Fears while paddling or on canoe trips

[Alan Gage]

I just googled them, and apparently they are making their way into Canafa,

That's interesting. As far as I know they're relegated to the southern US so I figured Canada would be too far north for them.

Perhaps it's not the climate but rather the hicks and hillbillies that form their preferred habitat. In that case I guess the hoser portions of Canada would be next for colonization.

Alan

 

[Rusty Ole' Bucket]

I have heard that these feral hogs are nasty. I just googled them, and apparently they are making their way into Canada, and various levels of government are encouraging their destruction. Google also told me the following:

• Predation:
  They can prey on livestock like goats and new born cattle.
  
  So I guess the goat defence is out. looks like it's going to have to be
  O dear, I hate to ask, but best calibre for pig defence?

I carry either a .357 Mag or a .45 depending on the situation. I hunted them with a .30-06.

That's interesting. As far as I know they're relegated to the southern US so I figured Canada would be too far north for them.

Perhaps it's not the climate but rather the hicks and hillbillies that form their preferred habitat. In that case I guess the hoser portions of Canada would be next for colonization.

Alan

It's got nothing to do with climate, it has to do with centers of agriculture.

I'm not sure if I'm a hick, hillbilly or a hoser, probably more of a swampbilly, but they can turn up anyplace there has been local or commercial pig farming or production. All it will take is one pair to get loose. A sow can have 3 or 4 litters a year, and those babies can start having babies in 6 months. It takes no time for it to be a real problem. I'm surprised that Iowa doesn't have a bunch since you're on top of the pork production list.

 

[Alan Gage]

I'm surprised that Iowa doesn't have a bunch since you're on top of the pork production list.

I've not heard of any but maybe in far southern Iowa. That's where the hillbillies are.

No shortage of imprisoned hogs here. I think every acreage outside of town comes with its own hog confinement. It's like a package deal or something.

I would guess it's lack of suitable habitat if any should get loose. It's pretty much nothing but row crops here. Southern and Eastern Iowa have some woodlands along the rivers but very little "wild" land and most of that is just small patches. I suppose they'd get along pretty good running around the crop fields in the summer but in the winter there won't be anywhere to go and they'd have to fight the geese for the little bit of spilled corn. Are they able to handle the winter cold without some sort of shelter? It gets a bit nippy here. Back when every farmer used to have some livestock I seem to remember the piggies always had someplace they could get inside and out of the worst weather.

Alan

 

[Alan Gage]

I've not heard of any but maybe in far southern Iowa. That's where the hillbillies are.

A little Googling and, yep, there it is. I think I might be onto something:

The Iowa DNR has trapped and destroyed perhaps 60 feral hogs in recent years in southern counties near the Missouri border.

 

[Rusty Ole' Bucket]

I've not heard of any but maybe in far southern Iowa. That's where the hillbillies are.

No shortage of imprisoned hogs here. I think every acreage outside of town comes with its own hog confinement. It's like a package deal or something.

I would guess it's lack of suitable habitat if any should get loose. It's pretty much nothing but row crops here. Southern and Eastern Iowa have some woodlands along the rivers but very little "wild" land and most of that is just small patches. I suppose they'd get along pretty good running around the crop fields in the summer but in the winter there won't be anywhere to go and they'd have to fight the geese for the little bit of spilled corn. Are they able to handle the winter cold without some sort of shelter? It gets a bit nippy here. Back when every farmer used to have some livestock I seem to remember the piggies always had someplace they could get inside and out of the worst weather.

Alan

I might be wrong now that you mention it, I'm not sure about the cold, and lack of winter cover, that may be the answer why there are many less in colder climates. I know I've hunted them in far North Texas when it was below freezing and it didn't seem to affect them. Now, is that Northern Iowa cold, not even close. They subsist down here on wild roots and winter crops. I'm lucky we haven't found any on our place, our biggest problem is coyotes going after our pets. Another invasive species here that wasn't around when I was young.

