Bullets alone can't solve Alabama's feral hog problem

[Elderberry]

One of our neighbors where I used to hunt built and sold suppressed 22 rifles to cities for Pest Management.
You never know they're around taking care of pests.

Feral Cats and Their Management     http://extensionpublications.unl.edu/assets/pdf/ec1781.pdf

Shooting
Shooting is an efficient method to reduce populations of cats in specific areas. Use shotguns with No. 6 shot or larger, .22-caliber rifles, or air rifles capable of shooting 700 feet per second or faster (inside 20 yards and with pointed pellets). Aim shots between the eyes or in the heart/lung area to ensure a humane death. Shooting in urban areas is a very sensitive matter as many safety factors need to be considered. Consult local officials to determine if shooting is legal in your area. It is not legal to discharge a firearm, including air rifles, inside the city limits of Lincoln and Omaha (Lincoln: Section 9.36.010 Ord. 15625 §1, Omaha: Section. 20-196 and 20-197 Ord. 38295 § 1). In most cases, shooting is avoided inside city limits unless an animal poses an imminent threat to public health and safety.

[RoosGirl]

We are not inside the city limits, but the county regs that cover feral cats are ridiculous.  You are required to contact animal control, rent a trap from them for $5/day.  You receive a permit from the county that is valid for a certain number of days. When you catch one you have to deliver it (live) to the county and give them the cat in the trap.  The 1 animal control facility in the county is about an hour drive from us.

[Elderberry]

How do they know what you trap?

County drones?

[RoosGirl]

How do they know what you trap?

County drones?

They don't. Looked like a raccoon to me. :)  Oh, and we used our own trap cause coons. :)

[RoosGirl]

Me too. Feral cats tear the heck out of local bird populations in particular, and anything else they can catch.

Yes, and I'm sorry, I really don't mean to turn this into a cat thread, but there are just a ton of parallels to feral hogs; spread of disease, damage to property (they've been spraying garden!) and the list goes on.

[bigheadfred]

My dad never had a problem shooting anything feral. Permit? He had a Hoover Permit.

[roamer_1]

My dad never had a problem shooting anything feral. Permit? He had a Hoover Permit.

I operate under the 3s permit... Fairly common in the Rockies... 

[bigheadfred]

I operate under the 3s permit... Fairly common in the Rockies... 

Pretty much what a Hoover Permit is. In "honor" of Herbert Hoover. Hand to mouth Depression era.  A phrase used by my grandfather.  It means "I don't need the government's (or anyone else's) permission". I'll take care of it myself, my way.

[thackney]

I was reading back through the article again.  I cannot understand why it's fine to hunt feral pigs but a hunt of feral cats makes people crazy.  Just about every check mark against the pig can be said for feral cats.

I believe the lacking criteria is the dollar amount of destruction of Agriculture Crops.

[roamer_1]

I believe the lacking criteria is the dollar amount of destruction of Agriculture Crops.

I would submit the lacking criteria is city folks not having any concept of reality.

[Suppressed]

Just about every check mark against the pig can be said for feral cats.

Most people don't know how to clean and prepare a cat properly.


I think landmines would be a good option.  Claymores, perhaps, to take out the whole passel of hogs (and yes, "passel" is the technical term, as well as sounding great).

[Suppressed]

We are not inside the city limits, but the county regs that cover feral cats are ridiculous.  You are required to contact animal control, rent a trap from them for $5/day.  You receive a permit from the county that is valid for a certain number of days. When you catch one you have to deliver it (live) to the county and give them the cat in the trap.  The 1 animal control facility in the county is about an hour drive from us.

How can you differentiate between trapping a domestic and feral?

[RoosGirl]

How can you differentiate between trapping a domestic and feral?

The county says they will contact immediate neighbors to see if the cat belongs to them once it is caught.

[Suppressed]

The county says they will contact immediate neighbors to see if the cat belongs to them once it is caught.

Ah...live traps!

[Smokin Joe]

I operate under the 3s permit... Fairly common in the Rockies... 

