By: Josh Helcel, Extension Associate
Both domestic and wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are highly vocal and communicative species. Research indicated these animals use a wide
range of vocalizations to express distress, surprise, excitement and other emotional
content including general welfare (Newberry et al. 1988; Marx et al. 2003; Manteuffel et
al. 2004; Düpjan et al. 2008; Tallet et al. 2010; Chan et
al. 2011).
While more
research is needed on the role of vocalizations among wild populations, the
video below suggests that wild pigs can potentially use vocalizations to
communicate trap avoidance.
This video below details a trapping effort in which wild pigs
triggered a manually activated trigger prior to the entire “sounder” or family
group of animals entering the enclosure.
While this “incomplete capture” could potentially have been avoided
through proper trigger placement and the use of a larger tire trigger (13 – 16
in. diameter), what is unique about this event is that no such vocalizations
were documented previously in the pre-baiting process. After these interactions, the remainder of the
sounder were not documented to return to the trap site for over a month. Click the link below to see and listen to
what happened.
Many experienced trappers maintain that capturing the entire
sounder of wild pigs in one trapping event is paramount in achieving
success. Due to the intelligence and
adaptability of these animals trap aversion can occur in a variety of ways.
Incomplete captures are certainly one way this can happen, and as this video shows
vocalizations between captured and free ranging individuals can potentially
communicate future trap avoidance.
For information on how to effectively trap an entire sounder
of wild pigs, please view How
to Corral Trap Wild Pigs or Corral
Trapping Wild Pigs: A Success Story from Texas A&M AgriLife Extension
Service’s Wild
Pig Management Video Series.
– L-5523 Recognizing Feral Hog Sign
– L-5524 Corral Traps for Capturing Feral Hogs
– L-5525 Box Traps for Capturing Feral Hogs
– L-5526 Placing and Baiting Feral Hog Traps
– L-5527 Door Modifications for Feral Hog Traps
– L-5528 Snaring Feral Hog
– L-5529 Making a Feral Hog Snare
– SP-419 Feral Hogs Impact Ground-nesting Birds
– SP-420 Feral Hog Laws and Regulations
– SP-421 Feral Hogs and Disease Concerns
– SP-422 Feral Hogs and Water Quality in Plum Creek
– SP-423 Feral Hog Transportation Regulations
– L-5533 Using Fences to Exclude Feral Hogs from Wildlife Feeding
Stations
– WF-030 Reducing non-target species interference while trapping
wild pigs
Click
here for additional resources or visit
feralhogs.tamu.edu
For free educational programming or technical
assistance with wild pigs please contact us:
Josh Helcel, Central and North Central Texas,
512-554-3785, josh.helcel@tamu.edu
Mark Tyson, South and Southeast Texas,
979-845-4698, mark.tyson@tamu.edu
Literature Cited
Marx, G., T. Horn, J. Thielebein, B. Knubel and E. Von
Borell. 2003. Analysis of pain-related vocalization in young pigs. Journal of
Sound and Vibration 266: 687–698.
Chan, W.Y., S. Cloutier and R.C . Newberry. 2011. Barking
pigs: differences in acoustic morphology predict juvenile responses to alarm
calls. Animal Behaviour. 82: 767–774.
Newberry R.C., D.G.M.
Woodgush and J.W. Hall. 1988. Playful behavior of piglets. Behavioural
Processes. 17: 205–216.
Düpjan, S., P.C.
Schön, B. Puppe, A. Tuchscherer and G. Manteuffel. 2008. Differential vocal
responses to physical and mental stressors in domestic pigs (Sus scrofa).
Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 114: 105–115.
Tallet, C., M. Špinka,
I. Maruscàkovà, P. Simecek. 2010. Human perception of vocalizations of domestic
piglets and modulation by experience with domestic pigs (Sus scrofa). Journal
of Comparative Psychology. 124: 81–91.
Manteuffel G., B. Puppe and P.C. Schön. 2004.
Vocalization of farm animals as a measure of welfare. Applied Animal Behaviour
Science. 88: 163–182.