East Park Reservoir Wild Pig Hunt Spring 2010

The California Department of Fish and Game will hold the annual special wild pig hunt in certain areas of the East Park Reservoir. The Property owned by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is located in western Colusa County. The habitat includes grasslands, oak woodlands, brush and wetlands.

Only hunters with muzzle loaders (as defined in Section 353, Title 14, CCR) are permitted during the hunt. No more than three hunters will be allowed on the property at any time. Hunters with a special entry permit for this hunt may be accompanied by one non-hunting guest. Dogs are not allowed.

“. . . A pre-hunt orientation is required, and all hunters are required to check in and check out of the hunt area. DFG personnel will be on site during the hunts. Two-day pig hunt permits will be issued to hunters by drawing only for all pig hunt periods. Each hunter may apply only one time and for only one hunt period. No party applications will be accepted. Incomplete applications (cards) and multiple entries will not be accepted. There is no fee to apply.”

To apply send a standard U.S. Postal Service postcard with the

“following information:

Hunter Name (Junior hunters must also provide name of adult chaperone)

Valid Hunting License #

Address

City, State, Zip

Telephone Number

Hunt Period and Date desired.

Mail Application Card to:

East Park Reservoir Pig Hunt

Department of Fish and Game

1812 9th Street

Sacramento, CA 95814

Spring Hunts:

Period 1 – April 14 & 15 Period 2 – April 19 & 20

Period 3 – April 21 & 22 Period 4 – April 26 & 27 Period 5 – April 28 & 29

Spring Application Deadline: Application cards must be received by close of

business, Wednesday, March 10, 2010. Permits with maps and additional

information will be mailed to successful applicants on Thursday, March 11, 2010.”

There are also four fall hunting periods:

Period 6 – October 4 & 5 Period 7 – October 6 & 7

Period 8 – October 11 & 12 Period 9 – October 13 & 14

Period 10 – October 18 & 19 Period 11 – October 20 & 21

Period 12 – October 25 & 26 Period 13 – October 27 & 28

Application cards (for fall hunts) must be received by close of business, Wednesday, August 25, 2010. Permits with maps and additional information will be mailed to successful applicants on Thursday, August 26, 2010.

Special entry-permit hunts for wild pig hunts at the East Park Reservoir are subject to cancellation by the authorizing entity or by DFG.

PJJ

A Boaring Christmas - Wild Boar Around The World Celebrate Christmas.

Boaringly funny, not sentimental.

While many farm animals around the world are on duty as extras in nativity scenes, boar and pigs are conspicuously absent from such displays. Maybe because they are considered 'unclean' animals in certain parts of the world? Or is it just because of the raucous nature of boar and their unorthodox sense of humor? Judge for yourself.

Dozens of news media all over the world, as far away as the Philippines and Taiwan, find the story of party revelers in the trash bin irresistible. According to these reports, a group of German party goers near Darmstadt decided to go for a late night walk in a nearby forest. There the noisy quartet of two men and two women attracted the displeasure of some local boar. Annoyed by the intruders and in defense of their young(?) the boar charged. They chased the four for about 100 yards until the happy party goers spotted a metal trash bin and unceremoniously jumped in with the boar still in hot pursuit.

One of the men called police from inside the container and asked to be rescued “ . . . one of the men apparently telling officers: 'We're up to our necks in s*** and the beasts are outside. You've got to get us out of here.” (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1235834/Pack-wild-boar-attack-partygoers-woodland-walk.html#ixzz0alkuzPPO) By the time police arrived to rescue the shivering party animals, the boar had already dispersed. This link also has some reader comments.

Several hundred kilometers to the east a boar was spotted moving through residential neighborhoods in the city of Krakow, Poland. Local hunters pursued the animal for several hours before they could shoot it – not until he had seriously injured two men. Both had to be hospitalized. What was the boar doing in Krakow? Stocking up on Christmas goodies?

Not to be 'outboared' by alien funny boar, a San Diegan funny woman contributed a “wild boar outside Subway” in San Diego, Subway Restaurant that is. Go to http://www.googleandblog.com/wild-boar-outside-subway-san-diego/3761/ and see the wild beast for yourself. This wild boar looks suspiciously like the wild Pot Belly Pig some Asian hunters shot at the Big Horn Ranch several years ago. What do you think – pot bellied pig or wild boar? Well, at least it is black. Your guide might yell 'Black, Russian, shoot' if you encountered the monster outside of San Diego Subway.

