By: Mark Tyson, M.S.
With the recent abundant rains in my part of the world it
made me wonder how all this rain impacts feral hog behavior. So I set out to
find some answers, which began with a phone call to a friend who has spent
quite a bit of time in the field interacting with feral hogs. Our conversation
led to two key points that I’d like to share in the hopes of improving your
feral hog trapping efforts.
(Cloudy skies loom over Aggieland as the rain falls. Photo
by: Mark Tyson)
One of the
main influences rainfall has on feral hogs is it gets them on the move. During
dry periods the hogs tend to shrink their core area to more mesic locations.
These localized moist areas offer them the basic resources they need to survive:
food, cover and water. Once the rains come, the hogs will range out and expand
their core area in response to the moist landscape. Rain transforms the
landscape and makes new resources available to feral hogs. Use this to your
advantage, recent rains may allow you to utilize trap sites where feral hog
activity decreased as the landscape dried. One example of this could be a low
spot in the pasture near thick cover that holds water after a sufficient amount
of rainfall is received. Seek out these locations, assess feral hog response,
and decide if trapping would be beneficial at the location.
Another way
rain impacts feral hogs is that it enhances their sense of smell. The increased
amount of moisture in the air increases the amount of moisture in the hog’s
nose, which improves their olfactory perception. The sense of smell is one of
the strongest senses a feral hog has. Increased moisture in the air basically
enhances this sense turning it into a “super sense”. The hogs will be able to
smell your bait from greater distances. Use this to your advantage; supercharge
your bait with a strawberry or apple drink mix, jelly, gelatin mix or flavored
marshmallows. Campbell and Long (2008) suggested that apple, berry or caramel
scented baits may perform well as feral hog attractants.
These two
points will allow you to capitalize on the wet conditions and improve your
trapping success. In addition to these points others may apply in your part of
the world. Please feel free to share additional wet weather trapping
observations on our Feral Hogs
Facebook page. I’d like to acknowledge LeRoy Moczygemba for his input which
helped this article come to fruition.
For free
educational programming or technical assistance with feral hogs please contact
us:
Mark Tyson,
South and Southeast Texas, 979-845-4698, mark.tyson@ag.tamu.edu
Dan Gaskins,
Central and North Central Texas, 254-248-0532, dan.gaskins@tamu.edu
Our services
are provided free of charge through a Clean Water Act 319(h) non-point sources
grant from the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board and the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency
Literature
Cited
Campbell,
T.A. and D. B. Long. 2008. Mammalian visitation to candidate feral swine
attractants. Journal
of Wildlife Management 72:305-309.