You can have my feral hog when you pry them from my wild boar pulled-pork BBQ sauce-stained lips.
With recent mass shootings, the internet has raised the usual discourse about firearms regulation and its flock of fallacies. One short-lived meme’s premises rationalize a need for high-capacity magazines to eradicate the overpopulation of feral hogs. Because Dingoes ate my baby achieved mythical status.
This is the argument for harvesting animals by hunting that continues to prevent actual ecologically efficient and effective animal population control. Numerous interest groups of varying ideologies have made this more difficult.
This argument has no relation to magazine capacity or the use of high-capacity magazines in semi-automatic rifles, but pro- and anti-gun advocates know how to root for support with safety claims.
Meanwhile the Trump administration has authorized more environmentally dangerous animal population control methods such as poisons triggered by explosives.
Unfortunately the recent viral meme hypothesizing that a mass of hogs, a time constraint, plus fear, makes the environmental discourse less confused.
The anti-firearm regulation hypothetical of being attacked by 30-50 feral hogs with a homicidal time constraint is conflated by actual ecological needs. But it does make for some minor bit of humor, even as the problem of firearms regulation remains contestable and conflicted.
For those confused about the abundance of hog talk, it all started when musician and friend of GQ Jason Isbell reacted to this past weekend’s tragic mass shootings with a tweet that read: “If you’re on here arguing the definition of ‘assault weapon’ today you are part of the problem. You know what an assault weapon is, and you know you don’t need one.”
While the responses ranged from those supporting his stance to those arguing against stricter gun laws, one in particular stood out above all others. “Legit question for rural Americans,” it began. “How do I kill the 30-50 feral hogs that run into my yard within 3-5 mins while my small kids play?
www.gq.com/…
Actually feral hogs are a real problem not easily controlled by any firearm.
Hunting is making it worse
They’re smart, secretive, adaptable—and have an appetite for everything in sight.
That's why the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced $75 million in funding toward a pilot program to control feral pigs. The effort is focused on areas where the hogs are causing the most damage, primarily in the Southeast. But officials in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas face significant challenges, not just due to the pigs' rapid feeding and breeding, but also because of their value as game.
Today, they number an estimated nearly seven million and have established themselves in 35 states (and have been spotted in 48!). According to the USDA, they cause $2 billion in damage every year. "This situation has been described as the greatest emerging wildlife challenge that the United States faces in the 21st century," says John "Jack" Mayer, a biologist Savannah River National Laboratory who's been studying wild pigs for over 40 years. "This is something we did to ourselves."
[...]
To stop the swine’s destruction, officials might need additional tools. Though not in use yet, scientists are developing contraceptives and toxins that would target the pigs. The challenge is ensuring that these measures only affect pigs. Feeders laced with such chemicals need to be only accessible to pigs and not other wildlife. And toxins need to degrade quickly, so that hunters or animals that eat the pigs aren't harmed.
[...]
Hunting the pigs for food might seem like a way to at least recycle the animals instead of letting their carcasses rot away, but it’s created an industry that relies on their continued existence. In Texas, although some 25,000 to 30,000 pigs are killed annually, that’s nothing compared to an estimated population of over two million. Some states have banned sport hunting or even possession of feral pigs for that reason. “We’re not going to barbecue our way out of this one,” says Mayer.
www.popsci.com/…
The use of “cyanide bombs” to kill wild animals has been authorised by the Trump administration.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has taken the first step to re-authorise the spring-loaded traps, known as M-44s, which are filled with sodium cyanide.
The devices are embedded in the ground and spray the poison when activated by animals attracted to bait, such as coyotes and foxes.
Idaho decided against using the traps after a 14-year-old boy was injured and his dog died when he came across one on land near his home in 2017.
Environmental groups have criticised the decision to reintroduce the devices, which they deem to be unsafe.
www.independent.co.uk/...
That hasn’t stopped us from being amused by the absurdity of the situation, where hunters work against their own interests.