Wild hogs, also referred to as feral boars, are an invasive species in Florida. This animal causes many ecological and agricultural concerns in the state, even going so far as impacting humans and household pets. If you live in a rural area of Florida, you may have seen a few wild hogs roaming your property.
Feral boars can be an extreme nuisance to your living environment. Additionally, these animals can be incredibly dangerous, as they often attack smaller animals and sometimes humans. In other words, allowing wild hogs to remain on your property can lead to damage to your lawn, injury to yourself, and even the death of household pets or livestock.
Because of the risks associated with allowing wild hogs to remain on your property, you should always call a professional wildlife removal company when you spot them.
How to Identify a Hog Problem
Wild hogs are nocturnal animals, which means they spend most of their time roaming around at night. If you aren’t a night owl, you might not notice them walking around your yard. Because of this, it’s important to be aware of the signs of a wild boar infestation.
If you notice the following signs, you could be dealing with a hog problem:
- Digging and rooting- Wild hogs use their snouts to scoop up dirt on the ground in search of food. If you notice large areas of upturned soil, you might have a boar problem.
- Torn-up gardens- Feral boars are omnivores, which means they eat both meat and plants. If you notice that your gardens are torn up, you could have wild hogs living on your property.
- Tracks- If you notice tracks in your soil that look similar to pigs but larger and more rugged, you could have a hog problem.
- Wallows- Feral boars often create wallows in the ground, or indents in the dirt from rolling around and rubbing their backs.
- Scat- Wild hogs will leave scat in areas that they frequent. If you notice droppings that are circular and segmented, you could have boars on your property.
- Overturned trash cans- Because wild boars are opportunistic, they may go through your trash to find food. If you notice that your trash cans are overturned frequently, it could be due to hogs.
- Fence damage- If your fences are being damaged, it could be due to boars ramming into them to find a food source.
If you notice these signs of wild hogs, you should always contact a wildlife removal company. These animals can be confrontational and dangerous due to their large tusks, meaning attempting to remove them on your own could result in serious injury.
What are the Risks of Allowing Feral Boars to Live on Your Property?
Tons of people love animals and having some wildlife in your backyard can be exciting. However, wild boars are not one of those animals you want roaming around your property. Being aware of the risks of allowing feral hogs to stay in your yard can prevent you from experiencing damage or harm.
Injury to Yourself or Your Pets
Male boars have large tusks that can seriously injure humans, domesticated pets, or even livestock. Allowing them to live on your property could lead to severe injury. Additionally, attempting to chase them off could lead to a very dangerous confrontation.
Damaged Property
As mentioned previously, feral boars like to rummage through trash cans, overturn gardens, and stop at nothing to find a food source. This can lead to significant property damage that will cost a pretty penny to fix.
Diseases
Feral boars can transmit infectious diseases to animals and in some cases, even humans. For humans, coming in contact with wild hogs can lead to hepatitis E, tuberculosis, leptospirosis, and trichinellosis. Additionally, feral boars can cause your animals to contract swine fever, brucellosis, and trichinellosis.[1]
How Can Nuisance Wildlife Rangers Help?
At Nuisance Wildlife Rangers, our experts are trained and experienced in removing even the most dangerous animals from clients’ properties. If you have a wild boar problem, we can safely trap them and remove them while ensuring the safety of you, your animals, and the boars themselves.
There are a variety of trapping methods used to remove feral boars, including:[2]
- Box traps
- Cage traps
- Corral traps
- Silo traps
Depending on the amount of boars and their behavior, we will use the safest method of trapping available. Because you more than likely do not have access to these types of traps in your home, it is best to contact a wildlife removal company to assist you.
Contact Us Today
If you or a loved one have a wild hog problem on your property, you’ve come to the right place. As a local Florida wildlife removal company, Nuisance Wildlife Rangers has years of experience trapping and relocating wild boars using safe hog removal techniques.
To learn more about how we can help you solve your feral boar issue, contact us today.
References:
- The National Library of Medicine (NLM): Wild boars as sources for infectious diseases in livestock and humans, Retrieved August 2023 From https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2865094/
- The University of Florida (UF): TRAPPING WILD PIGS: TECHNIQUES AND DESIGNS, Retrieved August 2023 From https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/UW440