The State could probably make a lot of money by allowing hunters to take care of this problem. -rohclem
http://www.pinnaclenews.com/sb-edition/columnists.php
Outlaw pigs ousted
Somebody’s pig-biting mad over feral pigs at Henry Coe State Park for all the wrong reasons.
This anonymous activist isn’t worried that there are too many pigs in the enormous wilderness park in the Diablo Range. He wants them left alone, to root around, reproduce and generally behave like the wild kingdom’s very own outlaw biker gang.
His activities (I’m assuming this is a male of the species) came to my attention when a reader and sometime correspondent from San Juan Bautista was nice enough to forward me a leaflet she picked up at a San Juan restaurant on February 7.
The single-page screed is written in the all-capitals style favored by the lunatic fringe lurking in Internet chat rooms. I’ll spare you the trouble of sorting through the caps when I quote from his letter, but otherwise all quotes are verbatim.
“Henry W. Coe State Park has a problem,” he begins. “The second largest state park in California has decided that it has too many wild pigs within its boundaries.”
I’m not sure how a park decides anything, being made up primarily of earth, rock and vegetation, substances not known for decisive action. Obviously, what he means is that a troupe of biologists and park rangers has determined that wild pigs are a park problem.
I’m sure that decision was not made in haste. Anyone who’s drawn a breath in California during the last 20 years knows that nothing gets done around here without lots of studies, meetings and general commotion first.
California’s wild pigs are the descendants of domestic pigs and Russian boars that were released for sport hunting. They breed rapidly, feed voraciously and displace native wildlife. If you spend any time at all outdoors in central California, the rototilled appearance of fields laid waste by rooting pigs is a familiar sight.
The letter-writer encourages people to get in touch with either Coe Park Ranger Barry Breckling or Park Superintendent Curtis Price, so I did.
Ranger Breckling quickly returned my call and I asked him about the pig-control program. While visiting the park, I’d noticed large cage traps placed in likely spots for pigs.
Breckling acknowledged the program, and said further that he is aware at least one person is upset about it. But he said that the program already had removed 1,500 pigs from the park.
One thousand five hundred porkers pulled out of the park seem ample evidence of the program’s merit and efficacy.
After trapping, the pigs are euthanized, as the letter-writer describes in lurid detail:
“…They will be shot in the head. You can now hear the squealing and pain of a caged wild animal. You may also hear the gunshots that kill them. Sometimes it takes more than one shot.
“Of course it will be necessary for the park to change their signs that are visible in many areas. Instead of reading ‘all plants and wildlife are protected,’ it should now read ‘all plants and some wildlife are protected.”
Well, that’s pretty good prose, except that feral pigs do not fit my definition of wildlife any more than packs of dogs gone wild. They did not evolve in the context of California wilderness and the other organisms that did are ill-equipped to compete with them.
Pigs are a popular game species now, and California law encourages their hunting with generous bag limits. In places where hunting is not permitted or practical, some kind of control simply must be applied. I visited Coe Park many years ago, before the pig control program began, and the damage was dramatic. Trails were pocked with wallows wherever water pooled. Vast acreage was turned over and erosion was obvious.
Whether or not you would opine that introducing pigs to California’s wilderness was a mistake, the fact is that they are here thanks to us. I believe that means we have a responsibility to the rest of the wild community to keep the problems we created – such as those stemming from pigs – in check.
I would encourage you to act upon this anonymous animal lover’s suggestion and to call either Ranger Breckling or Superintendent Price and to tell them what I did: keep up the good work, guys. This is one park user who votes yes on wild pig control.
Ranger Barry Breckling may be reached at the Henry Coe State Park headquarters, (408) 779-2728. Superintendent Curtis Price can be reached through the State Parks District Office in San Juan, (831) 623-1659.
Mark Paxton lives in Hollister and works in Morgan Hill. His e-mail address is paxtonm@hotmail.com.
http://www.pinnaclenews.com/sb-edition/columnists.php
Outlaw pigs ousted
Somebody’s pig-biting mad over feral pigs at Henry Coe State Park for all the wrong reasons.
This anonymous activist isn’t worried that there are too many pigs in the enormous wilderness park in the Diablo Range. He wants them left alone, to root around, reproduce and generally behave like the wild kingdom’s very own outlaw biker gang.
His activities (I’m assuming this is a male of the species) came to my attention when a reader and sometime correspondent from San Juan Bautista was nice enough to forward me a leaflet she picked up at a San Juan restaurant on February 7.
The single-page screed is written in the all-capitals style favored by the lunatic fringe lurking in Internet chat rooms. I’ll spare you the trouble of sorting through the caps when I quote from his letter, but otherwise all quotes are verbatim.
“Henry W. Coe State Park has a problem,” he begins. “The second largest state park in California has decided that it has too many wild pigs within its boundaries.”
I’m not sure how a park decides anything, being made up primarily of earth, rock and vegetation, substances not known for decisive action. Obviously, what he means is that a troupe of biologists and park rangers has determined that wild pigs are a park problem.
I’m sure that decision was not made in haste. Anyone who’s drawn a breath in California during the last 20 years knows that nothing gets done around here without lots of studies, meetings and general commotion first.
California’s wild pigs are the descendants of domestic pigs and Russian boars that were released for sport hunting. They breed rapidly, feed voraciously and displace native wildlife. If you spend any time at all outdoors in central California, the rototilled appearance of fields laid waste by rooting pigs is a familiar sight.
The letter-writer encourages people to get in touch with either Coe Park Ranger Barry Breckling or Park Superintendent Curtis Price, so I did.
Ranger Breckling quickly returned my call and I asked him about the pig-control program. While visiting the park, I’d noticed large cage traps placed in likely spots for pigs.
Breckling acknowledged the program, and said further that he is aware at least one person is upset about it. But he said that the program already had removed 1,500 pigs from the park.
One thousand five hundred porkers pulled out of the park seem ample evidence of the program’s merit and efficacy.
After trapping, the pigs are euthanized, as the letter-writer describes in lurid detail:
“…They will be shot in the head. You can now hear the squealing and pain of a caged wild animal. You may also hear the gunshots that kill them. Sometimes it takes more than one shot.
“Of course it will be necessary for the park to change their signs that are visible in many areas. Instead of reading ‘all plants and wildlife are protected,’ it should now read ‘all plants and some wildlife are protected.”
Well, that’s pretty good prose, except that feral pigs do not fit my definition of wildlife any more than packs of dogs gone wild. They did not evolve in the context of California wilderness and the other organisms that did are ill-equipped to compete with them.
Pigs are a popular game species now, and California law encourages their hunting with generous bag limits. In places where hunting is not permitted or practical, some kind of control simply must be applied. I visited Coe Park many years ago, before the pig control program began, and the damage was dramatic. Trails were pocked with wallows wherever water pooled. Vast acreage was turned over and erosion was obvious.
Whether or not you would opine that introducing pigs to California’s wilderness was a mistake, the fact is that they are here thanks to us. I believe that means we have a responsibility to the rest of the wild community to keep the problems we created – such as those stemming from pigs – in check.
I would encourage you to act upon this anonymous animal lover’s suggestion and to call either Ranger Breckling or Superintendent Price and to tell them what I did: keep up the good work, guys. This is one park user who votes yes on wild pig control.
Ranger Barry Breckling may be reached at the Henry Coe State Park headquarters, (408) 779-2728. Superintendent Curtis Price can be reached through the State Parks District Office in San Juan, (831) 623-1659.
Mark Paxton lives in Hollister and works in Morgan Hill. His e-mail address is paxtonm@hotmail.com.
