On the Nature of Things | Forum

This may seem like a ludicrous pitch for a doomsday blockbuster or a leftover gag from Babe: Pig in the City or an excuse to put even more bacon in our diet but the fact is, wild pigs have overrun the planet. To wit: Pig populations are nearing a million in the state of Florida, encroaching on urban areas and destroying an F-16 fighter plane in Jacksonville. Feral pigs are running (hog) wild in the streets of Berlin, with dedicated pig squads waging a losing battle to overtake them. They’ve become a fixture on the West Bank, after Israeli settlers, some say, released boars to destroy Palestinian croplands. There are even thousands of radioactive wild pigs wandering Europe, thanks to the tainted feeding grounds near Chernobyl.

“The biggest challenge is to get people to take this seriously,” says John Mayer of Savannah River National Laboratory, one of the world’s foremost wild pig authorities. “You start talking about this and people go ‘Come on, you’re kidding me, wild pigs?!’”

But the issue is as serious as swine flu, with a global explosion of wild pigs destroying natural ecosystems, spreading disease, causing a billion dollars in agricultural damage, and proving themselves nearly impossible to combat.

noddy wrote:we have had this problem in australia for ages - you need rednecks on rum with hunting dogs and rambo knives... mayhaps america could hire some out.

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A boar spear is a spear used for boar hunting. It is relatively short and heavy and has two "lugs" or "wings" on the spearsocket behind the blade, which act as a barrier to prevent an injured and furious boar from working its way up the shaft of the spear to attack the hunter.

The boar spear also became popular as a weapon of war, since the lugs can also be used to hook shields out of the way during combat, as well as preventing a spear thrust from going too far into a victim (particularly a charging horse), thus making it easier to quickly withdraw, and less likely to break.

Mr. Perfect wrote:Very old news. And a very good reason to get some assault weapons. Right wingers on the case.

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Mr. Perfect wrote:

What's the effective way to hunt hogs. What's a mod farm?

Typhoon wrote:Mod Farmer |Who Can Stop These Adorable Pigs?

This may seem like a ludicrous pitch for a doomsday blockbuster or a leftover gag from Babe: Pig in the City or an excuse to put even more bacon in our diet but the fact is, wild pigs have overrun the planet. To wit: Pig populations are nearing a million in the state of Florida, encroaching on urban areas and destroying an F-16 fighter plane in Jacksonville. Feral pigs are running (hog) wild in the streets of Berlin, with dedicated pig squads waging a losing battle to overtake them. They’ve become a fixture on the West Bank, after Israeli settlers, some say, released boars to destroy Palestinian croplands. There are even thousands of radioactive wild pigs wandering Europe, thanks to the tainted feeding grounds near Chernobyl.

“The biggest challenge is to get people to take this seriously,” says John Mayer of Savannah River National Laboratory, one of the world’s foremost wild pig authorities. “You start talking about this and people go ‘Come on, you’re kidding me, wild pigs?!’”

But the issue is as serious as swine flu, with a global explosion of wild pigs destroying natural ecosystems, spreading disease, causing a billion dollars in agricultural damage, and proving themselves nearly impossible to combat.

Day of the Piglets?