Texas ag commissioner approves poison for feral hogs

[Vicki]

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller on Tuesday will announce approval of a new weapon in the ongoing war against feral hogs in Texas.

Miller has approved a rule change in the Texas Administrative Code that classifies a new warfarin-based product as a state-limited-use pesticide for control of feral hogs. State-limited-use pesticides may only be bought and used by a licensed applicator or someone under the direct supervision of a licensed applicator. The pesticide, “Kaput Feral Hog Lure,” is the first toxicant to be listed specifically for use in controlling the feral hog population.

“Wild hogs have caused extensive damage to Texas lands and loss of income for many, many years,” Miller said in a news release. “I am pleased to announce that the ‘feral hog apocalypse' may be within Texans’ reach with the introduction of Kaput’s hog lure.”

Introducing warfarin as the first pesticide available to control the feral hog population is significant because it gives agriculture producers and landowners in Texas a new weapon in the fight against feral hogs with minimal risk to other animals. According to experts familiar with the issue, warfarin is a logical choice for hog toxicant, because it is effective in swine but requires much higher dosage levels to potentially affect other wildlife populations or livestock. The Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Service is supportive of the rule change and the use of warfarin for feral hog population control.

Miller has informed the Legislature that $900,000 in TDA’s budget previously earmarked for feral hog control research will no longer be necessary as a result of this rule change and has asked that the appropriation be removed from the current TDA budget pending before the Legislature.

The manufacturer of the product, Scimetrics Ltd. Corp., has been manufacturing rodent management products for 15 years. Extensive testing of warfarin has been conducted in Texas since 2008. The approval of warfarin for feral hog control is the culmination of several years of research in partnership with Scimetrics and TDA. A representative from Scimetrics will also be on hand to take questions regarding the product.


http://www.reporternews.com/story/m...issioner-approves-poison-feral-hogs/98057838/

 

[Vicki]

New Feral Hog Bait Approved by EPA

Hunters, farmers, and home owners alike have been waiting years for an end-all to the growing hog issue. Pretty much everyone other than hog doggers! As most of you know the feral hog situation in most of our country is beyond out of control. In fact, Louisiana hunters killed an estimated 350,000 of them last year and didn’t make a dent. Feral pigs are responsible for the destruction of crops, native habitat and carry and number of diseases that can spread to both wildlife and humans a like. They reproduce at an alarming rate and have no natural predators.

Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry Dr. Mike Strain reports a possible solution has been approved by the Environmental Protection Agency to fight the feral pig problem.

“Its a bait”, says Strain, “to help eradicate the feral pig.”

The bait is made by a company out of Colorado called Kaput. It is fed to the feral pigs for three to six weeks using a specific type feeder that only a feral pig can get its head inside to feed on the bait.

But Strain cautions to “be sure and follow all label instructions” when using the bait.

While most of us may have been hoping for a hog specific poison that could be dispensed directly to the ground, this is not it. If approved by the state of Louisiana, which is still pending, it will be every important to follow the specific directions and ONLY use in the approved feeder.

Research has been done recently on 2 active ingredients that have been proven killers of feral swine, Sodium Nitrite, a meat preservative, and a blood thinning agent called Warfarin.

https://louisianabowhunter.com/new-feral-hog-bait-approved-by-epa/

More details on the availability of the feeder, and bait will be out soon.

 

[Elana P]

New Feral Hog Bait Approved by EPA

Hunters, farmers, and home owners alike have been waiting years for an end-all to the growing hog issue. Pretty much everyone other than hog doggers! As most of you know the feral hog situation in most of our country is beyond out of control. In fact, Louisiana hunters killed an estimated 350,000 of them last year and didn’t make a dent. Feral pigs are responsible for the destruction of crops, native habitat and carry and number of diseases that can spread to both wildlife and humans a like. They reproduce at an alarming rate and have no natural predators.

Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry Dr. Mike Strain reports a possible solution has been approved by the Environmental Protection Agency to fight the feral pig problem.

“Its a bait”, says Strain, “to help eradicate the feral pig.”

The bait is made by a company out of Colorado called Kaput. It is fed to the feral pigs for three to six weeks using a specific type feeder that only a feral pig can get its head inside to feed on the bait.

But Strain cautions to “be sure and follow all label instructions” when using the bait.

While most of us may have been hoping for a hog specific poison that could be dispensed directly to the ground, this is not it. If approved by the state of Louisiana, which is still pending, it will be every important to follow the specific directions and ONLY use in the approved feeder.

