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This little piggy went wild

Peter Payette from Interlochen Public Radio filed a report on wild pigs with the Environment Report this week.

Pigs and boars can escape from farms and game ranches and cause problems in an ecosystem. The problem is especially bad in southern states.

Check out this video about the problem in Texas:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ntKyFWOoNI

Wildlife officials in Michigan might declare wild boars an invasive species. If they do, the pigs could be shot, hunted and trapped all year long, and there might be tighter restrictions or fines for game ranches that allow pigs to escape into the wild.

Game ranchers say it could make things more expensive for them, and many of them don't see wild pigs as a big problem. Rocker Ted Nugent defended their practices in Payette's report:

The hog hunting and high fence operations in this state are a win win win. And I challenge those who claim there are 5,000 to 7,000 pigs out there to show me one. I’ve got the boots let’s go find it. They’re not there.

Anyone want to go searching for wild pigs with "the Nuge"?

Mark Brush was the station's Digital Media Director. He succumbed to a year-long battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, in March 2018. He was 49 years old.