Feral hogs damage Elizabeth City neighborhood

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C.

Residents on Rosedale Drive discovered last week their yards and flower beds were torn up like they had been run over by a set of earth-turning disks behind a tractor.

Nothing mechanical can be blamed on the destruction, just the incredibly powerful digging ability of feral hogs.

It's the second time feral hogs have rooted through an Elizabeth City neighborhood in five months, despite police shooting and killing nine of them last fall. They disappeared until last week, when large hogs were seen boldly walking around outbuildings and on Rosedale Drive.

Feral hogs have been around for years but have avoided roaming within city limits. The neighborhood abuts a swamp that runs along the Pasquotank River on the north side of Elizabeth City near the Albemarle Hospital.

Wildlife officials believe the feral hogs have come in from the rural areas of Camden County on the other side of the river. Feral hogs are excellent swimmers.

"They've populated in a bunch of counties across the state," said Lt. Norman Watts, an enforcement officer for the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. "I don't think we're going to get rid of them, but we can keep them down."

Feral hogs are prolific, typically breeding twice a year having anywhere from two to 12 piglets, according to an online report by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.

They are adaptable and eat most anything, including snakes. They carry diseases that infect other wildlife, domestic animals and even people. Texas, South Carolina and other Southeastern states have tried to get rid of feral hogs for many years without success.

"Many populations in productive habitats will be all but impossible to eradicate," according to the report. "Wild pigs represent an ecological menace that could affect North Carolina's native wildlife, plants and economy in irreversible ways."

Rosedale Drive resident David Sawyer had raked over the damage in his yard by Wednesday. Feral hogs had rooted around trees, near his garden and around a flower bed within 20 feet of his house. Many of his neighbors have had even worse damage.

"It's a wild kingdom out here," Sawyer said.

Last fall, Sawyer looked out his back window to see a sow walking along the edge of his yard with piglets following behind her.

Another day Sawyer saw one standing next to his garden bed. He ran toward it slapping his hands and sending it bounding back into the swamp. He is not allowed to shoot them: Discharging firearms within city limits is against the law.

Police staked out in the back yards last fall shot hogs that emerged from the swamp in the dead of night. Officers may be called upon to shoot more of them this time, Police Chief Charles Crudup said.

Agents from the U.S. Department of Agriculture have set also traps and wildlife officials have recruited a few bow hunters, Crudup said.

"Hopefully, we can take care of the problem."

Jeff Hampton, (252) 338-0159, jeff.hampton@pilotonline.com