06-03-2022, 02:30 PM
Lots being cleared is probably a factor. The other biggie is the weather. Whenever there are stretches of dryness they come out of the deep forest as their food sources are depleted. It's in between wai'wi guava seasons, (fruits 2 or 3 times a year) so they simply run out of food and come to yards to scavenge and look for short cut grass to roll up like sod and eat the earthworms.
"We're considering investing in electric fencing, but it would be a major undertaking." Fencing does cost thousands, even tens of thousands if you have enough property.
"Hubby ran a Hotwire along the back of our lot which was where they were coming in," And there you go, that's the answer. Running the line doesn't require fencing to be installed but is still work and requires maintenance to keep growing brush from grounding out the line but saves you a boatload of money.
Also pigs are smart. You can get a cage trap, but that only works once against a given family of pigs. The others won't enter after seeing their kids and siblings getting trapped. They also will remember where the angry hunting dogs are but in my experience dogs are not a great match against a herd of pigs. There will be injured or dead dogs too and vet bills if you have compassion for your fur friends. I've found that shooting one of their family members works for a few months too. It's traumatic to them, they remember and stay away for a little while but none of this compares to the electric line. One about 6 inches off the ground and one about a foot and a half. Line attached to stakes set every 20 feet or so.
"We're considering investing in electric fencing, but it would be a major undertaking." Fencing does cost thousands, even tens of thousands if you have enough property.
"Hubby ran a Hotwire along the back of our lot which was where they were coming in," And there you go, that's the answer. Running the line doesn't require fencing to be installed but is still work and requires maintenance to keep growing brush from grounding out the line but saves you a boatload of money.
Also pigs are smart. You can get a cage trap, but that only works once against a given family of pigs. The others won't enter after seeing their kids and siblings getting trapped. They also will remember where the angry hunting dogs are but in my experience dogs are not a great match against a herd of pigs. There will be injured or dead dogs too and vet bills if you have compassion for your fur friends. I've found that shooting one of their family members works for a few months too. It's traumatic to them, they remember and stay away for a little while but none of this compares to the electric line. One about 6 inches off the ground and one about a foot and a half. Line attached to stakes set every 20 feet or so.