Finally, here is another revelation from San Diego. The local Fox News station in San Diego carried the story of a wild pig running loose in a backyard. The three second video clip shows the feral pig rushing past big candy sticks in search of Santa and some apples he carried with him that day (http://video.foxnews.com/12604597/?category_id=6a207a10df1df9bc0dcc18e651361d1f05fa1473). The 'wild boar' sports a fashionable curly tail and camouflage coat.

Does anyone still doubt that there are wild pigs around San Diego? One shot, one spotted and one in a backyard looking for Santa!

PJJ

"Hunting Wild Pigs" Now On Amazon

“The Complete Guide To Hunting Boar and Wild Pigs in the US And Beyond” is now also available at Amazon.com as electronic book for the Kindle Reader.

"Hunting Wild Pigs", the successor to “Wild Boar In California- Where and How To Hunt”, describes in thorough detail what every hunter must know about boar and wild pigs to be a better, more successful hunter. "Hunting Boar and Wild Pigs" emphasizes their anatomy, behavioral patterns, daily routines, habits, habitat requirements, hunting weapons and methods used in pursuit of the elusive boar.
This tutorial is a groundbreaking new way to explore and to explain diligently the multifaceted topic of boar hunting by directly linking chapters and subjects of the book to relevant additional writings by the author and to further in depth information on the Internet.
Unlike conventional books, this publication is easily updated and expanded anytime because data are created and stored electronically allowing embedded links that can be called up instantly now and in the future.
Obligatory lists of private ranches, outfitters, hunting ranches and references to hunting on public land are directly linked to the book whenever possible to keep informational material up to date.

"Hunting Boar and Wild Pigs - The Definite Guide to More Successful Boar Hunting In California and Elsewhere" is truly a living, interactive manual for big game hunters who want more than anecdotal stories about guided boar hunts, but are rather seeking individualized current information on all facets of hunting the elusive and difficult wild boar. Together with the tutorials 'Signs of the Beast' and 'Boar Rifles, Hunting Methods, Shot Placement' the new book is a trilogy of specialized hunting knowledge that is unmatched in the depth of knowledge and information offered to boar hunters.
The tutorials will soon also be available as Kindle books on Amazon.

How You Hunt Makes A Difference - Not All Hunting Methods Are Created Equal

Have you ever asked yourself what happened to all the deer after opening day? While they used to stand around calmly in plain sight right before the start of the hunting season, now they all seem to have disappeared from the fields. Many reappear in and around the front yards of suburbia. Ranches that are known for their population of wild pigs suddenly become almost devoid of boar when hunting clubs open 'boar season'. Why? What causes this phenomenon? How does hunting affect the movements and daily habits of game?

Researchers in Germany, Italy and the United States asked themselves these questions as well. They studied controlled boar populations as they were exposed to hunting and trapping pressures. The results do not come as a surprise to 'real' hunters, that is to hunters who take to the fields on their own. It eludes those whose hunting experience consists exclusively of guided hunts with an experienced local hunter who locates and frames the game for them to make for an easy shot.

The German scientists started from the vague, common perception that boar in undisturbed habitat are mostly diurnal and cause only little problems. Wild boar are also assumed to become more nocturnal and more wide-ranging when exposed to hunting pressure. In scientific language:

The activity rhythm is:

(Oliver Keuling: How does hunting influence activity and spatial usage in wild boar Sus scrofa L.? , European Journal of Wildlife Research)

Back to plain English: The research project studied the use of range and the activity patterns of radio-collard boar under changing hunting pressure and environmental conditions..

The results revealed the average diurnal activities of the animals to be around 12 percent with monthly fluctuations. Diurnal activities increased in undisturbed feeding areas, particularly in early summer.

The two most common hunting methods in Germany are the still hunt (stalking, from stand) and the battue (drive). Still hunting (or trapping) increased flight distances immediately and considerably without exceeding the home range of the group. Battues, on the other hand, did not significantly alter the use of range and the habits of animals subjected to it.

That surprises me. Anyone who ever participated in or observed a battue at length knows what noisy and chaotic events drives are. They can be unnerving even to human participants. Apparently boar handle a battue better. The matrilenal boar groups showed escape movements on a small scale in only 14 percent of the observed cases.

An Italian study on boar in the central region of Italy produced similar results. The study also appeared in the European Journal of Wildlife Research. The lead-author was Laura Scillitani.

The researchers used 20 tagged boar from 10 family groups to track and document the effect of drives (with dogs) on the spatial movements of the boar and on their general behavior (location of resting sites, etc). Observations were made and recorded in three distinct groups: Pre-hunting, hunting and post-hunting.

