Wild hogs in Kentucky

[LostInTheWoods]

Never even knew there were any around here.

My wife called this morning on her way to drop the kids of at school and said they had seen a wild hog off to the side of the road. I did a little bit of a mental eye-roll because I had no clue KY had any, but what she described sure sounded like a feral oinker. I looked up the KY Fish & Wildlife website and, sure enough, there's a blurb on there about sightings here.

So, not really knowing much about them other than the sensational "Hogzilla" stories...what do I need to know? I have two young children and live "in the woods". Any danger here? Are they aggressive? Are they tasty?

 

[czechsonofagun]

From what I have heard they are shy - you would see them sooner otherwise. and I would not consider them dangerous.

I am sure Eddie will pitch in - he has lot of them on his property. Eddie also says they taste better than venison - I would try to hunt them if I were you. Likely the season is open year around, since they are a pest.

 

[LostInTheWoods]

If you do eat them, cook them well or risk parasite infections.

Feral Pig Fact Sheet - WDNR

Interesting link...at first glance, it could be easy to confuse deer tracks with feral pig tracks. Guess I need to start taking a good look when I see "deer tracks".

 

[LostInTheWoods]

If you do eat them, cook them well or risk parasite infections.

Feral Pig Fact Sheet - WDNR

And I was walking around our property about a week ago and saw a young Virginia Pine sapling that had the "rubbed" look as if rubbed by deer. I thought that was weird for early Spring. "Feral pigs also rub on a variety of objects to scratch themselves or to remove dried mud or parasites from their skin. They have been known to rub on trees, rocks, fence posts and power poles. The rubs are usually from ground level up to about 3 feet high..."

 

[jayste]

Interesting link...at first glance, it could be easy to confuse deer tracks with feral pig tracks. Guess I need to start taking a good look when I see "deer tracks".

You are correct but deer tracks are more pronunced, curved and pointed. Also, look for beds in thicket, mud on trees usually about 3' down to ground level(especially around bogs and wallows) and they commonly show up at dusk to dawn time frame. They have great noses but don't see too well....Oh, and did I mention they breed like rabbits?

 

[LostInTheWoods]

Also, look for beds in thicket...

I've seen what looks like where animals have bedded around our place a number of times, but I have always assumed is was deer.

 

[BandRRanch]

These critters are only shy in the respect they know man is a danger to them like any hunted animal. They are extremely dangerous in any setting where they are protecting their young, boxed in, in any way, or wounded. I have hunted these pigs on a number of occasions and the outfitters I went with a few times told horror stories. One outfitter, who was a good 6'5 and 250lbs solid, showed me scars that ran the length of his leg to his arm pit where one had flipped him in the air with its tusks like a rag doll. If you wound one, do not go in after it alone like you would deer or elk. I was on a hunt one year and was reading a paper the night before the first day out and there was a advertisement to come be a "real man" and hunt pigs with a knife... after seeing that outfitters scars, I said...nah..

 

[Redbug]

I would not be surprised if you are having some move in. They are thick as thieves down here and we hunt/trap them all year long.

Here's an interesting 3 part video on them put together by Mississippi State...(I particularly liked parts 2 and 3 the best)...
YouTube - Part 1, A Pickup Load of Pigs: The Feral Swine Pandemic - Natural History

YouTube - Part 2, A Pickup Load of Pigs: The Feral Swine Pandemic - Damage

YouTube - Part 3, A Pickup Load of Pigs: The Feral Swine Pandemic - Control

 

[LostInTheWoods]

Interesting links, Redbug. Methinks I'll not mess with eating any I might find after watching video #2. :laughing:

I hope my wife was wrong about what she saw, but I'm not sure what else fits the description. There aren't any hog farms around us that I know of, and her parents actually raised pigs when she was growing up. So she's not especially likely to confuse domestic with wild, I'd think.