Those Swine

[11B4V]

TO ARRRMS!

Hunters fight so-called 'feral hog apocalypse' in Texas

The state's agriculture commissioner said Tuesday that he has a solution: a human blood-thinner that proves especially deadly in swine.

Sid Miller, the commissioner, said there is only a "minimal" threat to other animals. Hunters will be able to see that the substance was consumed because the fat will be bright blue, MyStatesman.com reported.

"They're so prolific, you can't hardly keep them in check," Miller told the paper. "This is going to be the hog apocalypse, if you like: If you want them gone, this will get them gone."

The paper reported that the pesticide used is called "Kaput Feral Hog Lure," which will be bait laced with warfarin—the human blood thinner.

VIDEO: TOP NEW GEAR FOR HUNTERS

State officials have downplayed the threat to other wildlife. But some hunters disagree, and say poison is not a viable option. Hunters in the state have collected more than 12,000 signatures in opposition of the poison.

The report said that Louisiana is considering the poison, but one state wildlife official warned that the crumbs that a hog leaves behind could affect black bears and other animals.

These feral hogs cost the state's agriculture industry about $50 million a year in damage. The Austin Statesman reported that these hogs were introduced to North America by Spanish settlers who released domestic pigs into the woods to breed.

The state already allows aerial hunting which reportedly results in about 27,000 killed hogs annually.

"We don't think poison is the way to go," Eydin Hansen, the vice president of the Texas Hog Hunters Association, told CBSNews.com. He went on to say, "If a hog is poisoned, do I want to feed it to my family? I can tell you, I don't."He also mentioned the risks of another animal—like a coyote—eating a dead carcass. "We're gonna after possible the whole ecosystem."

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/02/21/hunters-fight-so-called-feral-hog-apocalypse-in-texas.html

[11B4V]

Perhaps Texass should employ

'Kung Fu Granny' keeps town safe at 94

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/02/21/kung-fu-granny-keeps-town-safe-at-94.html

[CountDeMoney]

Yes, but all means, leave poison out.  Because only the pigs will eat it. 



Sheer genius.

[11B4V]

Texans ain't to bright.

[MadImmortalMan]

I was in Arizona a while back, and I saw a pack of javelina run through the neighborhood knocking over trash cans and threatening people. They're like wolves.

[The Larch]

Over here in my neck of the woods, there's been warnings about the threat posed by wild populations of a mix of Vietnamese pigs (that were originally kept as pets and then released/escaped to the wild) with local boars. Apparently they're quite agressive.

[grumbler]

I was in Arizona a while back, and I saw a pack of javelina run through the neighborhood knocking over trash cans and threatening people. They're like wolves.

Did not know that this was another (and much better) word for peccaries.  *Learn something new*

[derspiess]

The state of Texas should give free helicopter rides for people to hunt these things down the right way.  From what I've seen on the Outdoor Channel, it looks fun as hell.

[Valmy]

Javelinas are a pretty big menace. They regularly rip up yards in the suburbs, enabling HOAs to terrorize the residents. If only the Ag commission came up with HOA poison.

[derspiess]

I live on one of the few streets in our suburb without an HOA.  Sweet, sweet anarchy.

[mongers]

Javelinas are a pretty big menace. They regularly rip up yards in the suburbs, enabling HOAs to terrorize the residents. If only the Ag commission came up with HOA poison.

You have some weird ass creatures* in Texas, looks like a pig, but isn't quite.



* our ancesters killed off all one larger than a fox a long time ago, iirc last wolf in England, something like early 1500s, Scotland probably mid-late 1700s. 

[Valmy]

* our ancesters killed off all one larger than a fox a long time ago, iirc last wolf in England, something like early 1500s, Scotland probably mid-late 1700s. 

Which is impressive in a country that forbade anybody but the King and a few nobles to hunt. Damn poachers.

[mongers]

* our ancesters killed off all one larger than a fox a long time ago, iirc last wolf in England, something like early 1500s, Scotland probably mid-late 1700s. 

Which is impressive in a country that forbade anybody but the King and a few nobles to hunt. Damn poachers.

I had a google to check my straw in the wind guesses, turns out there's a whole wiki article about the topic, with details about hunting, laws, bounties etc.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolves_in_Great_Britain#Past_presence_and_extinction

[MadBurgerMaker]

These things fuck up everything they come into contact with, not just Valmy's nice neighborhood or whatever (these are the feral hogs, not javelinas).  As far as I know they're one of the very few things the state allows you to kill however you want, whenever you want, and there are still too many of them all over the place.   

Poison isn't necessarily a good idea, but people shooting and trapping them year round isn't getting rid of them, so what do you do?  A helo ride with miniguns would be fun the first time, but I'm pretty sure mowing down animals like that would get really old really fast for the non psychos.

E:  Javelina:



Aww.

Feral hogs:



Not so aww

E2:  Oh and some numbers that aren't just aerial hunting:

Recreational hunters take an estimated 600,000 feral hogs a year, finding the wild swine a challenging hunting quarry and wonderful on the table. Commercial trappers using live-catch pens annually take and sell to wild game processors another 70,000 or so of the pigs. Another 50,000 or more are killed by Texas Wildlife Services and private firms hired by landowners to knock back pig populations damaging crops or property.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

counter with this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obelix