During the hunting season movements of the boar within their range increased, resting ranges widened and the space between resting sites increased. This pattern was more pronounced during hunting days. Family groups that were scattered during the hunts reassembled shortly thereafter. During the drives boar showed a surprising tolerance of hunting related disturbances. Only groups that were repeatedly hunted within a short period of time altered their behavior significantly or abandoned their range altogether.

These studies and some related research in other countries allows the conclusion that boar populations can not be effectively controlled by occasional intense 'eradication' hunts'. Such hunts will only drive them off your property and onto your neighbor's. The boar will be back in due time. When it comes to the control of boar populations, frequent drives spaced close together disrupt boar behavior patterns and home ranges to a much greater extent. They need to be coordinated with neighboring ranches to avoid relocation of escaped boar on the nearest property.

And what does this mean to an average hunter on public land? Let's see. A very high percentage of all wild pigs taken on public land in California come from Fort Hunter Liggett or Camp Roberts. There are numerous wild pigs on both properties. So, why do I know so many avid hunters who traipse to FHL with almost religious regularity – only to return empty handed. Time after time. Is it inexperience or incompetence?

These boar populations are subjected during the week to military exercises. They evade the activities and return to their regular home resting places and food sources at the end of the day when most human activities cease. No harm done. The boar thrive. On weekends certain areas are opened to the public for hunting. Now we have hunter after hunter, vehicle after noisy vehicle intrude upon food and resting places in seemingly never ending, tightly spaced waves of disturbance. This time the boar escape to the nearest closed area. They rest and feed there till the weekend warriors are gone and the real ones reappear.

PJJ

More Biological Warfare! Are Boar Spreading GM?

No not that GM!

Boar, wild pigs, swine stand accused of many dastardly deeds. Digging up planted fields, ruining crops, preventing nuts and acorn seeds to germinate, making mud wallows out of placid mosquito infested ditches, eating lambs and spreading disease are only a few. Giving us swine flu for free. Last but not least, let us not forget the selective commando raids on Arab crops.

Therefore, it should not come as a surprise that boar now are also suspected of dispersing germinable transgenic seeds of GM corn all over creation thus interfering with the safety of our meat supply.

Not so, say researchers from the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM), one of Germany's leading research institutions comparable to MIT in the United States. Their research was funded by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation with the objective to determine how fallow deer and boar metabolize genetically modified (GM) maize. Specifically, whether boar and fallow deer fed with genetically altered corn spread germinable transgenic seeds with their feces.

In the course of the experiment, one group of fallow deer and boar, confined to enclosures and pens, was exclusively fed GM maize while control groups enjoyed natural, unaltered maize for several weeks. Samples of feces were collected and later analyzed. At the end of the experiment the scientists also took tissue samples from the digestive tract, the internal organs, blood, muscles of the animals.

The researcher found small fragments of the gene that had been genetically introduced into the corn only in the intestinal tract of the test boar. Neither fallow deer nor boar had even a trace of the introduced gene in any tissue outside of the gastrointestinal tract.

"The meat of the animals we examined was entirely free of transgenic components", concluded professor Heinrich H.D. Meyer, who chairs the Physiology Department of the research institute.

That does not necessarily appease environmentalists and organic farmers. They worry about the spread of genetically modified corn from germinable transgenic seeds in the feces of animals fed with modified maize or other feed.

Nothing to worry here either. Whole, germinable maize corns did not fare well. In boar “a mere 0.015% of the conventional and 0.009% of the transgenic maize kernels were excreted intact”. This resulted in one single plantlet and another one with abnormal growth. Fallow deer feces did contain not one single whole maize corn.

Encouraging as this may sound, there is however one caveat. The digestive process is not equally effective for other seeds and in all animals. The scientists conducting the research fed rape to controlled groups of animals. While not one rape seeds could be found in boar feces, fallow deer excreted plenty. And 13.6 percent of the seeds so retrieved were still capable of germination.

Organic farmers, environmentalists and hunters do not have to worry about negative effects of genetically modified animal feed on the meat produced for consumption.

But this research leaves me to wonder whether our Arab friends now have to worry about special forces of fallow deer sent to their fields to excrete genetically modified rape seeds that in turn germinate into genetically modified rape plants to be consumed by unsuspecting natives of Samaria.

