Nightline story about wild hog explosion

[moonrunrs]

Just watched a really interesting story on ABC Nightline about the wild pig explosion in the USA. Since 1990 Wild pigs have spread to over 40 states in america and cannot be stopped.

I've never been pig hunting, but LOVE pork. Watching that story made me want to try it.

BTW, the story was very pro-hunting and they explained that hunters are the only real solution to stopping this problem. I was surprised how pro-sportsmen ABC was. The pigs cause millions each year in damage and they believe pigs were responsible for the recent e coli breakout at TAco Bell. They profiled a trapper in Texas who is doing a great job limiting the # of wild pigs in the state.

 

[AmericanPitBullTerrier]

I saw it too.... very interesting. One thing that surprises me is that no one has gotten the bright idea to start using poison to control these pigs. Thank God.

 

[baboltin]

saw it also, and i wouldnt mind going to texas and helping them out, but i was glad that they were pro hunter.

 

[Zbearclaw]

Folks do poison them, but then you have dogs, cats, and other predators dying from eating them so that is not a viable option, only option is hunting the hell out of them, though they are able to avoid many efforts to limit their numbers, they are much like rats, though I enjoy eating pigs, rat's taste too much like rat poison.

 

[RLL]

Even in Texas it is illegal to poison hogs. A couple of guys in E. Texas did it ... and the feds hammered them. Found guilty of killing 4 or 5 deer ... dozens of buzzards and coyotes. Sent to jail and fined. They had to pay restitution ... even for the buzzards.

I would imagine Cali atleast as strict.

 

[hogwild757]

I would definitely be interested in visitin texas for a week to help taking hog with my bow or Rifle. Then I could visit my Brother in Austin and sister in Houston. Got a lot of arrows to shoot.

 

[underone]

I was fishing at Santa Cruz Island last year and watched a helicopter drop what looked like poison on the ridges at yellow banks. There are a lot of hogs on that island and the canyon that drop down to the ocean hold some big boys. That would be a great place to hunt, but instead they hired a firm from Austrailia to kill them off... go figure. What I don't understand is the limited access to a national park.

 

[RLL]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (underone @ Dec 13 2006, 01:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

What I don't understand is the limited access to a national park.[/b]

Probably a safety issue. Hunting creates a problem in parks. The place I trap is a dually regulated flood watershed that is also used as a park. Hike & bike, equestrian, shooting ranges, dog kennels, soccer fields, baseball fields, picnic areas, etc. My permit allows me to trap hogs ... but it is very explicit. I can only shoot hogs within a trap ... but they prefer I remove them alive. It specifically prohibits killing any other animal ... be they beneficial or harmful.

They err on the side of caution. They don't want to endanger the rest of the park users. I would suspect national parks would have similar concerns.

 

[RLL]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (underone @ Dec 13 2006, 01:51 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

I was fishing at Santa Cruz Island last year and watched a helicopter drop what looked like poison on the ridges at yellow banks.[/b]

I doubt they poisoned them. It kills virtually everything in the food chain. From buzzards to deer to critters to rodents and even the ants and spiders. Birds fall into the water and then it kills fish when they eat on the bird. Literally creates a dead zone.

 

[underone]

I thought the same thing at the time. from what i hear they are trying to destroy anything that isn't native on the islands.

 

[moonrunrs]

For anyone who missed it, here's the story:

http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/US/story?i...7845&page=1

 

[Killzone]

SO was the latest brake out of Ecoli from lettuce , from wild hogs shitting in the lettuce fields or from field workers shitting in the fields, anyone know?? just watched a tv news clip on contaminated lettuce

 

[Rancho Loco]

MY GAWD PEOPLE - EDUCATE YOURSELVES!

WILD HOGS OR ILLEGALS CRAPPING IN THE FIELDS DID NOT CAUSE THESE E-COLI OUTBREAKS.

 

[Killzone]

ok rancho what does cause it? if it is in the lettuce??? huh

 

[Rancho Loco]

The E-Coli bacteria that turns humans inside out lives naturally (and in huge numbers) in the gut of cows - who shed the bacteria in every dump.
If you observe these fields in the Salinas valley and out near SJ Bautista, you'll see they are ringed by cattle ranches.

