Hoglogy, The Science of Hogs Wherever they habitate in the US hogs and man are in conflict. Some of the information published about hogs and the damage that they supposedly inflict on the environment and the dangers that they pose to people has been greatly exaggerated.
Throughout the history of the US, the conquering of the wilderness and the development of agriculture, man has developed unscientific and unrealistic views and opinions regarding various animal species that has resulted in an attempt to exterminate and to depopulate these species. This has been especially true of predators like the bear, wolf, and cougar.
A more enlighted approach to man's co-habitation with various animal species, that have been attacked by man to the point of extinction, has resulted in the return of the bear, wolf, and cougar to some of their traditional home territory.
A thoughtful review of the current popular literature pertaining to wild hogs and publications provided by state departments of natural resources and agriculture show that once again farmers, hunters, and state officials are in the process of repeating history in an effort to personify feral pigs as a dangerous, destructive, unnatural, alien species of animal with no value and in need of complete extermination.
The information on this web page is provided to clear up some of the misconceptions that are being published regarding the wild hog:
A Dangerous Animal?
One of the most common claims regarding wild hogs is that they are dangerous to man. While it is true that feral hogs when hunted, cornered or wounded can be very aggressive in defending their territory or in self defense there are no known contemporary human fatalities reported due to wild hogs, attacks are very rare, and reported injuries have been minor. Like most animals who come in contact with man, the wild hog would prefer to run away and hide. One of the characteristics of the wild hog is that it prefers deep cover and hunting at night. Both of these characteristics make it less likely that humans will come in contact with these animals and in areas where groups of wild hogs are known to populate the general human population in that area is completely unware that wild hogs exist close by. Tell someone in Michigan that you hunt wild hogs and they will exclaim, "There are wild hogs in Michigan?"
Hogs and Agriculture and Natural Flora
While there is no doubt that states with large populations of wild hogs suffer significant agricultural crop losses wild hogs are not unique in terms of enjoying farm products such as corn, grasses, and other agrarian crops, for example white tailed deer represent the same basic threat to agriculture as do hogs. However, the accepted belief that hogs harm natural flora is probably a misconception. Hogs have a widely varied diet that includes everything from acorns, small mammals, insects, and various plants both natural flora and farm produced. A Swedish study performed by the Department of Wildlife Ecology in 1995 showed that hog "rooting" actually increased the number of naturally occuring and wild species of plants in areas where hogs had fed and extensively rooted. Hogs use their highly evolved noses to both locate and to dig up the food sources that they feed upon. Some hunters and researchers describe the feeding areas that hogs have moved through as looking like they have been "plowed" or "rota-tilled". Apparently however, this activity is actually good for an area and plant life because it uncovers seeds of plants that have been dormant and increases the variety of flora in an area.
The Swedish study concluded that wild hogs constituted a natural disturbance that "enriched" the flora of the areas that the wild hogs habitated.
While farmers and state agricultural departments may have an issue with the migration of wild hogs into Michigan, the Department of Natural Resources, hunters and related organizations should not.
Hogs and Disease
Like any wild animal "vector" hogs can carry a number of diseases and while the Michigan DNR is asking for help from Michigan hunters to kill hogs and help them to study the potential problem of disease carried by feral swine there is presently no scientific evidence that any of the wild hogs populating Michigan are carrying or have transmitted disease to domestic animals.
An article in the Michigan Farm Bureau "AgriNotes and News" reports:
"Because feral swine have the potential to carry diseases which may impact the state's domestic swine industry, MDA and DNR have set up a program to test these animals. DNR biologists at field check stations, in counties where feral swine have been sighted, will help hunters gather tissue samples to be submitted to the state diagnostic laboratory for free disease testing."
"While there is no indication that these animals are carrying pseudorabies or any other disease, precautionary testing will be conducted. Feral swine may also transmit diseases such as brucellosis, bovine tuberculosis (TB) and trichinosis to people and other livestock."
"It is highly unlikely a person will contract bovine TB, brucellosis or trichinosis by eating thoroughly cooked meat of feral swine, a state-issued press release reported. These pathogens and parasites are very rarely found, state officials said. As a precaution however, all meats, including that of feral swine, should be thoroughly cooked to an internal temperature of 170.6 degrees Fahrenheit."
November 9th, 2009
Considering the above statements it does not sound like the Michigan wild hog population poses a current threat to the wellbeing of humans or domestic lifestock. This information stands in stark contrast to the calls for the extermination of all wild hogs in Michigan. If there is a future threat to the public health or the domestic lifestock industry that is a potential problem that should be addressed by the appropriate state departments through appropriate wildlife management and with the methods used to manage other animal populations that share our natural resources.
States that have traditionally had large populations of feral swine routinely monitor and test their hog populations and address potential disease issues in much the same way that the state of Michigan deals with the deer tuberculosis problem.
An Alien Species in Michigan?
Wild pigs have habitated North American for 500 years and since their introduction to this continent they have been been migrating and spreading across the country. This migration has occurred both as a result of natural population expansion and through man's intentional intervention.
The relatively recent appearance of free range wild hogs in Michigan is thought to be largely the result of accidental releases from private game ranches that allow "pay-to-shoot" hunting on private land with "pigs in a cage". However, some wild pig populations such as one group located in Kent County is found in an area where historically there was a large domestic pig farm. When domestic pigs are released into the wild they rather quickly adjust to their environment and become "feral".
There may be another reason for the migration and spread of wild pigs across the US and into states like Michigan and that reason is climate change. If climate change is a factor then we are observing a natural process within an animal population that is the result of north central states like Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin experiencing moderate winters and a change towards a warmer more temperate climate.
What we should consider is that the feral swine in Michigan are most likely the result of the following factors:
Accidental game ranch releases
Accidental domestic hog releases
Intentional seeding of hogs into the wild
Migration of hogs from bordering states
Climate Change
Feral swine in Michigan are probably here to stay and declaring open war and an open season on this animal population that has survived thousands of years of hunting by man will probably not succeed.
What is needed, and needed now is an intelligent and scientifically based plan for management of this wild and natural resource and planning for it's and our future together as man and beast, and man and hunter.