4-26 SS NW Pigs 2

 Wild boar Hunting in Oregon, Idaho and who  knows  where else in the  great North West.

 Yesterday we talked to correspondent Tommy Allen about a growing population of wild pigs.  No one is quite sure where they came from. Some say that wild pig herds are coming up from California, other people feel they are just  being released on  private land in an effort to make revenue from having people come out and harvest the pigs or they’re pigs that just got out there and got loose and started breeding. “So the big concern  is to keep control of them because they’re getting out there and they are endangering native fish species, steelhead and salmon, at the headwaters of the rivers because the pigs run down to the rivers and wallow in the water and tear stuff up and also they have been going after the ground nest birds like pheasant and quail, they will go in there and eat the nests, root everything up, and also people have seen them take down on deer, that’s a pretty scary deal.” Tommy are these literally wild pigs with tusks and aggressive behavior? The kinds that are used to hunt down in Georgia and the deep South? “Oh yeah they are the Russian pig. They are big, black, hairy, the deal is when a pig is turned loose or gets out, within a matter of months, it can have a changeover that turns it into a wild pig. It starts growing hair, its snout gets longer, it gets these big teeth and yes, they’re just big nasty animals. I guess it’s a big deal right now, people are trying to hunt them and all you need is a hunting license.