See the Incredible Footage of a Man Trapping 48 Wild Hogs in an Instant

Key Points

• There are wild hogs in at least 25 states in the US, and their numbers may reach nine million.
• Wild hogs are the offspring of domesticated pigs that have escaped and the Russian wild boar that had been introduced for hunting purposes.
• Hogs use their snouts and tusks to dig for food, destroying bird nesting areas, damaging water courses and farmland, and even posing a threat to the safety of pets and children as they can be aggressive.

Shared by someone who describes themselves as a hog trapper, this shows a useful method of trapping tens of wild hogs in one go. Trapping is one of the recognized ways of tackling the issue of wild hogs in the US. Scroll down to watch the full video of chaos in the pen when the door slammed shut.

Where Did Wild Hogs Come From?

You will also see wild hogs called wild boars, feral pigs, or razorbacks. According to the US Department of Agriculture, they are not a native species of the Americas. They were introduced in the 1500s by early settlers and over the next centuries some have escaped to then thrive in the wild. Also, the Eurasian or Russian wild boar was later introduced to the United States for sport hunting. The wild hogs that are seen in the US today are descendants of both these groups or even hybrids of the two. Today, there are wild hogs in at least 25 states and their numbers may reach 9 million. This number is high because of the wild hog’s adaptability to a variety of climates and conditions, as well as a lack of natural predators in certain areas.

What Damage to Wild Hogs Cause?

When there are many wild hogs in a habitat it affects the environment and native species. They feed by digging into the ground with their snouts and tusks looking for plants. As they are omnivores, they will also eat small animals that they come across. This can be particularly damaging for ground-nesting bird species. They scare off the adult birds and eat the eggs.

Their diet puts them in competition with species such as deer and turkey who may need to leave the habitat to find food. Overall, the effect is to reduce biodiversity by up to a quarter of previous levels. They also damage water courses and farmland and even pose a threat to the safety of pets and children as they can be aggressive.

How Can Wild Hogs Be Controlled?

The states with the highest wild hog populations are Texas with around three million and Oklahoma with around one and a half million. However, there are sizable populations in many other states including Louisiana (750,000), Georgia (600,000), and Florida (500,000).

States have adopted a number of methods to try to keep populations under control. Fencing may be used to keep them in one place. However, wild pigs are strong enough to upturn these fences or simply go under them by utilizing a rooting technique. Another method, hunting, is permitted in some states, but pressure from hunting can drive them to move away from where they are hunted.

Trapping, as we see in this clip, is an efficient way of reducing wild hog populations and removing lots of them at the same time.

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