Effort to clear wild hogs out of creek valley in far Western Kentucky has been successful

Rural areas being plagued by wild hogs (map from December 2014) might take some cues from an effort in far Western Kentucky. Leaders of the Obion Creek Feral Hog Project say they have eliminated most of the feral swine in Graves, Hickman and Carlisle counties, report Brianna Clark and Justin Jones of WPSD-TV in Paducah.

The furrows in this cornfield look man-made, but they were dug
by feral hogs going down freshly planted rows of corn. (Photo
via Graves County, Kentucky, Cooperative Extension Service)

"About six years ago, numerous agencies from federal, state and local levels got together" to start the project . . . and began tracking down these destructive animals using trail cameras," the station reports. The hogs were trapped, hunted and shot from the air, the Graves County Cooperative Extension Service reported.

"We're actually having a hard time finding any pigs to go shoot now," Jeff Berryhill told the station. "There are still a few left, a scattered one or two here and there, and those are the ones we are trying to clean up." A U.S. Department of Agriculture helicopter found only one in a sweep last week.