 

[Alan Gage]

They subsist down here on wild roots and winter crops. I'm lucky we haven't found any on our place,

From what little I know about them they certainly seem to be an unpleasant thing to have around. When I was just doing a little reading they were saying they reproduce so quickly that it's pretty much impossible to control their numbers by hunting alone and that there are no poisons or other control methods that can only target the feral hogs. Habitat destruction is a proven way to take down a wild population but that too would affect many other species. Tough spot. Hope they're able to find a way to get it under control without introducing something else that turns out to be worse.

Alan

 

[Rusty Ole' Bucket]

They are certainly unpleasant and expensive to have around. Most southern states(maybe all now) have classified them as an invasive species and a nuisance animal, with no limit, season or license required. The folks I was trying to help wound up using several different things, hunting, trapping, they invested in some night vision equipment and aerial hunting from a helicopter. They had 6 of these ring traps built and those helped a lot, capturing a dozen or more daily sometimes. They were desperate, it was a 1000 head cattle ranch and a sounder of hogs would come through and kill dozens of calves during the calving season. They even hired extra help just to range ride to find the calves as soon as possible during that time of the year and bring them in safely. It was costing them thousands of dollars every year, add that on top of the shear destruction of grazing land and they were effectively putting them out of business. I haven't been up there in 6 or 7 years, but they had reduced the number and used other types of mitigation and had made some progress. I use to joke with my friend that we just chased them to the neighbors ranches and that may not be far from the truth.

 

[Mason]

I guess our wolves aren't so bad.

 

[Erica]

The wild hogs are horrible where I live. Getting rid of their habitat would be getting rid of all the woods. They tear up my garden, paths, everything. They travel in herds and dig up huge areas. The sows have huge litters and by the time they are half grown, there's a huge sounder.

 

[Gamma1214]

I'm wondering if it might not be overkill to add a solar fence charger & some fiberglass posts to the pack for Southern US overnights? I know domestic pigs have an extremely low tolerance for electricity and a perimeter of polywire was always plenty to provide containment.

Is that going to far? Certainly wouldn't be able to stop charging animals but ones wandering past / through camp would get a surprise

(For anyone unfamiliar, you'd get a quick tutorial on the phrase "Squeal like a pig, boy")

 

[clemency]

Historical factoid. Hogs were a preferred livestock of early European settlers in the colonial southeastern US because they required no particular care. Turn them loose and feed them slops and they'd stay close enough so that when you wanted to bring them to market it wasn't that hard. One reason early farmsteads fenced in their crops rather than fencing in their livestock.

And, FWIW, cattle were also turned loose to fend for themselves. The first American "cowboys" were enslaved Africans sent into the wild interior portions of the colonies to round up the loose cattle and bring them to market.

 

[Rusty Ole' Bucket]

I'm wondering if it might not be overkill to add a solar fence charger & some fiberglass posts to the pack for Southern US overnights? I know domestic pigs have an extremely low tolerance for electricity and a perimeter of polywire was always plenty to provide containment.

Is that going to far? Certainly wouldn't be able to stop charging animals but ones wandering past / through camp would get a surprise

(For anyone unfamiliar, you'd get a quick tutorial on the phrase "Squeal like a pig, boy")

I've never heard of anyone doing that, but I don't think it would be a bad idea depending on the area and the hog population. They are easily corralled that way as domesticated livestock for sure. You'll know if they're around, everything will be torn up, muddy and stink to high heaven.

Do any of you northern guys ever do something like that for bears?

Oh and speaking of bobcats, we caught this guy on one of our game cams last Wednesday on our property, mid afternoon. We ran the cameras last night and there he was. I thought you guys might be interested. It was on the trail that runs right along the river bank. I've also seen him in person twice now, he's big boy. We've inadvertently bumped into each other on the trails back there. We also have a female and two kits we've caught on camera, this picture was taken about 100 yards from where we camp on the river. Since they've moved in, we've seen a lot less coyotes.




Quick edit: These guys don't bug us at all, when we do encounter them it's a calm and very interesting experience.