Research has been done recently on 2 active ingredients that have been proven killers of feral swine, Sodium Nitrite, a meat preservative, and a blood thinning agent called Warfarin.

https://louisianabowhunter.com/new-feral-hog-bait-approved-by-epa/

More details on the availability of the feeder, and bait will be out soon.

We don't have a hog problem in Canada so far (thank goodness).

That said, people have tried using poison to iradicate different wild life before, and it tends to cause a host of other problems.

What happens to all the other types of wild life that will feed on the dead poisoned pigs?

I know that there are people who hunt these pigs. What happens if they ingest poisoned pig meat?

When it comes to using poisons, it opens up a can of worms, which may have far reaching issues, and which may harm a lot more than just the intended victims.

Just my thoughts.

 

[marke]

trying to solve a problem we created by creating another problem .......

 

[Boxergirl]

Warfarin. That's a common blood thinner used in rat poison. It would seem that it would take quite a bit to kill a large animal like a hog. I remember reading the LD50 stats for that a long time ago when I was writing a paper on animal testing, but I don't remember the numbers for cats and dogs. I have a problem using poison of any kind where other animals can ingest the poisoned flesh. I don't live in an area where feral hogs are a problem and didn't actually know that places did have a problem until learning about it from members on this forum. I get that feral hogs are a huge problem in some areas. I still don't like this as a "solution." Poison is a terrible way to die. And anything that puts other animals at risk bothers me.

 

[dpenning]

Feral hogs are a huge problem in Texas. You cannot hunt enough of them to make an impact, you have to be able to trap large numbers at once in order to maintain the numbers, not even lower them. I've seen a feeder that has been tested to only open for feral hogs, any other wildlife and it will not open. They are trying to find ways to minimize the damage to other wildlife. I did see one hog on the side of the road that had been hit by a car. One day I saw a couple of buzzards on the back, they flew off when I drove by. They never did eat that hog. I often wondered if it had been poisoned and they were able to tell some how. Others get picked clean in a few days. I've never actually seen any on my property but I did find a lower jawbone from one that I'm guessing a coyote brought in. It was the only bone I found. I agree that wholesale poisoning is not the right answer.

 

[dpenning]

This was the best trap I'd seen:

 

[marke]

my thought is we've been poisoning rats and mice forever , their still doing well ............. as far as how it's supposed to be used and how it will be used i'm sure in many cases will not be the intended way ......... the way it's supposed to be used is labor intense and higher in cost verses just putting it out ......... if there's food in a container , i'm sure other animals will figure it out , or be taught , just as they intend to teach the hogs , heck I wouldn't put it past many of the ones who can't physically open it , to figure out they can get it when the hogs open it ..... i'm sure there will be a fair amount dropped on the ground by the animals feeding for small mammals to eat , those small mammals eaten by snakes , birds , foxes , coyotes , bobcats , dogs , cats .... I see just another nail in the coffin ..............

 

[Bailey's Mom]

We don't have a hog problem in Canada so far (thank goodness).

That said, people have tried using poison to iradicate different wild life before, and it tends to cause a host of other problems.

What happens to all the other types of wild life that will feed on the dead poisoned pigs?

I know that there are people who hunt these pigs. What happens if they ingest poisoned pig meat?

When it comes to using poisons, it opens up a can of worms, which may have far reaching issues, and which may harm a lot more than just the intended victims.

Just my thoughts.

Well, I thought the wild pig problem was a southern states kind-of-thing, but on a warm fall evening back in 2009 or 2010, while out on a drive with my mother, I saw a large male boar running across a farmer's field with a much smaller female trailing behind him. To say I did a double take was an understatement. We were near the London airport and I have brought this up with every hunter that I have met. I gather, from what I've been told, that feral pig is shoot on sight, no questions asked. It's been a number of years since then, but I've never seen such a sight again. Are they here? Probably, but, I think, the inclement weather keeps them from being prolific, that and a very high coyote/coy-wolf population.

Back in the 80's I remember there being a hue and cry about a game farm having a breach that allowed wild pigs out into the environment. All I remember about it was that they went all out to hunt them down. Perhaps the clean up effort wasn't 100 per cent. But, that was near Kitchener...we're 70 miles down the road. Still...that was pig I saw, and it was wild.

Poison poisons everything. Electrocution, kills cleanly and leaves the meat for other critters. It can be done. The rat trap that I bought last year is a provocative point, it kills efficiently with electricity and it doesn't pollute. Human beings, the smartest creatures on earth, should have been able to figure this out without killing off everything that crawls and flies. Having said that, I do feel a great deal of empathy for the farmers, especially in Texas. I do wish all of you the very best.