CRAZY STORY ON HUNTING PUA'A ON DA NEWS

Port St. Lucie looks to control pig population, modifies hunting ban
Port St. Lucie looks to control pig population, modifies hunting ban

By Alexi Howk
Posted November 22, 2010 at 11:43 p.m.
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PORT ST. LUCIE — The City Council on Monday night agreed 4-1 to modify a ban on hunting within city limits to combat Florida's burgeoning feral pig population.

City Councilwoman Shannon Martin cast the dissenting vote. There was no discussion on the council or from the public.

The change still requires a second and final vote before it's formalized.

Tradition developer Core Communities asked that the ban be lifted after it complained property it owns in the southwestern area of the city is overrun with wild pigs.

At a Nov. 8 City Council meeting, City Attorney Roger Orr said officials with Core Communities said they had used traps but hadn't been successful.

So, Core requested an ordinance to amend a section in the city code that prohibits hunting city-wide.

Under the amended ordinance, the city manager may allow hunting on a case-by-base basis but Core or any other petitioner would have to prove animals are a nuisance before they can get permission to hunt them.

Orr said the hunting amendment would be "limited use for purposes of controlling the nuisance" and would not apply in residential areas.

In an earlier interview, Orr said the city wasn't going to mix hunters with homeowners. Trapping would be the solution to controlling the feral pig population in residential areas, he said.

Orr said permission to hunt would be bound by hunting season and area limitations. He said if the problem persists, petitioners would have to renew their requests to hunt.

Complaints of wild pigs tearing up residential yards and golf courses have become an ongoing problem on the Treasure Coast. City officials have spotted a herd of pigs uprooting the median of Gatlin Boulevard.

The Humane Society of the United States describes pigs as "highly intelligent, curious animals who engage in complex tasks and form elaborate, cooperative social groups."

Dave Pauli, senior director of wildlife response for The Humane Society of the United States, said the feral pig population is growing rapidly in this area because the Treasure Coast "offers just about everything that hogs eat."

Pauli said hunting the wild animals isn't the most effective way of managing pig populations. He said alternatives include using birth control, fencing and public education.

"Hunting doesn't really get to the heart of the issue," he said.

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Arkansas wildlife officials want wild hogs killed
Posted: September 12, 2010 - 7:53pm

By CHUCK BARTELS

Associated Press Writer

LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Arkansas wildlife officials have relaxed hunting rules to dramatically reduce the number of feral hogs, which do an incalculable amount of damage to wilderness and crop land each year.

The beasts introduced in by Spanish explorers have bred with domestic hogs and spread at a rapid pace over the past couple of decades.

In 1977, feral pigs were seen only in an area along the Ouachita River in southwest Arkansas, but they can now be found throughout the state, said Blake Sasse, a wildlife biologist in charge of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission effort to kill off the hogs.

“Some of it is natural expansion. A lot of it is due to people catching hogs and letting them go because they want to hunt them,” Sasse said. “They didn’t fly there.”

It is against the law to let a captured pig go free, he added.

The hog population also is multiplying because sows can have two litters per year and average six to eight piglets per litter. They can start reproducing when they are 6 months old.

Most Arkansas wild hogs weigh between 110 pounds and 130 pounds, but some grow to 400 pounds, Sasse said.

To reduce the population, state officials have encouraged hunters to shoot any wild hogs they see while they are hunting other species, and they don’t even have to haul away the carcasses.

“We’re not interested in maintaining them as a sustainable resource,” Sasse said

However, Jaret Rushing, a Calhoun County extension agent for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, said there may be value in keeping some hogs around.

“If people travel to hunt them, that would provide economic benefit,” said Rushing, who once hit a hog while riding on an all-terrain vehicle.

He is working with Alexandra Felix-Locher, an assistant professor of spatial information systems and wildlife at the University of Arkansas-Monticello, on a study of the hogs’ worth. As part of that, they’re mapping the animals’ territory and contacting landowners to inquire about damage caused by the hogs.

The animals are known to root through freshly planted cornfields, gobbling up every bit of seed corn farmers have planted. In the wilderness, the hogs eat acorns and other mast that deer and wild turkeys eat, making more attractive game animals compete for resources.

Hogs also kick up mud as they wallow in streams, erode banks as they rip through soil looking for food and defecate in streams, causing water quality problems.

The beasts are most common in low-lying hardwood bottomlands, some of the most critical wilderness in Arkansas. Destruction of that habitat can hurt waterfowl populations.

The wild hogs also carry diseases that pose a threat to domestic pigs and humans. Those include swine brucellosis, a bacterial disease that threatens reproduction and can spread to humans.

People should wear rubber gloves to dress hogs and cook the meat thoroughly, Sasse said.

It maybe be impossible to eliminate the hogs in the timber land of south Arkansas, much of which is traversed by people only during deer season, he said. But he thought it would be possible to get rid of them in areas where they don’t have as much

there have been 9 states ban hunting with dogs and 6 more trying to all but 4 have returned to hunting I feel this fact should make it clear they need us BUT as long as there are self named hunters making good hunters look dirty we will never be looked at as a force to be heard its going to take more than a few emails someone needs to step up and get involved and be supported buy all of us Its a job !! If you plan to see your son handle his first big boar we better do something fast

Sup hog 428 my name Joey from Kalihi but in plant at kapolei! But my friend dat's one of the reason im trying to get this hunta's together and do dis fundraiser not to only help out the needy but in the long run our keiki's can also hunt because of the good thing's the good hunter's did witch is part of my intension's but also to let people no that what this spoiled apple's did we not all like that! But like i said im a nobody but a person tyring to help as much i need to! BUT LET"S ALL GET TOGETHER THAN TRYING TO PUT EACH OTHER DOWN AND SAVE THE LIFE STYLE! ALOHA & GOD BLESS

Hey C D Ive tried before you will here a little noise but it will fade Im on sites in six states most hunting organizations [hunting clubs] are very organized and are involved with law making and supported buy there members they work with many organizations to promote good and safe hunting for ALL they are all sponsored buy hunting products ; cabbalas bass pro; Home depot ect and get support from the NRA as members They stopped hunting in Oregon with dogs when I was 19 in 79 The Seaira club was the leading the fight than so this fight is NOT new for them It was the first state to ban hunting with dogs we all said they would never do it HA buy the time we were involved it was to late they are now bringing hunters in from other states to hunt The big cats; bear People must understand there are at least 20 jobs in this state alone with the only intent is to stop hunting its there job !! activist for the most part they are clu less as to what hunting is or why we do it they believe there cause; they get paid to fight us they have organized tens of thousands of people only buy joining things like the NRA and others will we have a chance you must have numbers to have power You have a great Idea I wish you luck and will support any program or function to help support our way of life