Winter is the best time for hog trapping
Feral hogs sneaking into Gilmer County might find they’re a pig in a poke.
“The sooner you can get somebody in to help trap hogs and remove them, the better,” Georgia Association of Conservation Districts Feral Hog Manager Marc Land said. He leads feral hog eradication efforts across the state of Georgia.
Winter is the perfect time of year for trapping and killing feral hogs. They’re hungry and don’t have many food sources.
Feral hogs are an invasive species. And their fast reproduction rate, destructive habits and omnivorous diet arguably makes them one of the worst.
In just 15 months, one female hog can result in 24 hogs.
“A ‘pig bomb’ is what I call it. They explode fast,” Land said.
Transport for hunting, natural expansion and other factors have spread feral hogs across most of the South, as well as some other parts of the United States.
Hogs may not be a common sight in Gilmer County, Land said. But that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Unlike deer, feral hogs don’t move around much. Instead, they find a wet area with food, stay there and breed.
“They will tend to stay there and reproduce a lot,” Land said.
Hogs are almost impossible to fully exterminate. Every three months, three weeks and three days, they can have another litter of piglets. Sows reach sexual maturity in six months. But by acting quickly when they are sighted, it’s possible to keep them under control.
Often, hogs leave rooted-up fields behind. If you have reason to believe feral hogs are on your property, you should call up the district’s Hog Control Custodians. These people are state contractors and professionals who are capable of dealing with feral hogs.
You can reach Custodian Coye Harrod at 706-280-7491 and Custodian Ken Ellington at 706-889-8418 or Nuisance.trapper1@gmail.com.
There may be a fee for using their services. These experts can do the hard work of eradicating feral hogs for you. They can also provide equipment so landowners can do the job themselves.
“They have equipment to trap hogs,” Land said.
Eradicating feral hogs doesn’t mean just shooting them. If you shoot just a few, the others will just get away and breed.
Effective hog control requires specially designed traps that catch entire groups, or “sounders” of animals at once. Luring a whole sounder into a trap at once is a days-long process that requires both patience and finesse. But it’s a lot nicer than having them go hog wild.
“They’ll go to fields, especially cornfields, and destroy them,” Land said.