Contaminated irrigation water and runoff then contaminates crops in the field.
So does improper fertilization techniques. It takes very few bacteria to infect a human. There are literally millions in an infected cow flop.

Once contaminated, even a small patch of produce (or contaminated ground beef - remember that story?) can cross contaminate huge amounts of produce thanks to huge processing facilities that now co-mingle and process multiple harvests worth of produce, or thousands of pounds of meat, which is then packaged and shipped all over the nation.

Bagged processed produce is scary stuff, along with bulk packaged hamburger. I won't touch the stuff.

This is a perfect example of the vulnerability of our food production system here in the U.S. In half a day, and with the right chemicals, just about anybody could poison thousands of people in this country and probably get away with it.

In some cases, it's the processing companies doing it themselves.

 

[billrob]

Great Article
I hope the gooberment or crop insurance underwriters offer tax and/or premium incentives to farmers to let hunters help them out.
I guess the guides wouldn't like it.

anthrax is also present in soil.

 

[RichDunn]

Rancho, another way of spreading Ecoli is pigs root thru cowpies looking for undigested grains and then crawl under field fences spreading the ecoli to the produce. Is this not one way to spread it. I'm not saying this is how it happened, but it is a possibilty. And your saying it can't be spread by human waste, In the past I've owned a pig eradicating business and I've killed hundreds of hogs in fields and in every field I've hunted in has had human feces behind every bush and I have seen signs of pigs eating those feces. And in the past ecoli has been passed to children who were swimming in pools, where someone has had a diarea accident. So, humans can pass ecoli. If your an expert in this field, then I will believe what you are saying. But if you are not it's not wise to spread false information so you can make yourself look as if your an expert. Just my

 

[Rancho Loco]

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo...ichiacoli_g.htm

If an adult has E-coli, they won't be working in the fields, they will be trying to basically stay alive.

As for pigs spreading it, every pig I've shot has lived on ranches filled with cows, and every pig has been clean in the way of cow crap. From my own eyes I can see this as a non-issue.

Contaminated runoff and irrigation on the other hand is a big problem, so is the processing problems described in my other post..But - if you don't want to believe me at this point, fair enough, but I'm sure not going after a convienient red herring tossed my way, and frankly I'm suprised so many people are willing to let these negligent operations off the hook so easily.

 

[dw33]

"and frankly I'm suprised so many people are willing to let these negligent operations off the hook so easily" (by Rancho Loco).

I noticed there was no follow up to this story, no tracing it back to its source.

 

[Rancho Loco]

Farmers talk food safety in the Pajaro Valley
By TOM RAGAN
SENTINEL STAFF WRITER

About a dozen lettuce and leafy green growers from the Pajaro Valley showed up at the Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau on Thursday to talk about problems plaguing the industry, foremost among them recent E. coli outbreaks.

In what amounted to a brainstorming session, they talked about how they could better protect their produce through the management of manure, what types they should use and how they could stockpile it better.

They talked about irrigation practices and how the water could be tested more often, whether it's delivered by canal or ditch or comes up from wells.

Some even talked about the idea of building fences in areas where wild animals tend to roam, especially wild boars, whose manure was suspected in the spinach outbreak, although that's still not determined.

Although the Pajaro Valley is not to blame for the E. coli in the prepackaged spinach that killed three people and sickened nearly 200 others in mid-September, some of the farmers want to do their part so that consumer confidence doesn't fail, said Dick Nutter, a past Monterey County agriculture commissioner and consultant hired by the Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau.

"We want to show the consumers that we are proactive and that we're interested in protecting them," Nutter said after the meeting.

Steve Bontadelli, a brussels sprouts grower and Farm Bureau president, said he's looking for input from all farmers on how the agricultural industry should proceed with food safety.

"It's something that's going to affect us from here on out," he said. "And people need to be aware of this."

Meanwhile, a public is slated for 10 a.m. Jan. 12 at the Monterey County Fairgrounds. It will be hosted by the California Department of Food and Agriculture. One of the key topics will be "Good Agricultural Practices" and how farmers in the state can improve on them, Nutter said.