WALKER: Wild hog talk
I did not start off to be against 'em. I really didn't. I guess when I first noticed 'em, like most folks, it was an "olfactory thing", which means "of or contributing to the sense of smell," which Papa's hogs certainly did.
I was probably younger than 10 years old, but close to it, when I began to take notice of the hogs and how important they were to Papa and Grandma's well-being. Oh, I didn't one day say, "these hogs contribute to my grandparents' lifestyle and survival," but I initially started realizing that the hogs mattered. Whether I related the country ham with red-eye gravy, syrup and biscuits to the hogs, probably not. But, I began to realize the hogs mattered.
Grandma and Papa "killed hogs" every year (it was cold but not freezing, lest the meat would freeze), and I watched all of this with great interest. I watched the men shave the killed hogs (the knives had to be razor sharp and the water had to be hot, but not too hot or it would "set the hair"). Some of our politicians today "set the hair."
Out of the hog killings came sausage (packed into the cleaned intestines), tenderloin, salt cured hams, ribs, 'chitlings', barbecue, etc. What do they say? "They ate everything but the squeals." Hogs were important to the David Walker family.
What I'm getting to is my strong dislike of Papa's hog's descendants which I will call "wild hogs" and which have become a scourge on this country. If you have a little land and a lot of wild pigs, which many of you do, then you know what I mean. Let me vent.
A little explanation is in order. I was in Athens at the University of Georgia this past weekend, and my friend, Toby Carr, who works with UGA, gave me a manual by Michael Foster and Michael T. Mengak from the university's Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. This interesting and very well done information mostly comes from their work.
Swine were first introduced to North America by Spanish explorers in the 16th century, and settlers raised pigs with free-range practices for centuries. Eurasian species of boars for sports hunting resulted in interbreeding with free-ranging domestic pigs. The pig population exploded.
Wild pigs are the most fertile large mammals in existence. They have a gestation period of about 16 weeks, start reproducing at six months and a typical sow will give birth to two litters per year of four to six piglets. Lots and lots of pigs and hogs!
These pigs are mostly found in moist areas, but are highly mobile and nomadic. They are now colonized in more than 40 of the 50 states.
These pigs will consume almost anything from agriculture crops and mast crops, such as acorns and fruits, to grub worms and dead animals. They will also consume fawns, livestock and eggs of wildlife. I seldom see a snake on our place. I think the hogs are eating the snake eggs and the snakes!
Wild pigs travel in groups called sounders consisting of two or three related adult females and their offspring. Males, especially larger boars, are often solitary. Members of a sounder often suckle from one sow while the other stands watch for predators. This contributes to low mortality rates of the wild pigs.
Some statistics from UGA: 90 percent of people do not like having wild hogs on their land and 81 percent report that they hunt or allow hunting of the pigs on their land; 80 percent believe wild pigs negatively affect deer and quail; and 70 percent believe they have a negative effect on wild turkeys.
Wild pigs cause substantial damage to fencing, food plots and can quickly destroy a new planted pine stand. They can tear up a track of land at night that will take you years to get smoothed back to usability.
The most effective means of control is trapping, which of course, is difficult, if done properly. But, it can be quite successful. Shooting is another attempt at control, but it is apparently not very effective.
Back to Washington County around 1952, or so. I had a pet pig that followed me around my grandparents' farm. Sometimes, he (or she?) would lie down in the warm sun and I would lie down and put my head on its side. Both of us would take a nap. Little did I realize all the problems the descendants of my pillow were going to cause. But, I did know that these pigs were important to Grandma and Papa, and to me, too. "Important can be positive or negative."
Larry Walker is a practicing attorney in Perry. He served 32 years in the Georgia General Assembly and presently serves on the University System of Georgia Board of Regents. Email: lwalker@whgmlaw.com.
This story was originally published February 13, 2016 at 3:13 PM with the headline "WALKER: Wild hog talk ."