Rancho Loco
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2002
- Messages
- 5,546
- Reaction score
- 3
Wild pigs maintain a rooting interest
By Brian Seals
Sentinel staff writer
The field behind Carole and Barry Turner's Danube Drive home looks like it could have been tilled by a John Deere.
Just beyond the wooden fence behind the house, the green fields are pocked with mud holes and stretches of dirt that look like a row ready for seeding. These are the telltale signs of one of Santa Cruz County's longtime mountain menaces: wild pigs.
Since September the pigs have been plowing within feet of the Vienna Woods neighborhood and, the Turners fear, inching closer to area backyards.
The field is between Cabrillo College and the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park, areas that have a history of pig plight.
"They're definitely worse this year, so we suspect there are more of them," Turner said.
Wild pigs have been a nuisance in Santa Cruz County for decades. However, the wet weather of the past few months is known to draw out the animals that can top 400 pounds.
"Generally speaking, when we get better rains the pig numbers tend to go up; when we have droughts the pig numbers tend to go down," said Terry Palmisano, senior wildlife biologist with the state Department of Fish and Game.
The softened ground lures the swine out of the hills.
"They go to where the restaurant is open, and unfortunately that is in people's backyards," Palmisano said.
She said the department has been getting calls not only from Santa Cruz County but San Jose and other areas.
They can be found around the state, but the Central Coast is a hot spot. About 53 percent of the wild pigs killed by hunters in 2003-04 were on the Central Coast, Fish and Game reports.
Through the years feral pigs have created problems around the county, especially in 2001, when they caused thousands of dollars worth of damage at Cabrillo College. That same year, State Parks launched an eradication plan at Wilder Ranch State Park and killed more than 215 wild pigs.
"We had a very successful program at Wilder," said Dave Vincent, superintendent of the Santa Cruz District of State Parks. "If there is anything going on there now, it's minimal."
The pig activity near Nisene Marks doesn't warrent that kind of response, said Chris Spohrer, resource ecologist for State Parks: "It seems like there are little bits here and there, but nothing that would trigger the same sort of response."
As of late, the animals don't seem to be doing any damage at Cabrillo College, said spokeswoman Cathy Summa.
Pigs also have been known to overrun the North Coast, from Bonny Doon to Davenport.
"They're a problem and they probably always will be," said Bill Ringe, president of Agri-Culture, which is acquiring about 700 acres on the old Coast Dairies property around Davenport to manage. "I don't know if there is an answer."
Residents can obtain what are called depredation permits, though it is more difficult for urban dwellers to get them than it is for people living in rural areas. About four-dozen permits were issued in the county last year, a number that stays fairly consistent from year to year, said Fish and Game Lt. Don Kelly.
Wild pigs were introduced into California in the early 1700s by Spanish and Russian settlers, according to Fish and Game. In the 1920s, a Monterey County landowner introduced the European wild boar into California, which bred with the domestic pigs. The result of these introductions is a wild boar/feral domestic pig hybrid. They can be found in 56 of the state's 58 counties.
They didn't appear in Santa Cruz County until the mid-1980s.
By Brian Seals
Sentinel staff writer
The field behind Carole and Barry Turner's Danube Drive home looks like it could have been tilled by a John Deere.
Just beyond the wooden fence behind the house, the green fields are pocked with mud holes and stretches of dirt that look like a row ready for seeding. These are the telltale signs of one of Santa Cruz County's longtime mountain menaces: wild pigs.
Since September the pigs have been plowing within feet of the Vienna Woods neighborhood and, the Turners fear, inching closer to area backyards.
The field is between Cabrillo College and the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park, areas that have a history of pig plight.
"They're definitely worse this year, so we suspect there are more of them," Turner said.
Wild pigs have been a nuisance in Santa Cruz County for decades. However, the wet weather of the past few months is known to draw out the animals that can top 400 pounds.
"Generally speaking, when we get better rains the pig numbers tend to go up; when we have droughts the pig numbers tend to go down," said Terry Palmisano, senior wildlife biologist with the state Department of Fish and Game.
The softened ground lures the swine out of the hills.
"They go to where the restaurant is open, and unfortunately that is in people's backyards," Palmisano said.
She said the department has been getting calls not only from Santa Cruz County but San Jose and other areas.
They can be found around the state, but the Central Coast is a hot spot. About 53 percent of the wild pigs killed by hunters in 2003-04 were on the Central Coast, Fish and Game reports.
Through the years feral pigs have created problems around the county, especially in 2001, when they caused thousands of dollars worth of damage at Cabrillo College. That same year, State Parks launched an eradication plan at Wilder Ranch State Park and killed more than 215 wild pigs.
"We had a very successful program at Wilder," said Dave Vincent, superintendent of the Santa Cruz District of State Parks. "If there is anything going on there now, it's minimal."
The pig activity near Nisene Marks doesn't warrent that kind of response, said Chris Spohrer, resource ecologist for State Parks: "It seems like there are little bits here and there, but nothing that would trigger the same sort of response."
As of late, the animals don't seem to be doing any damage at Cabrillo College, said spokeswoman Cathy Summa.
Pigs also have been known to overrun the North Coast, from Bonny Doon to Davenport.
"They're a problem and they probably always will be," said Bill Ringe, president of Agri-Culture, which is acquiring about 700 acres on the old Coast Dairies property around Davenport to manage. "I don't know if there is an answer."
Residents can obtain what are called depredation permits, though it is more difficult for urban dwellers to get them than it is for people living in rural areas. About four-dozen permits were issued in the county last year, a number that stays fairly consistent from year to year, said Fish and Game Lt. Don Kelly.
Wild pigs were introduced into California in the early 1700s by Spanish and Russian settlers, according to Fish and Game. In the 1920s, a Monterey County landowner introduced the European wild boar into California, which bred with the domestic pigs. The result of these introductions is a wild boar/feral domestic pig hybrid. They can be found in 56 of the state's 58 counties.
They didn't appear in Santa Cruz County until the mid-1980s.
