Feral hogs continue to persist in Arkansas Feral hogs have been quite a nuisance for Arkansas landowners. These invasive pests compete for food resources, destroy habitat by rooting and wallowing in farmland and eat ground-nesting birds, eggs, fawns and young domestic livestock. Feral hogs can harbor up to 45 diseases, parasites and bacteria, including Brucellosis, Trichinellosis and swine herpes virus. The feral hog problem has spread to new areas because of illegal relocation for hunting purposes. Arkansas Game and Fish reports that shooting individual hogs hinders agencies’ efforts to complete large-
scale trappings because of the increased disturbance in the area.
AFA board member Darwin Hendrix is a landowner in Pike County and has had a major feral hog problem on his property. To alleviate the issue, Hendrix worked with Scott Cagle, nuisance control and wildlife consultant, and Rowe Industries of Hope, AR to create four permanent traps and eight portable traps that have been placed on his land. The traps have cameras located around the perimeter and whenever motion is
August 2016
detected, Cagle receives an alert on his cell phone and is able to view the number of hogs inside the trap. When Cagle is pleased with the number that are in the trap, he is able to trap them with a click of the button on his cell phone. Cagle and Hendrix then go to the trap and eliminate them. To lure them into the trap, Hendrix places 100 pounds of corn inside each trap. These traps can hold around 15-20 hogs. “Although we have killed hundreds of hogs with our traps, the issue still persists,” Hendrix said. “Trapping the hogs via cellphone has made hunting the species much more effective. We are able to secure a whole sounder instead of just one or two at a time.” Arkansas has implemented laws to help with the feral hog issue. Private landowners have the right to shoot hogs, night or day, year round. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission recognizes large-scale trapping to be the most efficient way of reducing the feral hog population. Studies have shown that 66 percent of the hog population must be removed each year just to prevent it from growing. However, hunting has only reduced the population of hogs by eight to 50 percent. According to Mississippi State University Extension, feral hogs cause $1.5 billion in damage each year, nationwide.
AFA Board Member Darwin Hendrix displays one of his four permanent feral hog traps that sit on his Antoine property. The setup time of a trap is approximately one hour.
Feral Hog Trap Demonstration
September 9, 2016 | 9:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Wrightsville, AR Register online. http://uaferalhogdemo.eventbrite.com
Trail Camera Usage | How to Trap Feral Hogs | Laws and Regulations
Feral hogs are not native to North America. Early European settlers and explorers brought these invasive pests to America in the 1500s. Hogs can give birth to as many as a dozen piglets in one birth and can have up to two litters annually.