[Hog Buster]

A couple of years back we caught 3 wild/feral shoats, a boar and 2 sows, while crawfishing. They were swimming and we were faster in the boat. I put them in a pen and started feeding them, hog chow and corn. They bounced off the fence for a while , but soon calmed down and acted no different than their domestic kin, becoming rather tame. They grew to about 150 - 200 pounds. They never got fat, were very hairy, had long legs, narrow rear ends and heads shaped like a plow. Much differently shaped than true domestics. Slaughtered they produced pork as good as any Hampshire I’ve ever raised.

Now for a little wild hog story.

During the time I was raising these hogs hurricane Gustav blew thru here and downed all our power lines. Several days after the storm the power company had trucks and crews out repairing the lines.

One morning I was awakened by someone yelling in back of my house. Going to see what was up, I found a lineman about half way up a pole in back with my 3 wild hogs at the base looking up at him. As I stepped off the porch he yelled for me to look out, there’s wild hogs out here. I told him I’d take care of them. I went and got a bucket of hog chow. When the three escapees saw me with it they came running and followed me back into their pen. After they were secured the lineman came down and we both had a good laugh. I told him they were just looking for breakfast. He said that he thought they were looking to eat him and his only escape route was back up the pole, said he’d been up there for about 15 minutes trying to decide what to do.