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The
wild hog, (Sus scrofa) also called the wild boar or feral pig,
is not a Florida native, and may have been introduced by explorer Hernando
DeSoto as early as 1539. They may weigh over 150 pounds, and
be 5-6 feet long. They travel in herds containing several females
and their offspring.
Wild hogs occur throughout Florida in various habitats, but prefer moist
forests and swamps, and pine flatwoods. They are
omnivorous
and feed by rooting with their broad snouts. They may cause great
damage of the understory and leave an area looking like a plowed field.
Exclusion of hogs is not usually possible except in small areas around
yards and gardens. Nuisance hogs may be trapped using pens with trap doors
and baited with acorns or old corn. Trapped animals may not be released
on public land, and only on private land with the landowners permission.
Wild hogs are legal
game and may be taken only during specific seasons in most Type I
and Type II Wildlife Management Areas. In most of Florida, wild
hogs are considered domestic livestock and are the property of the landowner
upon whose land they occur. With landowner permission, there is no closed
season, bag limit, or size limit for wild hogs where they are considered
domestic livestock.
More information
Feral hogs,
The Florida experience. Paper by FWC biologist
Commercial information from Texas,
including trapping hints
Alabama
commercial information on trapping
Papers from 1993
Feral swine conference in Texas
University of
Nebraska Cooperative Extension (pdf)
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