Wild Boars

[smr220]

Since the wildlife forum is dead and no one seems to post there, i'll try this here!

Do Wild Boars/Feral Hogs/Hybrids occur in the wild in the forests of up state NY? I know they were released into the wild in the late 1800's in NY for hunting purposes, I wonder if a breeding population actually still exists? Thanks for listening.

Cheers.

[Boreal Chickadee]

Well, Redhawk is pretty wild... and somewhat of a bore

Seriously, I've never heard of any in the Adirondacks or anywhere in New York.

Anyone else?

[Gray Ghost]

Believe it or not, there were some on the loose in Whitehall a year ago, maybe a few years ago, not really sure when. I can't remember where the hell they came from though. I'll see if I can round up the story....-GG

[Gray Ghost]

I'll post the article under the boar thread in the wildlife section. Check it out. I'm sure what of the admins will condense these two threads anyway.

[Gray Ghost]

Whoa...looks like they already condensed it....I hit the back button and there I was, in this wildlife section...ANYWAY...I found the article, but I'm still unsure of the date and was too lazy to reread all of it. I didn't find it on the Post Star Website because their search engine was being a pain. Found via google. I think it occured within the last year.

The story:

By THOM RANDALL

randall@poststar.com

WHITEHALL -- About a dozen people have said they've run into one or two big, hairy wild creatures Tuesday and Wednesday.

Bigfoot?

Nope.

Wild boars?

Believe it.

Two wild boars, perhaps as large as 200 to 300 pounds, have been roaming the Whitehall area this week.

And although Whitehall achieved some notoriety over alleged bigfoot sightings in the 1970s, these wild boar episodes are apparently well-documented.

Bambi Hurley was one of the first to see the four-footed beasts.

She was sitting out on her porch about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday with friends watching television, she said, when she heard a clatter of cloven hooves down Elizabeth Street.

"Me and my roommate and a friend, we all saw them," she said. "They were running up Elizabeth Street, then these big, hairy boars stood still near us for a good five minutes while we watched."

Hurley and her friends were worried about the children coming home from school being attacked by the shaggy creatures, she said.

"We saw 'Dice' Oliver's son on his bike about 20 yards away from the wild boars, so we screamed for him to go inside," she said, "then the boars ... took off between Dice's house and the senior citizen apartments."

Such precaution is good, Whitehall police officer Jeffrey Whalen said.

"If you run into the boars, don't confront them, just call 911," he said. "Wild boars can be very aggressive and become very vicious if they're cornered."

A Whitehall patrol officer and a state Enivonmental Conservation officer spent hours touring town to find them Wednesday, Whalen said, but didn't see hairy hide nor tusk.

The police department took action after receiving reports of the creatures running down Elizabeth and South William streets and on the Skene Valley Country Club golf course, he said.

The country club is owned by Pat and Cliff Sparks, who along with their daughter Dawn Boothby were among 10 people who ran into two boars on the golf course Wednesday, shortly after 11 a.m.

Boothby saw two dark brown boars with thick heavy coats and long hair growing on ridges down their backs, she said, when she was headed out the clubhouse to mow fairways.

"I hollered in the door, 'You've got two giant hairy pigs on the lawn here," Boothby said.

Pat Sparks grabbed a disposable camera and stepped out of the clubhouse to take a look. The boars ran, and Sparks jumped into a golf cart and slammed her foot on the accelerator pedal.

She chased them down county Route 9A, then across the 18th fairway and near the 8th tee, she said.

"There were these four golfers on the 7th fairway, and they thought they were seeing things," she said.

One of the golfers, Jeff Rougeau of Lake George, described the surprise showdown. Tim Kissane of Lake George was also among the foursome.

"I was ready to make a chip shot onto the 7th green, and suddenly these wild boars were just 10 feet away from us," Rougeau said. "We dropped our clubs, jumped into the golf cart and tore out of there -- it scared the crap out of us -- I've heard how fierce they can get."

The boars ran in the opposite direction across a field into the woods, Kissane said.

"They took off flying," he said.

Jackie Williams said she saw a boar shortly after noon Tuesday about 5 miles away in front of her North Granville home at the intersection of DeKalb and Loomis roads.

