Redrover wrote:
What I found interesting was how NY has decided to handle the critters. They do not allow the public to help irradicate pigs in any way. Their process is to trap & kill them themselves. They feel the pigs will go into traps better if they are never shot at.
I believe there is some merit to this model since un-pressured, uneducated pigs would certainly be easier to trap. But I think minimizing all contact with them (not just shooting) would be necessary.
I think an underlying motive is also at play...in that they (Fish & Game) don't want folks to 'start' hunting hogs... in hopes that it will NOT gain popularity and thus garner support for having hogs around.
I couldn't find any reports of how successful they feel they are but that sure seems like a very slow & labor intensive way of controlling pigs especially knowing how fast they reproduce.
So much depends on the circumstance there. I suspect there is excellent habitat to support a Feral Population of hogs and Fish and Game folks know it.
No doubt, they are aware that if they don't stop the 'invasion' NOW and do so decidedly, it will quickly get out of hand.
IF feral hog numbers are currently small AND they are found only in certain areas (concentrated) then trapping them would seem a viable solution.
The Fish and Game folks rightly understand that they only have one 'shot at it' (pun intended) before the pigs begin to multiply and spread out. At that point, no Game/State commission anywhere has the funding or manpower to contain them.
IF it is the intent of F&G to eradicate the existing population by themselves...then they'd better get on it quick. If they intend to allow the citizenry to help achieve that goal, then a 'bounty' system needs to be in place.
What you want to avoid (and this is the challenge) is ever letting hogs become established and have hunters enjoy the 'new' animal to pursue. Once there is 'support' for the hogs....its over. You will have hogs (to some degree) forever. it is important to remember, hogs most likely did not 'migrate' to NY, someone brought them in.
I know that sounds attractive to some folks, but feral hogs are a plague anywhere they exist in great numbers.