This is a hog caught on a game cam in the Texas Rolling Plains (northwest Texas) a short time ago. We've hunted this ranch more or less continually since the first deer I killed there in 1964 (I was an infant at the time, of course ).

The first feral hogs showed up about the late 1980s or early 1990s. Back then most of them were either solid white or spotted with lots of white on them. Through the years we've seen much less white, and now see virtually none. A few years ago, most hogs showed some spotting, although it was dark -- gray to black, or sometimes dark brown to liver. Now, we rarely see any color in the hogs except grizzled brown to rust, and they look more and more like the one in the photo above. In other words, they seem to have devolved in only a relatively few generations back into something that is almost indistinguishable from the European wild boar from which they were bred.

People often attribute this to the introduction of European boars into the breeding population by someone wishing to breed more sporting animals. I don't think this is happening. I think that natual selection in the wild strongly favors both the color and conformation of the "wild" hogs, thus white piggies get picked off by coyotes, etc. more quickly, just as fat piggies run slower than their leaner litter mates and fall prey to whatever is out there.

The result is that, if a generation equals a year, and we have about 20 generations, then in that amount of time the feral domestic swine are able to adapt and revert to a form that is virtually identical to their ancestors several hundred or even thousands of generations earlier.

I'd be interested if others are encountering this same phenomenon.

You may be correct about natural selection but I do know for a fact that many with "European" or "Russain" traits have been released for sporting purposes.
I have been approached several times by folk trying to sell me these hogs with "certified bloodlines" etc, to turn loose on properties for hunting.
I told them that the current hog population didn't need help.

Well, first of all, pigs generally have a litter about every 5 months, assuming adequate nutrition, so 20 years would be more like 40 plus generations.

On my ranch we've actually gone in the other direction. When I first bought it about 15 years ago, almost all the pigs I saw were deep black, with the very occasional brown one thrown in. Now we've got gray, spotted, white, etc but black is still the predominant color. Whether this could have anything to do with a local turning out his poland china herd about 10 years back or not is debatable. That was over 10 miles away, but pigs are pigs.

BTW, and this is a fact, a couple of the local moneyed sports, about 30 years or so back decided that the resident pig population left on the Sulphur River was too far (and probably too hard) to go to hunt. At that time there were NO wild pigs anywhere in NE Texas except those left to go wild in the Sulphur Bottoms. These guys hired a few dog men to catch a trailer load of pigs, supposedly (I have witnesses to all of the above but no actual confimation of the Russian boar part of it, needless to say, the "sports", one of whom is still alive, aren't talking) brought some Russian boars in, hauled the whole shebang up to Chapman Ranch, where they had their hunting lease, which borders my ranch on the North and runs along the Red River for at least 20 miles to the West, has at least 22,000 acres in it, and turned them loose. Needless to say, they didn't consult the Chapmans (who are Okies, and don't consort much locally) before the above episode. The rest is history.

BTW, I'm not saying a coyote doesn't snatch a piglet every now and then, but he'd really have to be Wiley E. Coyote and quick to get away from Momma pig. She keeps those pigs close when they are really a good mouthful and won't back up from anything except a gunner and some won't leave even then if they're small enough. One time, (this was before I got smarter and decided to kill sows and preferably pregnant sows first), my son, then about 6 and I were in a stand with a spin feeder close in front of it. Big Sow came up with about 10 really small pigs around her, I'm talking half football sized, if that. I also had firm directions from my wife not to kill any with small pigs, she's smarter now too. It was nearly dark and the sow went over under the feeder, which has some broken limbs under it, and started rooting around for any left over corn. Piglets spread out in all directions for maybe 30 or 40 feet. About that time, the feeder went off, I swear that sow JUMPED about 10 feet sideways, started to run, and then thought of her piglets, she jammed it up, stopped dead in her tracks, and then she bristled up about twice her size, turned toward that spinner, and started grunting to gather in her brood. She stayed right there, grunting until they all got around her and then she kicked it into a higher gear and they were all gone. Adam and I had our hands over our mouths until she left and then we both broke up. It was really funny, but it would have been a very bad decision to step out in front of that momma pig at that moment. She was on go to protect her babies.

Stonecreek, My experience also. When I was a kid--mid 70's-- it was a big deal if someone saw or shot a hog at the deer lease--everybody went to look at it. Now I kill a dozen or more--mostly black/grey--on the same land w/o trying.
Gato, I think I could catch a piglet easier/faster than other babies. As an example, Gus my parents very happy and large Lab took an evening stroll down to our nearest stock pond where he promptly got his chest ripped open by a hog. Don't try to tell me Labs don't have a memory. Last year he was riding around in the jeep w/ my Dad when he jumped out and ran into the brush only to return w/ a live piglet in his mouth. No sow around. Something eats the piglets b/c the litters generally start w/ 8-10 and get smaller as they age.

Well, the most effective predator of the young is a large boar. It's about the only animal that can overcome the sow, at least when the sow is around. The boars probably kill and eat more piglets than all other predators combined. I suspect that most of the loss to predators is during the absence, for one reason or another, of the sow. Although I cited coyotes as an example of a pig predator, I suspect that the coyote take of ham and bacon is pretty insubstantial. However, coyotes sure know what to do with a hog carcass if you are kind enough to put it on the ground for them (at least, they know what to do before the other hogs arrive and run them off of the carcass.)

