Hog Wild

Coming face to face with a wild hog is not part of the average Clemson student’s experience, but for a select few, it is routine. Drs. Erin Buchholtz and Greg Yarrow from the Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation mentor the Hog Wild on the Clemson Experimental Forest Creative Inquiry project. This team tracks wild hogs in the Clemson University Experimental Forest (CUEF) to analyze habitat use and movement behavior. They aim to equip local natural resource managers with data to tackle this invasive species.

The wild hogs are considered invasive to the CUEF because they are not native to the area, reproduce at high rates and can quickly adapt to their environment. With few natural predators, apart from humans, their populations surge, damaging native animal and plant populations. They destroy native plant communities by digging their snouts into roots and they decimate amphibian and insect communities. In addition, since the CUEF is a space for recreation, not only do the hogs damage the forests and trails, but they can also be dangerous if people get too close. This team is working to offer insights on controlling the hog population not just to protect CUEF plants and animals, but also the human visitors.

In the forest, the team identifies hog signs like disturbed dirt and mud on trees, then set up camera traps for confirmation. Once presence is confirmed, the students begin gradually setting up a net trap. This gradual set -up allows the hogs to get used to its presence opposed to a quick disturbance that may scare them away from the area. After capturing the wild hogs, they tranquilize them to safely collect data. They weigh them, tag their ear and put a radio telemetry collar on them. Trapping and collaring a sedated hog may seem easy on paper, but in reality, it can prove to be daunting. “It can be intense at times. They’re intimidating animals. They can be really aggressive,” Tucker Cribb, a senior wildlife and fisheries biology major, said.

Once the wild hogs are collared, the team collects data on their movements and habitat selection in the forest. Their primary focus is identifying CUEF usage. This knowledge will enable them to implement better eradication measures at various times of the year. This minimizes the time spent searching for hogs and maximizes time doing the dirty work. To aid in controlling the wild hog population, the students collaborate with Department of Natural Resources land managers and foresters to disseminate their findings and determine what other information land managers might find beneficial to guide their next steps.

“I don’t think we’ll ever be able to eradicate hogs from the entire United States. It’s more of just managing them where they are at now and doing preventative work and then controlling them where they’re causing damage,” Maya Fink, a senior wildlife and fisheries biology major, said. The road to managing the hogs is long, and maybe even impossible, but this Creative Inquiry Project is doing what they can to improve the Clemson University Experimental Forest.