Feral hog population may boom after rains

Might it be raining feral hogs this fall? "Raining" might be something of an over-statement, but the wet year could mean bigger litter sizes and more farranging herds, said Texas Cooperative Extension experts.

We can be sure that more water and increased food supplies for feral hogs, said Dr. Billy Higginbotham, Extension fisheries and wildlife specialist.

By conservative estimates, Texas has 1.5 to 2million feral hogs. They root up crop land, pastures and landscapes, and compete with more desirable wildlife such as white-tailed deer for food. Though many farmers consider them a nuisance, feral hogs are also a highly sought after game species by hunters. The animals are descended from domestic hogs, Higginbotham said.

"Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that an increase in available nutrition for feral hogs will have a similar effect as it does with domestic swine," he said.

Domestic hogs will produce larger litters when food supplies increase, said Dr. Jodi Sterle, Extension swine specialist.

"Pigs actually respond very quickly to increase feed resources," Sterle said. "(Depending upon conditions) they might have one to one-and-half more pigs per litter."

For example, in the case of domestic swine, a particular breed may have an average litter size of eight. But with food resources that litter size might increase to nine or nine and a half.

"That half is an average. Obviously, you can't have a half pig," she said.

"In domestic pigs, if you increase their energy (nutrition reserves) just prior to mating - we call that 'flushing' - they will actually ovulate more eggs," she said. "It's especially effective if they are in a lower plane of nutrition before."

Feral hogs typically have litters of four to six pigs, Higginbotham said. Just as domestic swine do, they have a 114-day gestation period and can produce two litters a year.

"And it's possible for a female born in the spring to reach sexual maturity six to eight months later, and produce a litter before her first birthday," he said.

"Most of our feral stock in Texas are descended from domestic hogs so what applies to one should apply to the other," he said. "With a drought in 2005 through 2006, then they definitely had a reduced nutrition going into the wet spring of 2007. Feral hogs can produce litters year around, but there are peaks in farrowing in the spring and the fall."

Also, landowners should expect to see feral hogs ranging wider than they have in last couple of years, he said.

The most effective way to control feral hogs is by trapping them, Higginbotham said.

See the Extension Web site, "Coping with Feral Hogs," at http://feralhogs.tamu.edu/ for more information on trapping, baits and other means of control.