This story by Darren Marcy first appeared in the White River Valley Herald on Aug. 31.
Wildlife officials are awaiting test results on a feral swine that was killed in Tunbridge about a month ago to determine exactly what it was and whether it was carrying any diseases. The pig, which is expected to be a Russian boar based on appearance, likely came from Corbin Park, also known as the Blue Mountain Forest and Game Preserve, a 25,000-acre property that stretches across at least five New Hampshire towns southeast of Lebanon.
Corbin Park is known to have wild boars, which escape with some frequency as the fence gets damaged.
Officially, the pig that was removed by the United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services is considered a feral swine until tests return on its genetics.
But its appearance leans toward a wild boar. Its long, sloping snout, the hairy ridgeback, shoulder structure and tusks leaves little doubt in most minds, even if the officials cannot say for sure.
“Until we get the genetics back, we don’t want to make any assumptions,” said Wildlife Management Program Manager David Sausville, of the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department. But he said the animal definitely had “that look” with its darker hairy spine, tusks, and sloping snout.
Sausville said Fish & Wildlife is working with the Vermont Department of Health and Agency of Agriculture on the situation because wild pigs of all varieties are a concern to domestic animals, wild animals and humans.
Sausville said wild pigs can carry about 30 different diseases and about 40 different parasites that can affect humans, livestock and wildlife.
“It’s a big concern for us,” Sausville said. “There’s always a concern when one shows up.”
They’re also destructive to habitat and wildlife, he said. A solo wild pig is a concern, but an established population would be a disaster.
Once established, wild pigs are nearly impossible to eradicate and, in addition to the diseases, they’re also destructive to habitat and farmers’ fields, rooting and destroying the landscape.
“Feral swine are not something we want to have established,” Sausville said. “They’re destructive. We don’t want to become like some other states where they have significant populations, and they’re doing damage. We want to protect our domestic livestock, humans and wildlife.”
Brendan Popp, a biological science technician with USDA Wildlife Services, said samples have been sent out for disease and genetic testing. He was not sure how long it would take to get results back.
Popp knows of four wild boars that have been found in Vermont in the past four years. There have been many more reports but only four were confirmed.
“We’re trying to keep Vermont pig-free,” Popp said. “The damage they do is really bad. They’re highly destructive.”
This particular pig was seen by multiple people in Tunbridge. One of those sightings was at Gabe Freitag’s farm.
“It was the middle of the day, I was driving up my driveway and saw a Russian boar in the field,” Freitag said. “I was pretty surprised.”
Freitag said he went to get his gun, but the pig was gone when he went back, so he reported it to authorities. Freitag said the wild boar was checking out his two pigs but ran off. The USDA Wildlife Services folks shot it near Macintosh Pond Road.
Freitag’s son saw it in the back of a pickup and estimated it at about 90 pounds, which is right where authorities put it. They aged the male boar as a young adult. Popp said when it was first reported it came in with a photo, which was helpful.
“Having pictures is great,” Popp said. “We can say, ‘oh yeah, that shouldn’t be there.’”
Popp said they went to the location the day after it was reported and placed bait and cameras and then got a call from the Vermont Game Warden saying it had been seen in another location.
More camera traps were placed and then, a week later, found it was back in the original location. They set up tree stands and were able to shoot the boar soon after. The entire time span was 7 to 10 days.
Both agencies are continuing to monitor the area with cameras to make sure the young boar did not have a friend, but so far, it looks like it was the only one.
Sausville said South Royalton and Tunbridge seem to be the spots where these boars have been found recently.
If anyone sees a pig it should be reported to the local game warden or the USDA office, Sausville said.