PJJ

Remember ? Wild Pig Commandos Attack Palestinian Agricultural Crops

In June 2009 I reported under this title about problems caused to agriculture by wild boar in Palestinian territory in and around Samaria.

Today I found an almost identical article, dated December 16, 2009, published by Israel National News. Apparently the very same skillfully trained wild boar commandos are still raiding Arab farm land and attacking Arab people carefully staying clear of anything Israeli.

This hilarious story is among the most amusing news I have read this year. We know that animals have been trained by scientists and military forces in many parts of the world to do their human masters' bidding. Just think of the dolphin trained by the U.S. Navy.

But this goes maybe a step further. How does one train a boar to discern infallibly between Arab corn and Jewish corn? And how about Jewish corn that was sold to Arab farmers to seed their fields? If we knew the secret, we could possibly train wild pigs in California to differentiate between wild earthworms and earthworms in the fields of farms? Or wild acorn and cultivated nuts in an orchard?

Anyhow, the story is funny enough to be revisited. It is not less entertaining the second time around.

If only the News Service had managed to add up-to-date reader comments to it to make it more newsworthy.

All 43 comments published with the story date from June 2009.

Read my first post Wild Pig Commandos Attack Palestinian Agricultural Crops, and you know it all.

Old news is no news. Or is it?

Recycled, maybe?

PJJ

Wild Pigs and Recreational Activities

Your ATV annoys the boar.

Is recreation and fun driving wild pigs off public land? One would tend to think so. Wildlife of any kind likes to stick to established routines and hold cherished siestas at appointed times of the day. What could be more unsettling than the sound of ATVs being recklessly forced into virgin territory?

Not much according to a study recently published in the Journal of Wildlife Management. Though the study referenced here does not include boar or wild pigs but rather concentrates on North American Elk, one can reasonably assume that the reaction of boar to the intrusion of noisy motor vehicles into their territory would have similar effects.

Knowing that ungulates are sensitive to human activities, the authors of this study measured the responses of elk fitted with motion sensitive radio collars from April to October in 2003 and 2004. The radio collars measured the reactions of thirteen female elk in five minute intervals recording resting, feeding and travel activities in relations to known disturbances of four types: ATV, hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding.

During the study times elk fed and rested without much traveling between activities. However, travel times increased during each of the disturbances. Travel was highest in the morning. It was also highest when exposed to ATV activities. Mountain biking and hiking ranked next while horseback riding caused the least disturbances. Overall feeding times decreased when ATV disturbance was present. Resting times also decreased but mainly in response to mountain biking and hiking.(Leslie M. Naylor, Michael J. Wisdom, Robert G. Anthony, Journal of Wildlife Management 2009 73 (3), 328-338 : Behavioral Responses of North American Elk to Recreational Activity)

The study clearly demonstrated the effect of recreational activities on elk. There is no reason that other large mammals would not be affected by human recreational activities correspondingly.

Human recreational activities are highest on public land where there is little effective control over ATV use and other forms of recreation. This is one of the reasons why wild pigs are very rare and mainly transitory on public land – as if we had not known this empirically all along.

But there are many others, such as shelter, cover and food. A decade ago researcher from the veterinary faculty of the University of Extramadura in Spain studied the effects of extreme weather conditions on the reproductive rate of boar. The study took place in the Donana National Park during extreme drought.

Researchers found births to be highly synchronized, mainly between February and April. The average litter size at an age of one week was 3.05 piglets per litter. This figure is much lower than normal litter sizes in Mediterranean boar populations. The percentage of breeding females was also much smaller than in comparable Mediterranean boar. It was below 17 percent.

The researchers conclude that female boar adjust their breeding decisions to drought conditions before the timing of breeding or litter sizes are changed. More drought, less breeding.(Fernandez-Llario, P; Carranza, J: Reproductive performance of the wild boar in a Mediterranean ecosystem under drought conditions; published in Ethology Ecology & Evolution [Ethol. Ecol. Evol.]. Vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 335-343. Dec 2000.)

An Austrian study by the Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology of the University of Vienna concludes that in poor habitat and environmental conditions strong hunting pressure on adult breeding females will have the greatest effect on population growth while under good conditions reducing the survival rate of juveniles is the most effective way to control expanding boar populations.

Nice and good, you say. That's over there. But we are here.

Well, ATV noise is disturbing regardless of which side of a border you are on. And drought is drought whether it strikes the Mediterranean or the western United States. The effects on wildlife are the same.

In one of my next posts we will have a look at fecundity, survival and pregnancy rates and other important family matters in boar and wild pigs.

PJJ