Feral hog workshop slated

BY MOLLIE S. WATERS

The Greenville Standard

 

The Butler County Forestry Planning Committee will hold a workshop about feral hog control on Thursday from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Greenville-Butler County Library.

The workshop is titled “Feral Hog Management & Control.”

Guest speakers for the workshop are Chris Jaworowski and Jeff Thurmond.

Jaworowski is a regional extension agent for the Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES). He serves Autauga, Bullock, Butler, Chilton, Elmore, Lowndes, Macon, and Montgomery Counties.

During the workshop, Jaworowski will present information about wild pig biology and ecology, wild pig control methods, and trapping techniques and demonstrations.

The other speaker is Jeff Thurmond, who works as a wildlife biologist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Alabama.

He will present information about financial assistance for wild pig control.

According to an ACES publication titled “A Landowner’s Guide for Wild Pig Management: Practical Methods for Wild Pig Control,” Alabama’s wild hog problems are not new.

The publication states, “Wild pigs are not native to the Americas. They were first introduced to the United States in the 1500s by the Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto, who traveled extensively throughout the Southeast.”

Since that time, the wild pig population in the United States has exploded thanks in large part to their ability to adapt to their environment and their intelligence.

Regrettably, wild pigs can wreak havoc, causing problems for many Alabama landowners, especially farmers.

The purpose of the upcoming workshop, therefore, is to educate local landowners about feral hogs and how the animals can be managed and controlled.

For more information about signing up for the event, contact Rosemary Smith at rmsmith@camelliacom.com or call her at 617-3362.