Feral hogs a nuisance in city

Magnolia mayor says destructive animals ‘taking us over’

MAGNOLIA — The feral hog problem that has inflicted billions of dollars in property damage across the country has made its way into the Magnolia city limits.

The nuisance has become so great in Magnolia that the city’s animal control officer is dealing with feral hogs on a regular basis.

“Hogs are taking us over,” Mayor Parnell Vann said. The animal control officer “has caught and killed well over 100 hogs inside the city limits.”

The most problematic areas lie in or near the eastern side of Magnolia near Ward 3, Vann said. Magnolia is in Columbia County near the Louisiana border.

Feral hogs are a problem because of their feeding habits of rooting and destroying the ground, as well as their toughness, survivability and ability to reproduce at such a rapid rate.

Beginning at 7 months old, a sow can begin birthing piglets and can do so two more times over a one-year span. There are typically 12 piglets per litter with only a 30 percent mortality rate.

When a food source runs out, the hogs move on to other, more plentiful, areas. Because of their large numbers and size, feral hogs can cause a lot of damage.

The city does not own any traps to deal with feral hogs, but the animal control officer uses his own traps when required.

“He is a hog hunter by trade,” Vann said. “So three of his personal traps, he carries to work with him.”

The idea of the city purchasing such traps has been proposed, but it would be costly, the mayor said.

“The traps now are pretty big and very expensive because the hogs have gotten smarter,” Vann said.

The large, top-of-the-line BoarBuster brand traps retail for $6,995 or $7,995, according to the company’s website. The trap’s walls are suspended above the ground. They can be tripped remotely, causing the walls to fall to the ground and trap several animals at once.

Smaller traps aren’t as useful because the hogs have figured out how to avoid them, the mayor said.

Vann encouraged any rural residents inside the city limits who are having problems with feral hogs to deal with the problem as they see fit — as long as no neighbors are affected.

“A lot of us live in the city, but it’s in a country setting,” Vann said. “I live on 10 acres, and if I have a hog, I’m going to get rid of it however I can.”

Reports of feral hogs can be made to the Arkansas Feral Hog Eradication Task Force. The system is designed to help measure feral hog removal efforts in Arkansas and help better estimate the state’s feral hog population.

The task force’s website address is agriculture.arkansas.gov/feralhog-eradication-task-force.