Feral Hog Research Paper

inexpensive. Also, they don’t frequent the vet. Pigs are routinely quite, but when they are hurt, they squeal their

We haven’t always endured the dramatic effect of these ghastly creatures. Around three hundred years ago the Spaniards, during their explorations introduced the hogs to Texas. The hogs were intended for sustenance and lard for the new settlers here in America. During the fight for Texas’s independence the hogs were left unattended and managed to escape their encasements. That being said, the hogs began reproducing at an alarming rate; now the feral hog

Feral pigs are omnivores, preferring succulent green vegetation, fruit, grain, and a wide variety of animal meat including, frogs, reptiles, birds, small mammals; and carrion. They also feed on underground plants such as root, bulbs, corms, and fungi. As a result of fossicking for food. The vast diet of feral pigs can cause severe environmental damage to vegetation. Feral pigs can also cause erosion of soil and damage to the native species of animals and vegetation. The requirement of protein and energy in a pig's diet is very high. This is needed for breeding, successful lactation and growth of young.

Imagine waking up in the middle of a warm Texas night to the thundering sound of fences being annihilated by a cluster of swine, weighing in at a hefty 300 pounds each and armed with razor-sharp tusks. Within minutes, the rowdy pigs turn a beautifully manicured lawn into a scene fitting of the apocalypse, a yard with numerous piles of de-rooted sod, broken fence posts and mangled bushes. In the state of Texas, feral pigs are considered one of the most destructive species of animals ever introduced to America. The amount of destruction feral pigs produce on a yearly basis in Texas is alarming; almost half a billion dollars in damages to property and crops are estimated every year as a result of the pigs’ actions. Feral pigs are responsible for causing widespread agricultural damage, spreading diseases in the food supply, and harming the state’s ability to feed needy people with their meat.

of the plains being inhabited by the occasional deer, they would be the home to wild hogs

Visualize growing up with a drunken father. Imagine having to clean up every mess he made and dealing with the anger of his drunken state. Place yourself in Martyn Pig's shoes and experience what he had to go through on the regular. He was forced to grow up with a father who only used him as a ticket to a buzz. Martyn Pig was a victim. Even pushing his at home issues aside and out of the picture, he was still bullied ruthlessly by the other students at his school. Martyn Pig is a victim and has gone through unnecessary stages in his life no child should ever have to experience.

In every town and city across the country, local humane societies and animal control systems has been relying on catching and killing feral outdoor cats to control their population. Over the last century in the United States, a program called Trap-Neuter-Return, or TNR, has been implemented. With this program, the cats are trapped, vaccinated, spayed or neutered, then returned to where they were found to live out their lives as feral cats. The program’s effectiveness has come in to question recently as feral cat colonies are still on the rise.

They were once found in different parts of North America ranging from Northern Mexico to Southern Canada. During the early and mid 1900s their populations in many Mideastern and western states of the United States of America reduced because they were hunted because of their high demand of fur. However, in the 1970s the international law began to protect them thus, reducing their high rate of decline (Hansen, 2006).

Their powerful back legs allow them easy travel through down timber in the boreal forest habitat they are known to inhabit. Boreal forests are known for

Species within food webs are interconnected in many complex ways that may not be visible to those who are not actively studying these relationships. As a result, modifying one level of the food web can cause unintended consequences when the entire food web is into taken account. Hoping to protect their crops, the ranchers were justified in their actions: their motive to remove prairie dogs from the area was driven by their need to yield a greater amount of crops, not by a malice to eradicate a species.

Domestic cats have taken the role of a keystone species in many environments, including human habitations, where they control some rodent populations. Feral cats are known to decimate native populations in many places in which they are introduced.

Animal science is a very broad topic. Form General Animal Science class I have learned that animal science is concerned with the science and also with the business to produce livestock such as cattle, horses, sheep, swine and poultry. In this course I have also learned that the scientists apply various genetic modifications on animal to increase production and management of livestock. To supply for the demand of animal in worldwide the industries of livestock are responsible for maintaining the well-being of the animals. The three concepts that I learned after taking this class are choosing the right breed of animal is necessary for mass production, genetic selection, and food safety.

Pigs are unable to move in their cages. The baby pig ears, tails are cut off and their teeth are chopped off to prevent them from harming other pigs. They are castrated without any pain killer. The baby pigs are given antibiotics to promote rapid growth. Their body grows, so fast, the legs become crippled. Many pigs are ill, but are kept alive to be shipped off to slaughter to get a profit. The pigs that did not make it to slaughter are shot with a gun to prevent them from eating the farmer’s feed. Pigs are abused by beating them with a gate rod to be moved from one place to another. Most pigs arrive at the slaughter lame or dead from the crowdedness during transporting. Pigs are electrically shocked to move on the killing floor of the slaughtering

Feral swine are a growing concern for managers across the United States as they cause damage to the environment, wildlife and livestock depredation, and are transmitters for disease. While both lethal and non-lethal strategies have been used to eliminate populations of feral swine, lethal approaches tend to work best, leading Dr. Snow and his team to develop a toxicant comprised of sodium nitrite to control this species. To integrate this toxicant into management practices, the product must pass four criteria set by the EPA: 1) create a stable bait source the target will consume; 2) have a 70% efficacy rate in the field and a 90% efficacy rate in captivity; 3) provide little evidence of secondary hazards; and 4) supply the toxicant in a reliable

Mother pigs spend most of their miserable lives in tiny gestation and farrowing crates so small that they can’t even turn around and forced to get pregnant over and over again, until their bodies can’t handle it anymore.. Males are either killed immediately, or castrated at a young age then kept only for their meat. Piglets, in general, are torn away from their mothers after only a few weeks, tails are chopped off, and the ends of their teeth are snipped off, then the spend days to weeks to months in cramped, crowded pens on slabs of filthy concrete until it gets decided what will happen to them.