We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
This sticker shows the phone number to report shootings or sightings of feral pigs in Montana. Squeal on Pigs! is a campaign to educate Montanans about the threat of feral pigs and provide a mechanism to respond to the threat. Any shooting or sighting of feral pigs should be reported to this number which puts in motion an investigation to assess the level of threat posed by the destructive invasive species.
Feral pigs not only destroy the physical environment of an area but also the domestic livestock and wildlife in the area. The pigs compete with other animals for food and water and carry 30 diseases and 37 parasites, many of which can affect the health of domestic livestock and wildlife. Federal and state agencies stress the only way to eradicate feral pigs from an area is to totally remove the sounder (a social unit of several feral sows and their offspring).
The Northeast Montana Feral Swine Tour was in Blaine County last week. While there appear to be no feral pigs in Montana, MSU Extension Wildlife Specialist Dr. Jared Beaver, Officer Shawn Hondo with the Montana Department of Livestock and Doug Ekberg with USDA's APHIS Wildlife Services shared updates about the continuing need to be vigilant to keep feral pigs out of northern Montana. The meeting in Chinook was attended by about 40 folks who gathered to hear regional experts talk about the challenges of dealing with feral pigs and what programs are in place to keep Montana free of them.
Since the 2019 tour the number of feral pigs in the U.S. has climbed from six to eight million and 39 states now have feral pigs, up from 35 only four years ago. The southern prairie provinces in Canada all have major feral pig populations and wild pigs are steadily moving southward. I attended a similar meeting four years ago in Sweetgrass, Montana and was interested to hear about the current threat of incursions by feral pigs from Canada.
Feral Pigs: a short primer
Per Montana law: "a feral swine is any hog, boar or pig that appears to be untamed, undomesticated or in a wild state, or appears to be contained for commercial hunting or trapping." Pigs were brought to North America in 1500 as a supplemental food source. In the 1900's strains of wild pigs were introduced for hunting in some southern U.S. states where hunting them is still popular. About the same time in Canada a 1990's move to 'diversify agriculture' introduced new sturdier and cold resistant breeds of pigs. When the new market failed to materialize, pigs escaped or were turned in to the wild. Over time the pigs cross bred. Some cross and inbreeding in Canada led to "super pigs" labelled so because of their larger size and ability to adapt to harsher conditions, especially cold weather.
Damage in the U.S. from feral pigs is an estimated $2.5 billion per year with slightly less than a billion dollars a year lost on farms and ranches from ruined crops, torn up pastures and fields, fouling of water sources and confrontations between domestic livestock and local wildlife over food and water resources. In some areas feral pigs destroyed 95% of the understory by stripping vegetation and fouling the water.
The pigs are prodigious breeders and start reproducing at less than a year old. They can have multiple litters per year
(as many as four per year some experts say) and produce four to eight babies per litter. The average male feral pig weighs around 200 pounds and females slightly less. They eat 3-5% of their body weight daily. The pigs carry 30 diseases and 40 parasites, some of which affect humans, domestic livestock and/or wildlife. Feral pigs are opportunistic, very adaptable and will eat just about anything. Just a few years ago it was discovered that the feral pigs in Canada were building "pigloos" (first piles of sticks and leaves, later burrows in to snow drifts) to survive cold temperatures.
I asked presenter Shawn Hondo, Eastern Area Supervisor for Animal Inspection with the Montana Department of Livestock, about recent sightings in our region. He explained, "In the last year we investigated three sightings in our eastern region. Two reported sightings involved "owned pigs" that had escaped and one report was based on a hide and butchered carcass found improperly dumped along a road. There was no evidence of feral pigs."
Happily, at this time there are no feral pigs in Montana. In 2019 the local head of the state USDA APHIS group believed the closest pigs in Alberta were "still about 400 miles north of the border." In Saskatchewan the pigs are likely closer, expanding their presence each year by an area about the size of Blaine County. MSU's Dr. Beaver added, "For feral pigs coming south both the Milk and Missouri River valleys would be attractive. Pigs need water, and mud, especially in warm weather to control their body temperatures and to keep parasites off their bodies. They would be looking for wet places to survive."
"Squeal on Pigs!" is a campaign to keep feral pigs out of Montana
In 2015 the Montana legislature passed laws to help keep feral pigs out of the state. The new laws created resources and processes for eradicating pigs that might make their way to the state. Montana's approach discourages shooting feral swine as studies show that hunting actually increases the numbers and spread of wild pigs. That's based on the experiences of Texas, Georgia, Oklahoma and nine other states where hunting wild pigs is legal but the numbers of the pigs keep increasing.
Montana's 2015 law also makes it unlawful to transport or release feral pigs in the state. Doug Ekberg, with USDA's APHIS Wildlife Services said, "Some feral pigs are spreading at 70 mph as people trap and introduce them for sport hunting." Montana's laws carry a stiff fine for introducing feral pigs for any reason. He also noted only white tail deer hunting is more popular than shooting feral pigs in the U.S.
Under certain conditions Montana landowners can shoot feral pigs on land they own or control. Shootings and sightings of feral pigs should both be reported so authorities can assess the threat of feral pigs. To report shootings or sightings of feral pigs, call 406-444-2976. That Helena phone number connects to "Squeal on Pigs!"-a campaign to educate Montanans about the threat of feral pigs and provide a mechanism to respond to the threat. The "24 -7" phone is manned so reports can be taken and followed up by appropriate responders.
