COM 0295.007 2006-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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long-term solutions, wildlife disease risks as it relates to the butchering of possibly contaminated meat, the state-level regulations as it pertains to the control of feral pigs on private property, and specifications for trap building for individuals interested and competent in trapping problematic pigs themselves. 4.1 Carcass Disposition As owners or lessees of the properties that were serviced, residents and noncommercial agricultural farmers were given the opportunity to assume responsibility of the pig carcasses for human consumption or give it to an interested second party. Every effort was made by APHIS-WS personnel to influence the people being serviced to utilize the meat for human consumption, although the final decision was left to the land owner or lessee. APHIS-WS documented that 104, or 47%, of the 221 pigs captured were consumed. The remaining carcasses were disposed of at the Hilo Landfill. 5.0 METHODS AND RESULTS Three primary control methods (cage traps, leg snares and shooting with suppressed rimfire rifles) were used to remove 221 injurious feral pigs from 64 trapping locations, most of which were residential properties (Table 3). Despite the assumption that cage traps would be the primary control method when the project was initiated, leg snares were deemed more useful in areas where feral pigs could not be baited into a cage trap, or where there were no suitable aeeas to place a cage trap. A description of each method and associated results are provided below. 5.1 Cage Traps Cage traps were deployed and baited with papayas, Fermented corn, macadamia nuts and/or bananas to control feral pigs. Over this report period, a total of 88 pigs were captured using cage traps representing 40% of the total catch. 5.2 Leg Snares Non-lethal leg mazes were deployed on trails leading into properties and agriculture fields that have been encountering feral pig damages. Over this report period, a total of 128 pigs were captured using leg snares representing 58% of the total catch. 5.3 Shooting Pigs were occasionally observed outside of a cage trap or alongside of a pig caught in a leg snare. In these instances, selective opportunistic shooting provided a means to remove problematic individuals that could have potentially been leery, or "trap-shy", of trapping devices. This method was very seldom used, and only when safe shots were observed. Suppressed rimfire rifles were used to humanely shoot free-ranging pigs at close range. Over this report period, a total of five feral pigs were shot outside of a cage trap representing 2% of the total catch.