necessary to keep the eco-system in balance.


IMAGES: Click for larger image.



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GEOGRAPHIC RANGE


AVG. BREEDING RATE

x12-24 Annually


DID YOU KNOW?

Wild Hogs are the only hooved animals in the world that dig burrows. They do this to stay warm as they lack the brown adipose (fat tissue) that many other mammals, including humans, have to generate heat.


Wild Hog sows all perform babysitting duties amongst themselves, often suckling babies from other sows while the others are off feeding.