Wild hogs could damage Vicksburg Civil War site

The Mississippi River flooded last spring, but didn't do any damage to the Vicksburg National Military Park in Vicksburg, Miss., site of a pivotal 1863 Civil War battle. However, a pack of wild hogs that has taken up residence in the park since the flood are rooting up the landscape, and could damage monuments, the national cemetery, trenches and earthworks on park grounds, and could also startle or injure the park's 1 million annual visitors, Mary Foster of The Associated Press reports.

Wild hogs are an issue across the Southeast, especially in Mississippi, Jim Walker, spokesman for the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and Parks, told Foster. When the river crested in Vicksburg in May, it forced the hogs to seek higher ground in the northern third of the park, in dense brush. Park superintendent Mike Madell told Foster "it looks like the world's biggest Rototiller has gone through some areas." Eleven hogs have been removed since May, but another dozen are believed to be on the lose. They are not dangerous to humans, though, unless cornered.

The federal Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is helping park officials "deal with the hogs," which Madell said usually means killing them and discreetly burying them since Mississippi law doesn't allow them to be transported live. (Read more)