Feral Hogs are getting out of hand

[Jerry Rapp]

on a good note, a FB friend here in Southeast Missouri posted a photo of an Elk walking through the woods under his deer stand.  It was well outside their fenced in home zone.

[SpoonDog]

48 minutes ago, Quillback said:

Well quite frankly your reasoning is also immaterial, and now you're bringing high fence operations into it which have nothing to do with birds,(and bear wrestiling? LOL).  And you're also implying that MDC, which according to you, suspects pen raised birds of spreading disease, but won't take action because it may interfere with the few commercial enterprises that raise game birds.  Have MDC biologists gone to the legislature and asked them to outlaw raising game birds?   If they haven't, which I doubt, I don't think it is because they are afraid the legislature will give them a hard time, I would think it is because they don't see it as a realistic threat to wildlife populations.

 

Look- if you have a hundred penned pheasants you're gonna let me shoot just outta the goodness of your heart, I'm all ears.  But I suspect lots and lots of people don't go through the trouble of buying pheasant (or quail or chukar) eggs, hatching them, raising the chicks, releasing them, or taking out ads and putting up websites advertising their bird farm because it's better than collecting stamps.  And I suspect folks aren't spending five grand on a vial of deer semen because it's more sustainable than diamonds and they want to make a one-of-a-kind engagement ring for their sweetheart.  Maybe I'm wrong, I don't think it's likely. 

The idea bird pens or high fences can be sources of disease is uncontroversial.  . MDC hasn't asked that bird farms be banned- because as I said, there's money in bird farms.  People have invested in them, those people elect legislators, and those legislators wreak havoc.  But there's all sorts of regs about captive birds in the wildlife code, and if MDC really thought there were no risk from penned birds, I doubt they'd insist none are released within five miles of a conservation area. 

No matter how unlikely you think it is that MDC would be influenced by political pressure, it's precisely what happened with captive deer.  .  MDC pushed to manage captive deer because they were transmitting disease to wild animals, legislators and lobbyists pushed back.  Once people are making money off of game- pheasants, deer, ducks, trout, whatever- it's incredibly difficult putting that genie in the bottle.  That's why MDC doesn't want hogs treated as game animals.

[Chief Grey Bear]

18 minutes ago, Jerry Rapp said:

on a good note, a FB friend here in Southeast Missouri posted a photo of an Elk walking through the woods under his deer stand.  It was well outside their fenced in home zone.

They're not fenced in. 

[ozark trout fisher]

38 minutes ago, Chief Grey Bear said:

They're not fenced in. 

No, but now I'm really enjoying the mental picture of a gigantic deer fence around a 350 square mile area. 

I bet THAT would get people talking. 

[Chief Grey Bear]

I thought of that too. Maybe Trump can build it.

[Phil Lilley]

1 hour ago, Chief Grey Bear said:

Marty, per your link;

Bighead carp, common carp, grass carp, and silver carp that jump from the water into a boat or onto land may also be taken and possessed in any number.

That's AWESOME!

[Johnsfolly]

I can say that I have been possessed to try and catch some carp.

As I read through this thread I think of the adage "Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig." It is a pig related thread after all.

[Quillback]

10 hours ago, Chief Grey Bear said:

Hey Quill, this post sounds a little snotty. I didn't mean for it to come out that way. 

No problem.  Still haven't seen any factual evidence of disease spread by pen raised birds wiping out local populations.  But. you know the bios, so maybe they can help you out?

Spoon, all you  have is speculation that the MDC manages game solely based on monetary value.  And if the value is high enough, they ignore potential problems, do really  think that is how they roll?

BTW Spoon, do you even read your own links?  That link you provided was referencing a Wyoming game farm and the outbreak was contained there.  Got anything local? 

I don't know why you keep referencing captive deer, but if you read the article you should notice that MDC did try to take ownership of managing captive deer, and they weren't "influenced" they were defeated in a court case. 

[Chief Grey Bear]

Here are a couple quick references that mention it as well. Again, as I have stated on several occasions now, it's not an epidemic, it's not wide spread. It is a possibility and has happened in some areas. That doesn't mean that at this time it is a major problem. But it is a concern that many in that field have. 

http://www.aces.edu/natural-resources/wildlife/penraisedquail.php

http://www.nwf.org/news-and-magazines/national-wildlife/birds/archives/1993/the-case-of-the-disappearing-quail.aspx

 

[Quillback]

12 minutes ago, Chief Grey Bear said:

Here are a couple quick references that mention it as well. Again, as I have stated on several occasions now, it's not an epidemic, it's not wide spread. It is a possibility and has happened in some areas. That doesn't mean that at this time it is a major problem. But it is a concern that many in that field have. 

http://www.aces.edu/natural-resources/wildlife/penraisedquail.php

http://www.nwf.org/news-and-magazines/national-wildlife/birds/archives/1993/the-case-of-the-disappearing-quail.aspx

 

Yep, I can see it being a concern, but according to those articles it is, as you say, a "possibility".