Feral pigs in the state

[El_morenito]

Does anyone know if there are feral pigs in the state?,I have heard rumors of some in the Yakima GMU’s and some in the Gifford national Forrest.

[GWP]

Those rumors have been around for some time. Maybe now it is true?
Some years back I took a fair amount of time off and hit a number of area’s. Many hours spent on foot tracking and looking for sign.
I saw nothing that convinced me they were there at that time.
It certainly does not take them long to get a foothold. All it would take is one idiot bringing some in to an area because it would be ‘fun to hunt them’.

[acrocker]

Had them over in the Columbia basin a couple years ago (2020?), in the Desert GMU. WDFW actually shut the whole area down and brought in professional hunters to eradicate them. I think the thought process was that if they let us tax-paying/permit buying hunters do it, then it would provide incentive for whoever was releasing them to do it again. My understanding was that they put out feed stations and drew them in, then shot them. They were also supposedly doing helicopter surveys to count how many there were - I don't think there were many, but it doesn't take very many to get them established...

[GWP]

Had them over in the Columbia basin a couple years ago (2020?), in the Desert GMU. WDFW actually shut the whole area down and brought in professional hunters to eradicate them. I think the thought process was that if they let us tax-paying/permit buying hunters do it, then it would provide incentive for whoever was releasing them to do it again. My understanding was that they put out feed stations and drew them in, then shot them. They were also supposedly doing helicopter surveys to count how many there were - I don't think there were many, but it doesn't take very many to get them established...

Any data to support that? Not saying that did not happen, just asking.
The one hand does not always know what the other hand is doing with WDFW, so I would not be surprised if there is only 'internal' documentation.
We spotted a wolf many, many years ago and reported it, along with pics of the footprints next to our big footed dog prints. The wolf's were 'easily' half again bigger.
Got two WDFW folks that stated "There are no wolves in that area" and another that had seen one, plus he had two other reports of them, and wanted to know exactly where we saw it.

[Alchase]

Back in the early 2000s there were rumors of wild pigs in the GPNF and down near Mcleary. None were ever substantiated. I did talk to WDFW officer around 2008 ish. He said there was a pig farm that lost a bunch of pigs in the late 1990s, which may be the basis for the rumors. None have ever been found.
It seems these rumors popup every few years in Washington.
You better hope they do not get a foot hold in Washington. They will destroy the ecosystem. Grouse, Pheasant, Quail, will all be dramatically diminished. They are a plague here in the south. A plague Washington does not need.

[El_morenito]

Good point,My grandparents reported wolf sightings near their house,pictures too,and to this day it say there are no wolf sightings in my area.Got the feeling WDFW wants to ignore the problem till it gets too big.

[Birdguy]

Had them over in the Columbia basin a couple years ago (2020?), in the Desert GMU. WDFW actually shut the whole area down and brought in professional hunters to eradicate them. I think the thought process was that if they let us tax-paying/permit buying hunters do it, then it would provide incentive for whoever was releasing them to do it again. My understanding was that they put out feed stations and drew them in, then shot them. They were also supposedly doing helicopter surveys to count how many there were - I don't think there were many, but it doesn't take very many to get them established...

Any data to support that? Not saying that did not happen, just asking.
The one hand does not always know what the other hand is doing with WDFW, so I would not be surprised if there is only 'internal' documentation.
We spotted a wolf many, many years ago and reported it, along with pics of the footprints next to our big footed dog prints. The wolf's were 'easily' half again bigger.
Got two WDFW folks that stated "There are no wolves in that area" and another that had seen one, plus he had two other reports of them, and wanted to know exactly where we saw it.

I too remember that shut down. It was late fall during the bird hunting season. If memory serves there was a larger family hog farm and a few of the pigs had swam out into the brushy areas and started reproducing. The WDFW shut it down to ensure no one was in the area when they went in to remove the issue. One of the many guys who are expert "search" function guys on here can likely find something about this from back then on here.

[Alchase]

Like I said same story keep popping up every few years.
We heard from bay back in the early 2000s with absolutely no confirmation from anywhere.

[acrocker]

GWP-

I'd have to do some digging, I guess, but I know that the Desert Wildlife area was closed for my annual canoe trip due to feral hog control efforts, WDFW wasn't letting anyone in the area. This would have been in August, I think it was 2020, might have been 2019, I know it was closed for fire danger in 2021... I'll check on the WDFW site and see if I can find anything...

[acrocker]

Found the link in another thread...

http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/free-wilbur-the-war-against-feral-swine-comes-to-washington/


Apparently, my sense of time has gotten worse as I've gotten older, I could have sworn it was only a couple years ago, but the story says 2016... Sucks to get old...

[nwwanderer]

Be aware, folks are raising all manner of porcine beasts 'naturally' and would not take kindly to your eradication effort. Plus, SCOTUS is hearing a case on how we efficiently raise pigs.  Just saying, feral pigs would be a disaster beyond computation.

[GWP]

True that. Ask ANY State that has a pig problem. They can REALLY tear stuff up once they get rolling.

[flyguide]

A guy that I worked with saw one way out in Eastern Washington near Davenport once, he had a video of it. Big black wild boar. That's the only one I have ever heard of.

[Humptulips]

There were feral pigs on the Lower Quinault. I know they showed up as far as Raft River at US 101. Of course, all that is on the Res but I was told some were sighted off the Res south of the Moclips. Been a while ago, so not sure what is like now.

[boneaddict]

Haven’t heard of any for years, and never seen any in Yakima