Camera captures apparent sight of feral hog
By Hannah Cotter
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PLAINFIELD, New Hampshire (WMUR) — A resident of New Hampshire’s Upper Valley captured video of what appears to be a feral hog in her Plainfield backyard, and wildlife officials are now trying to track it down.
Experts said feral hogs aren’t found in New Hampshire or the surrounding area, so this one might have escaped from someone who relocated it to the state.
Wildlife experts said feral hogs are considered to be escaped private property, so without knowing who owns it, it’s not legal to shoot it.
David Allaben, of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said they can be a nuisance for landowners.
“They eat native wildlife, young fawns, anything they can get a hold of. Turkey nests, bird nests, nesting birds on the ground, turtles, you name it,” Allaben said. “They’re opportunistic feeders — they eat anything.”
David Allaben said anyone who sees the hog should contact his office so it can be tracked down and tested for disease.
“Once we remove them, we take several samples — blood samples, tissue samples,” Allaben said. “We’re testing for a whole variety of different diseases, because our fear is if they get in with domestic swine, these backyard pigs and stuff, they can spread whatever disease to that particular animal, and then we have a problem. And that’s one reason we want to get them off the landscape as quickly as possible.”
The USDA is working to get permission to track the hog and remove it from the property.
The homeowner that captured the video said the animal did not damage any of her property, but she’s keeping her cameras on just in case it comes back.
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