Are there wild hog in FL?

[diesel]

Tell me if I’m crazy or not. We were leaving Magic Kingdom around 8pm on Friday and we had just passed the AAA car center. I saw two dark figures running on the side of the road. I thought they were two dogs but realized they looked like pigs (they looked to be black/dark colored). So I assume they were wild hog. Does Florida have wild hog/boar?

 

[pumba]

my sister was visiting her husbands relatives and they had wild hogs in the woods behind the houses...this was not her favorite part of the trip...SO I am assuming that they are in Florida...

 

[TEENEE]

We sure do. They are a big problem in some areas. They can do a lot damage and are mean.

 

[ilovepcot]

Absolutely! There's a place known as "Hog Island" on Lake Kissimmee. DH used to fish there and hogs would get trapped on spots of land during rainy season. Alligators patrolled the shoreline so the hogs were unable to leave. Fishermen had to be *very careful* coming up on these little islands at this time. Hogs were really hungry and would attack. He's also seen some recently in rural areas of Polk County. They're all over FL.

 

[Jennasis]

You mean these?

 

[denisem]

You mean these?

I had the same thought, as the 2nd one has a home about 20 miles from me...

 

[beck0321]

A horrible invasive species, but very TASTY if you know someone who hunts and/or can cook them!

Unfortunately, even open hunting season on them can not control the populations, and they are becoming more and more of a problem.

If you google distribution maps over the years, you'll see they're spreading. Although it seems Florida has had them bad for quite a while. And apparently they're worse off than us here in Louisiana (as a whole; not really BR).

 

[agnes!]

Could it be that the wild boars are making a comeback because humans have decimated many of the historically large/top predator populations from the food chain - like wolves & mountain lions? Coyotes and alligators are about the only types that come to my mind that have made a comeback. I'm not sure what would be big enough/smart enough to take down a wild boar though...other than maybe humans...

Heh, there's even a reality show about a family of hunters (dad, son, daughter) that hunt wild boars for their living.

agnes!

 

[Bilberry]

I haven't seen any around here, but have heard about wild hogs running around from others. To my surprise there are quite a few wild animals roaming the land - wilds hogs, a bear, panthers, of course alligators, and a few eagles flying near by. I suppose it is like Wild Kingdom in a way!

 

[brerrabbit]

Yes there are wild hogs in Florida! They have either the second or third biggest population in the country behind Texas which has the largest population of them. Wild hogs or feral hogs are domesticated hogs that have escaped into the wild and continue to breed uncontrolled. A sow can have as many as 24 babies a year and since the population is unchecked for the most part they are becoming a huge issue. They will eat anything, and I do mean anything. They are omnivors and will eat other animals as well as plants, crops, and garbage. They can get very large with boars running up to 450 pounds and having some very large, very sharp teeth. They really are not what I would consider tusks but at their lower insicors that get long (up to 4 to 5 inches) and stick out on either side of their snouts. I own land in Texas north of College Station (home of Texas A&M) and I have hogs. I have shot several and the population is still increasing. There are numerous shows on A&E and the Discovery Channels about Hog Hunting. They are sensationalized a lot because they mostly use dogs and capture the live. The reason for that that the shows never explain is that for their meat to be donated to shelters, charities, and food banks, the hog has to be taken to the processors live. If they shoot it and bring it in dead then only the person who brought it in can take the meat from it and cannot donate it.

I have eaten some I have shot but to be honest I could shoot more than my family could eat in a lifetime. Also if captured live you can feed them out for a while with corn or oats to clean up the taste or gaminess in the meat. If you shoot it, you get what you get. The taste of the meat will vary greatly with their diet. So as a result to try and save my property from the damage they do I have shot some and left them for the buzzards and their fellow hogs.

I don't like doing it but with last year's drought they have been tearing up my stock tank and deficting in the water a lot which is tainting it. Since I have cattle on the land as well that depend on that water source I have been trying to keep it clear of hogs. It seems though that no matter how many you get rid of they just keep coming back again and again.

 

[LisaR]

Yes! We just had open season on them at a local golf course. The place was allowed to hire hog hunters and they killed eight hogs in one weeks time! We see dead ones along the side of the road. 528 seems to be the worst. We saw six baby hogs snacking on some other dead animal while we were driving along there last weekend.

 

[Feralpeg]

There are lots of wild hog in this area. Keep your eyes peeled while driving on WDW property at night, you might also see a bobcat! There are a lot of them out there.

 

[DVC-Don]

Yep, our community in Polk County had to hire professional hog hunters. The wild hogs tear up the lawns something awful.

 

[ckay87]

Yes, I camped in Myakka River State park last year (don't ask me where that was...middle of nowhere pretty much ) and there were tons of alligators AND hogs. There were huge traps set up around the park which I assumed were for the hogs.

One thing I did not know was that FL has armadillos. Guess I should know that, but never thought about it. One wandered up and joined us at the campfire. I think he was lost!

 

[BeachGirlFLA]

There are definitely wild hogs down there...and I know where Myakka River State Park is (disclaimer: I moved to Denver from Bradenton.)

 

[irishbosoxfan]

My older sister lives in Florida. She and her DH have a hunting camp that they own. It's just a small piece of land that they have trailers on and use to hunt hogs.

She was never big into hunting when she was younger despite having grown up in the back woods of Maine so when I seen the pics of her 9yo granddaughter with her first pig kill I was surprised. Then grossed out by the pics of the 9yo skinning it like a champ

They rent out the camp to make extra money and sell some of what they kill as well.

She said it's been a very good side business for them.

 

[Zandy595]

Yes, I camped in Myakka River State park last year (don't ask me where that was...middle of nowhere pretty much ) and there were tons of alligators AND hogs. There were huge traps set up around the park which I assumed were for the hogs.

One thing I did not know was that FL has armadillos. Guess I should know that, but never thought about it. One wandered up and joined us at the campfire. I think he was lost!

I had been vacationing in FL every year since I was 5 and had no clue there were armadillos, until we moved here 16 years ago. Now I see them all the time. Unfortunately they are usually dead on the side of the road. We did see a live one at DS's school last year. First live, wild one I'd ever seen.

We have wild hogs around here too. DS used to go to a high school where 80% of the kids who drove, had pickups with dog cages in the back. Apparently they use the dogs to hunt the hogs.

 

[Zandy595]

double post

 

[Pikester]

My DH's parents wintered in FL every year for many years and when he was younger he would go boar hunting. They lived in Fort Myers and had a camp they would go to. During my first visit down there when we started dating I spent a day sitting in a camp with his mother reading a book while he and his dad went hunting. Went for my first ride in a swamp buggy too.

 

[Art 1]

If you know where to look along the monorail and in the MK parking area you can see deer, hogs, rabbits, armadillos and turkey. Last week while on the monorail going to Epcot from MK we saw a coyote. It is the second one we have seen on Disney property.