 

[Erica]

I'm wondering if it might not be overkill to add a solar fence charger & some fiberglass posts to the pack for Southern US overnights? I know domestic pigs have an extremely low tolerance for electricity and a perimeter of polywire was always plenty to provide containment.

Is that going to far? Certainly wouldn't be able to stop charging animals but ones wandering past / through camp would get a surprise

(For anyone unfamiliar, you'd get a quick tutorial on the phrase "Squeal like a pig, boy")

Hogs go right through electric fences.

We also have bears, bobcats and panthers and in theory pythons.

 

[recped]

Do any of you northern guys ever do something like that for bears?

I haven't personally but people do use electric fences in polar bear territory (and sometimes grizzly territory).

Not necessarily that effective as seen in this video......

 

[Gamma1214]

I talked to a guy from SC DNR today and he assured me that the hogs of Sparkleberry, like the bears near me, have been hunted enough that they give humans a wide berth. I wasn't all that surprised by that info considering a couple of the hunters that I met there.

 

[yknpdlr]

Do any of you northern guys ever do something like that for bears?

Black Bears in NY are typically only a problem with hunting cabins deep in the woods tucked far away from any civilization. When no one is around, a bear may try to enter weak spots of a door or windows. if they suceed, the place may get badly ransacked. I have seen solar powered electric fences tightly surrounding a cabin, I have also seen doors and wooden window covers with spike nails randomly sticking out.

 

[Dana]

Black Bears in NY are typically only a problem with hunting cabins deep in the woods tucked far away from any civilization.

Not only in the deep woods... we've had quite a bit of trouble with bears in our camp community (about 60 cabins) in southern NY, only about 30 miles from NYC. Mostly they just pass through, once a week on average, but a couple of years ago there were numerous incidents of bears trying to get into cabins (including one that was clawing through our back screen door until my wife chased it away). The day before, a different bear had chased me off the mountain while I was out hiking.

 

[PaddlingPitt]

Black Bears in NY are typically only a problem with hunting cabins deep in the woods tucked far away from any civilization. When no one is around, a bear may try to enter weak spots of a door or windows. if they suceed, the place may get badly ransacked. I have seen solar powered electric fences tightly surrounding a cabin, I have also seen doors and wooden window covers with spike nails randomly sticking out.

These two images are from 2001, when Kathleen and I paddled the Snowdrift River, Northwest Territories.



Boarded up windows to deter marauding bears,

With heavy-duty spikes on the ground.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Probably not many of us canoe in Japan, but if you do, note that folks there are not so casual about bears . . .

"The governor of Japan's Akita, a mountainous northern prefecture, has called for the military's help to protect residents from an unprecedented wave of bear attacks."

"Suzuki's plea comes after a bear attack in Akita on Friday in which one person was killed and three others injured, amid a record number of attacks across the country this year."

"Local authorities in Akita say 54 people have been killed or injured this year, up from 11 last year, while sightings have increased around six-fold to more than 8,000 incidents."

Article: Japanese region asks army to cull bears as attacks spike

Some Japanese bear attack videos (but I can't seem to cull the cat):

https://twitter.com/x/status/1784815398049005783

https://twitter.com/x/status/1882194490687140145

https://twitter.com/x/status/1982028098641268801

​

 

[ABT]

Black bears are only relatively recently recovered in southern Missouri where I paddle, with all of them having moved north from the Arkansas Ozarks where there is a sizable population. While attacks are extremely rare, there have been two deaths due to black bears this year in the Arkansas Ozarks just across the state line (one of the victims was a Missouri resident) and another incident was in the news a couple of weeks ago where a couple of hikers were in a 6 hour standoff with a very threatening bear.

Growing up, bears were non-existent here and it has been an adjustment the last several years becoming “bear aware” while camping as they say. And there are many people that still simply don’t do any of the things you should to avoid bear issues while camping. Hard to change a lot of folks’ habits I guess, but I imagine incidents will become more common here before they start to decline.