We have those out on the prairie, too.

[Smokin Joe]

Most people don't know how to clean and prepare a cat properly.


I think landmines would be a good option.  Claymores, perhaps, to take out the whole passel of hogs (and yes, "passel" is the technical term, as well as sounding great).

Just bring in consultants.

[Gefn]

I can't read this thread. There has to be a more humane way to deal with feral cats.

Trap them, nueuter and spay. Take their kittens and try to get them adopted. Fine people who dump their cats when they tire of them forcing them to go feral.

I know it's a huge problem, I'm not biind. I know they kill song birds.

But there has to be a better solution than shooting them. They are cats. How the hell can. You shoot a. Cat?

Please don't tell me. I'm seriously don't want to know, you all know I love dogs and cats too much to know this. Please.


And now I'm weeping

[RoosGirl]

I can't read this thread. There has to be a more humane way to deal with feral cats.

Trap them, nueuter and spay. Take their kittens and try to get them adopted. Fine people who dump their cats when they tire of them forcing them to go feral.

I know it's a huge problem, I'm not biind. I know they kill song birds.

But there has to be a better solution than shooting them. They are cats. How the hell can. You shoot a. Cat?

Please don't tell me. I'm seriously don't want to know, you all know I love dogs and cats too much to know this. Please.


And now I'm weeping

Just to touch on the fining thing.  My county will I believe first issue a warning and then fine owners whose cats keep going on to other property and are trapped and brought to the county.  I *think* the fine is $900/event.  But, there's no way of tracking down someone who just dumps a cat out somewhere.

There is no joy to be had in shooting cats, and as much as I joke I really don't hate cats.  They aren't my favorite animal, but I don't hate them.  But, I kind of look at them from a point of view of a dog owner/lover.  I don't let my dogs roam anywhere and everywhere they want to go.  We go to a lot of trouble to contain them on our property, and I could tell you some stories about that!  I don't want them roaming anywhere and everywhere because I know they could be injured or killed, I know they could cause damage to someone else's property, I know they could cause damage to someone else.  If someone loves their pet cat and they want to keep it healthy they wouldn't let it roam off property.  And, if my dogs were out loose every day, causing trouble somewhere they shouldn't be, I wouldn't blame someone for taking care of the issue however they saw fit.

[Elderberry]

Trap Them       http://www.wideopenspaces.com/4-ways-eradicate-hogs-land/

If done correctly, trapping hogs can result in 100% eradication of your hog population. If done incorrectly, trapping can turn out to be a phenomenal waste of time and can actually make the hogs more difficult to remove down the road.

In order to be successful, hog trapping must be conducted using traps that are sturdy and designed well enough that no hogs escape and that all of the hogs in a group are captured at once. Remember: hogs are really, really smart. If a hog escapes a trap, or witnesses fellow hogs being caught in a trap, there is a good chance that hog will become “trap shy” and it may actually never be possible to trap that particular hog again for the rest of its life.

There are a number of traps on the market that are designed to these specifications and in conjunction with a trail camera, can send photos to a computer or cell phone to let you know when all the hogs in a group are in the trap. The trap is then designed to be remote triggered by a human once the trap is full. This will result in all of the hogs being trapped in one fell swoop. There have been several documented cases of 30-40 hogs being caught at once in a trap like this.

Though this can also get expensive, trapping hogs is not usually as labor intensive as hunting them with hounds, and can be nearly as successful.

As I stated several times, these methods for eradicating a hog population work best when applied over a sustained period of time. They may not kill every single hog on your property, but there is a really good chance that the hogs will leave your property after a period of time in reaction to the pressure you are putting on them. Like I said, they are smart and will quickly learn what they need to do to keep from getting killed, to include leaving town. In the end, it doesn’t really matter what happens to them: if they are all killed or if they all leave the end result for you is the same.

[roamer_1]

I can't read this thread. There has to be a more humane way to deal with feral cats.

@Freya

Sorry darlin'. There isn't.
Outside of the city, we have this thing called reality.
Mostly that is live and let live, until it ain't.

