GobbleAndGrunt78
Senior Member
The only thing wrong with your little reverie is that the hogs are non-native invasive species. When you throw them into the equation, everything else gets thrown out of whack. Nothing, including coyotes and bobcats are going to prey on hogs. The coyotes seem to be sort of self limiting, at least in my area,because mange and parvovirus ravages them every so often. Deer,which in my opinion almost qualify as non-native invasives, will quickly starve if their population is unchecked. Nothing fazes the hogs.
Your implication that removing all the hogs would throw the natural order out of whack is absurd because they are not part of the natural order in the wild. They are like kudzu or privet hedge in the plant world.
The "big picture" is that just about every naturally occurring species in the Georgia woods suffers because of the presence of the hogs, not to mention the crop depredation.
Well aren't you just the confrontational type. I wasn't trying to make an arguement. This thread just made those thoughts of mine come to mind. The point I was making is, anything we do with wildlife (native or non-native) WILL effect the ecosystem. Hogs are here to stay and we got to live with it, as our ancestors have for almost 500 years! The reality is that they ARE part of the ecosystem simply because they ARE here. And redlevel, I wasn't saying that hogs aren't destructive, non-native, or hard on the native wildlife. But, I will disagree about the statement about coyotes/bobcats not preying on hogs. That is absolutely false. I can find coyote/bobcat feces with hog hair in it EVERY time I go to my local hunting grounds. Also, the bobcat I killed in Feb was hot on the trail of a pack of hogs that managed to give me the slip just a few minutes before. We all know that they are non-native destructive critters, but the reality is that we can't stop them.....so enjoy hunting them and do your part to help control them.