"My Rottweiler, she was barking bad, so I went outside my home to check things out," she said. "There was this black, very scary animal with two long tusks, and it scared the living daylights out of me. "

The big, dark hairy boar ran down Loomis road and disappeared into the woods, she said.

"I was afraid to tell my husband because he'd think I was off my rocker," she added.

News of roaming boars on the golf course prompted elementary school authorities to keep students inside Wednesday early afternoon, Whitehall elementary Principal David St. Germain said. The school is located next to the golf course.

"We had students on recess and gym classes, and we brought them all inside for the rest of the day," he said Thursday. "Today, we just asked our teachers to be extra vigilant and watch the boundaries."

Thursday afternoon, Pat Sparks looked at her photos documenting her boar sighting, and she said she was glad she had them as proof -- documentation her husband and others didn't get in the mid-1970s when they saw a bigfoot-type hairy creature plod over the 1st fairway at night, then run into the woods.

"Now my husband's really going to get razzed again," she said, looking at the photos.

[Ordin Aryguy]

Wild hogs are prolific breeders, the females are excellent mothers, and they leave unmistakable evidence in their wake. An area where wild hogs have been rooting for food looks like it has been rototilled by a drunk man.

It's doubtful that, save for the very rare escapee from a fenced in enclosure, that there are any wild hogs roaming the 'Dacks.

Ordin

[southernadkhiker]

I read in Barney's Adirondack Album that there once was a herd that was captured around Indian Lake in the late 70's. There was actually a wild herd of buffalo in the northern dacks' as well! Safe to say, they didn't survive

[southernadkhiker]

I read in Barney's Adirondack Album that there once was a herd that was captured around Indian Lake in the late 70's. There was actually a wild herd of buffalo in the northern dacks' as well! Safe to say, they didn't survive.

[redhawk]

It's doubtful that, save for the very rare escapee from a fenced in enclosure, that there are any wild hogs roaming the 'Dacks.
Ordin

There are an awful lot of pigs though, of the two legged species!!

[Gray Ghost]

Ha, there certainly are, Hawk.

I wonder the origin of the Whitehall pigs, though...(not Whitehouse, LOL...it's obvious where they came from).

[adk]

I posted this in the "Adirondack Wildlife" area but got no responses. Thought I would post over here-

In response to- >Cougar seen in northern NY
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have a home in Chateaugay NY (Just north of the park) and I have seen signs of cougar. A friend of mine swears he saw one bound across my driveway a couple years ago. Recently I have placed trail Cam's around the yard. I don't hunt, I simply am a nature buff and would like to see the variety of wildlife that would be caught on film. Theve been out a couple months and thus far I have pictures of Turley, coyote, Deer, Pheasant, pocupine and raccon (I would be happy to post photos in future especially if anything very unusual pops up). I have seen brush wolf and coyote, woodcock and every owl type one could think of. Twice I have seen eagle as im not far from the chateaugay river and occasionally fox and black bear. I find that creatures in the Adirondacks are very good at hiding (probably due to the vast hunting). I find that the best time to to identify wildlife is actually at night. If you quietly listen you can make out much more wildlife then you could actually ever see. Once in the yard I could hear a bobcat screaming. To be honest I would like to see some better habitat protection in the park because these days its getting deforested and chewed up at an alarming rate.

[ADKlvr]

Not an ADK Topic, but...A Really neat article on boars is in the January 6, 2006 Syracuse Post Standard Sports section. Is about northern Cortland/Southern Onondaga counties and the large pigs running loose..... A time proven management plan can be put down because people decide to "turn loose a harmless" anlmal where it does not belong by someone meaning well.

[Ordin Aryguy]

Here's the link to the Post Standard story about the wild hog killed down near Cortland.

Post Standard wild hog story

One thing that I thought was real interesting was the owner of Cold Brook Preserve being positive none of his wild hogs are escaping... Believe me, there isn't a fence made that can contain a pig that doesn't want to be there.


Ordin

[Boreal Chickadee]

Gary get your gun.. We're under oink oink seige.

Personally, I despise "canned" hunts.

[Wildernessphoto]

Gary get your gun.. We're under oink oink seige.

That is right in my backyard. I'm ready, willing, and able!

240lbs of free ham sounds like a plan to me!