But I also suspect that pig mortality is much greater due to disease than to predators, which is the main reason that numbers have blossomed. The rapid growth of feral hog numbers is largely due to more and better public health measures and sanitation. Hogs are subject to many human diseases that were formerly transmitted to them through open sewers and untreated municipal waste and garbage.

None of this is a direct explanation for the "Europeanization" of the feral hog population. While I don't doubt that some "sportsmen" have attempted to introduce some European, or at least "razorback" genes into the pool, I also suspect that such efforts are of minimal impact compared to the natural change that appears to occur in hogs when they "go wild".

Gato, I realize that hogs can have two (and according to some, even more) litters per year, but I am assuming that it takes about a year for the young to themselves become parents of a third generation, therefore my guess of approximately one generation per year. Saying that a human female can take approximately one pregnancy to term per year doesn't make a human generation only one year from one to the next.

I could certainly be wrong about the introduction of European bloodlines. However, in the broad area of this West Texas ranch I don't think there are persons with both the money and the lack of good sense to have purposefully introduced "Russian" boars in the area. And if there were, it would certainly be without the blessing of the landowners.

Those little white piggies got there color through many many generations of selective breeding. Well when you throw a whole bunch of white sows in with a couple of brown boars and one or two black boars, it won't take but a few generations before you have a population that is mostly non-white (as in not solid white) pigs. Now the dark hair genes are the dominant genes and as such most of the offspring from breeding one white and one dark pig will be dark or non solid white. Given 40 or 50 generations it not much of a surprise that by now a vast majority of the pigs are dark.

9 out 10 pigs we see in E Texas are black these days, If a pig makes it to 25 lbs. they have no more natural enemies. A coyote is the largest predator here in Texas except the occasional lion but they are few and far between. A 25 lb pig can whoop a coyote. We do have quite a few gators in Texas now that might pick off a pig now and then if then catch them in their pond.

Unfortunately, no gators in West Texas to help control porcine populations!

And since everybody always wants to shoot the biggest hog first, we hunters are selectively ridding the main predator from the ecosystem. I think hogs are going to be with us for the long run.

quote:

Originally posted by aliveincc:

Gato, I think I could catch a piglet easier/faster than other babies.

Agreed, alot of ear marked hogs running around our country thanks to the cowboys roping them when they ought to be prowling through cows.

No to be the contrary guy, it seems like I see more and more spotted piglets out here.

Haven't found a really good spotted boar yet. I have a few good black or brown boars mounted but really would like to mount one more provided it is big and wild colored.

Interesting topic. The only predator we have here is man.On this property we have gone from a predominantly white population 20 odd years ago, to white now makeing up maybe 15%. Though there were more black pigs in the surrounding area. White pigs stick out to the eye and usually get clobbered first. At the moment the dominant boar is an unusually large beast of a grey colour,I've been after him for 2 years now but he's pretty damn smart! and he alone is having a noticeable effect on the local population with the percentage of greys on the increase.

Stonie,

Back when I was an infant, too .....

The pic of the cinnamon colored Boar from the Trail Cam is pretty unusual for Europe. I shot a larger sow with a similar colored coat many years ago (puberty then ..... .

The typical European is spotted as a Piglet, stays that way for about 3-4 months, goes brown through the first 9 months and then they go black in the summer and the winter coat sometimes gives them a metallic shine that appears "silver" when they're on the hoof but after they've been sorted out with a projectile they appear, well; black.

Spotted variations are sighted here occaisionally and immediately and taken out of the gene pool as the Teutons do not desire this trait in their Piggies. I've seen plenty of mounts & prepared hides with spots but over a life-time of hunting them here only seen 1 spotted Piggie killed on a Drive Hunt.

Global Warming; who knows but the poulation here has sky-rocketed. The traditional Piglet season now encompasses the entire year; it's not uncommon to see younger Sows with Piglets and at uncommon times; winter for example.

Because a Pig is so-o-o smart I personally believe that the Teutons have trained their local Piggie populations to "Get-Smart" when all the hubaloo & Hunting Horn blowing starts in their Hunting Leases. We see hundreds of them but the annual Fall & Winter Drive Hunts are producing less results.

In 1988 we had the first Pigs in the Reveire (Hunting Lease) on the outskirts of FKT . 4 Sows. To our astonishment a coupla months later (end March/beginning April) there was suddenly 36. My Leasor told me to shoot as many Piglets as possible every time I saw them. His reasoning was if we didn't start RIGHT NOW there would be 32 sixty lb'ers in the corn & wheat fields where we'd have real issues trying to sort them out. As ususal; he was right.

While I have an issue with shooting a lactating Sow with litter I don't have any issues at all with potting her offspring asap. Everyone wants to shoot a Monster Keiler but the truth be told the REALLY BIG ones are few & far between - you gotta sort 'em out at the beginning if you want to make an attempt at population control.

Perhaps the nomenclature we are using may be confusing. When I refer to "spotted" I am meaning large patches of black, white, or brown much like a pinto pony found on the adults.

When Gerry is using the term spotted regarding the piglets, I assume he means the typical whitish or yellowish stripes and spots found the juveniles which fades as they mature.

quote:

Perhaps the nomenclature we are using may be confusing. When I refer to "spotted" I am meaning large patches of black, white, or brown much like a pinto pony found on the adults.

When Gerry is using the term spotted regarding the piglets, I assume he means the typical whitish or yellowish stripes and spots found the juveniles which fades as they mature.

Gottcha!