As most dedicated readers of Prairie Hog County know I will search for pigs anywhere. Well on a recent trip to New Orleans more specifically a swamp tour, I found some.

At the end of a narrow channel barely wide enough for our boat to navigate through there they were, three wild pigs. Scrambling in and out of the water for whatever morsels of food they could find.

As our guide explained there used to be more, however with hunting allowed the population, at least in their area, is diminishing.

Wild or Feral hogs (Sus scrofa) are present in all 64 parishes (counties) in Louisiana. Louisiana’s population is estimated at 500,000. They can be seen in a variety of places from desert to marsh to piney woods and hardwoods and can even survive in sub-arctic conditions. Feral hogs are omnivores and can adapt to nearly any environment.

Feral hogs impact wildlife by direct competition for hard mast resources and by predation on reptiles, amphibians, ground-nesting bird eggs and mammals including deer fawns. Feral hogs uproot both planted and naturally regenerated coniferous and hardwood seedlings. Additionally, their heavy consumption of hard mast significantly reduces natural forest regeneration.

Feral hogs can heavily impact agriculture, uprooting planted seeds, destroying mature crops and uprooting hayfields making hay cutting difficult to impossible. Hog control methods now currently used in Louisiana include recreational hunting and trapping by private landowners, daylight and night time shooting and aerial gunning via helicopter.

Even if they can be a nuisance they seemed quite innocent looking at us over the water. •

— By Laurie Brandly