State Agency Ponders Use Of Poison To Control Feral Hogs

Louisiana has a pig overpopulation problem. My first thought was "how about we just make more cracklin". It's pretty obvious I am not very wise in the ways of wildlife conservation.

Jim LaCour is a veterinarian with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and he knows better than most about  Louisiana's feral pig problem. While you and I might not have ever encountered a feral pig, they are out there. By the thousands, they are out there and they're doing a lot of damage to our state.

Lacour told the Louisiana Radio Network that the agency is contemplating the use of a new EPA poison called Kaput to control the animals.

It's highly fatal to feral hogs if it's consumed for 4 consecutive days by the animals.

While it's been approved for use, Lacour says the agency is taking their time to study the real impact using this chemical might have. Of particular interest is how to make sure the poison is consumed only by the hogs and not other wildlife, in particular, the Louisiana Black Bear.

Certainly, we don't want to do anything to impact the bear population.

In order to facilitate the proper use of the chemical wildlife specialist will actually have to "train" the feral hogs to begin eating out of a special feeder. This feeder will be very difficult for any other animal to eat from.

The chemical is expected to be deployed in May in the neighboring state of Texas. Officials in Louisiana hope to learn from the Texas deployment to fine tune their own use of the chemical should they choose to proceed with its use.