By: Kristen Tyson
Photos by: Tom Huckabee
Photos by: Tom Huckabee
Seeing double? That is what Tom Huckabee was asking himself while hunting on his lease near Dayton, Texas. Tom and his hunting buddy expected that day last year to be like any other hog hunting expedition when to his surprise the hog of the day had two feet on her right front leg. To say the least, Tom was surprised by such a discovery and curious at the same time.
After performing a thorough search online and scouring in-print resources there was no information to be gleaned about this sort of mutation on feral swine. If such a rare mutation has occurred, it was not reported. A more common deformity of swine is a condition known as syndactylism, or mule-foot. According to an Extension.org article, “This occurs when the toe bones are fused into a single structure, giving the appearance of a single, central-toed hoof.” Despite the fact that this condition has been noted since around 350 BC, mule-foot is still a rare find in the wild.
What causes these genetic abnormalities adds to the mystery. It seems that even domestic pigs are graced with similar deformities that include an absence of all limbs, an absence of toes, and like their free-ranging relatives, unequal toes. These abnormalities can be attributed to a dominant gene or simply hereditary traits.
So the next time you find yourself following those hog tracks, take note of any distinct prints marking your land. You just might find yourself in possession of a three-footed wild hog! For more information on feral hogs check out our website: feralhogs.tamu.edu
The hyper-linked resource document below will provide you with quick access to many of our online feral hog resources including publications, fact sheets and videos.