Feral cats (and dogs) are a menace, and not the happy kitties and puppies you associate them with.

I don't care a whit that cats kill songbirds - that's part of their natural function - It's what they do.

It's over-population that is a problem. and it is a problem for them too - feral cats, especially over-populated ones, are disease ridden, and normally mangy and starving. It is as much a mercy to them as it is pest control. 

And shooting them is as humane a method as there is. It may seem gruesome to you, but it is normally over in a split second... Way quicker than the euthanizing performed in the cities... and certainly more humane than how they'd perish otherwise.

I am being honest with you, and speaking the truth. Be careful not to judge what you don't understand. City folks really don't know what it's like to be self-sufficient... Which naturally requires killing things as a matter of course.

My meat doesn't come on a Styrofoam tray. It comes wrapped in fur or feathers. I hate to break it to you, but so does yours. All we do is cut out the middlemen.

The same goes for pests. My county would laugh at you if you asked them to come take care of a nest of feral cats. So would the humane society. There is no way they can even begin to address the problem. So we address it ourselves. Humanely and efficiently.

I am sorry that grieves you, but it's reality. We deal with it here.

[RoosGirl]

Trap Them       http://www.wideopenspaces.com/4-ways-eradicate-hogs-land/

If done correctly, trapping hogs can result in 100% eradication of your hog population. If done incorrectly, trapping can turn out to be a phenomenal waste of time and can actually make the hogs more difficult to remove down the road.

In order to be successful, hog trapping must be conducted using traps that are sturdy and designed well enough that no hogs escape and that all of the hogs in a group are captured at once. Remember: hogs are really, really smart. If a hog escapes a trap, or witnesses fellow hogs being caught in a trap, there is a good chance that hog will become “trap shy” and it may actually never be possible to trap that particular hog again for the rest of its life.

There are a number of traps on the market that are designed to these specifications and in conjunction with a trail camera, can send photos to a computer or cell phone to let you know when all the hogs in a group are in the trap. The trap is then designed to be remote triggered by a human once the trap is full. This will result in all of the hogs being trapped in one fell swoop. There have been several documented cases of 30-40 hogs being caught at once in a trap like this.

Though this can also get expensive, trapping hogs is not usually as labor intensive as hunting them with hounds, and can be nearly as successful.

As I stated several times, these methods for eradicating a hog population work best when applied over a sustained period of time. They may not kill every single hog on your property, but there is a really good chance that the hogs will leave your property after a period of time in reaction to the pressure you are putting on them. Like I said, they are smart and will quickly learn what they need to do to keep from getting killed, to include leaving town. In the end, it doesn’t really matter what happens to them: if they are all killed or if they all leave the end result for you is the same.

Ugh, and push them onto someone else's property to do damage there.

[Elderberry]

Ugh, and push them onto someone else's property to do damage there.

And how would you propose that the feral hog problem be mitigated?

[RoosGirl]

And how would you propose that the feral hog problem be mitigated?

I don't have a problem with any of the methods listed.  I just had a problem with the suggestion that it doesn't matter what happens to them as long as they aren't on your property anymore. 

I'm a little surprised there isn't more of an effort to use them for food for people who can't afford otherwise.

[thackney]

I don't have a problem with any of the methods listed.  I just had a problem with the suggestion that it doesn't matter what happens to them as long as they aren't on your property anymore. 

I'm a little surprised there isn't more of an effort to use them for food for people who can't afford otherwise.

There is an effort, nearly every county has a designated place that will buy live hogs trapped and brought in.

The trapping and the bringing part is barely worth the cost of the meat, but some get organized and do it.  If they can get paid by a landowner to remove hogs, it is more likely economical for the time involved.

[roamer_1]

There is an effort, nearly every county has a designated place that will buy live hogs trapped and brought in.

The trapping and the bringing part is barely worth the cost of the meat, but some get organized and do it.  If they can get paid by a landowner to remove hogs, it is more likely economical for the time involved.

I have hear tell that wild hog often has a taint to the meat... Is that true?