Posted to RiverWired by Samantha Cleaver
In Texas and across the country, deer hunters are on the trail of an animal we associate more with breakfast than hunting season. Wild hogs have been rummaging along golf courses and through backyards. Apparently these pigs have always been a problem in the south, but in recent years, as the New York Times sports section recently reported, four million wild hogs have made their way into 37 states and are now causing millions in property damage each year. (One pig causes $200 worth of property damage.)
To stop the pigs, hunters are taking on the project with abandon—new Mississippi regulations allow feral hogs to be “hunted, taken, killed, chased or pursued on private lands at any time with no weapon restriction.” And, “no weapon restriction” may be necessary. These pigs aren’t your average Wilber.
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Adam W. says:
This is actually a really good question. I was at a restaurant a couple months ago and they had exact what this article talks about on the menu - Organic Wild Boar Sausage. I ordered it (and it was DELISH) but I couldn't help wondering this same thing - if an animal is really wild, then the hunters have no idea what that animal has been eating. For all intents and purposes, it could have been living off of trash from peoples houses (most of which would certainly not be organic) or local crops and gardens that people use chemical fertilizers on.
That being said, I think wild boar (or wild anything) is still a great option for anyone looking to have a smaller footprint. It is the original free range, it is meat as nature really intended it, and even if the animal has some residual pesticides or chemicals from foods it has eaten, the concentrations will be much smaller than the hormones and antibiotics we pump into most farm raised animals. Plus, in this case, eating wild boar serves a double purpose - in addition to getting your fill of some delicious, nutritious meat, you are also helping to curb a population which actually needs to be curbed, vs. what most of us normally do which is eat populations that are already dwindling.
RiverWired says:
Thanks for your thoughtful comments, Alan. As you point out, you can't vouch for what any wild animal eats. But at least they are roaming free...hmmm, up until the moment that they are not. And then they are on your plate -- so I am glad to hear they were yummy. All in all -- I think we'd have to call it a win-win situation., for the humans, anyway. For more green win-win thoughts, come on over to www.riverwired.com, where this article first appeared. We welcome your comments there, too.
Susan Seliger, Editor-in-Chief, www.RiverWired.com