Feral hogs create problems at Clearwater Lake

PIEDMONT, Mo. -- Officials at Clearwater Lake are seeing a new type of visitor to the lands they manage, and it's not one they welcome.

Just like their U.S. Army Corps of Engineers friends down the road at Wappapello Lake, the Clearwater staff is increasingly finding themselves in the middle of a growing feral hog problem, the Daily American Republic reported.

"We heard our first reports of hogs and started seeing their sign in August of 2004," said Chris Alley, a natural resource specialist at Clearwater.

For a few years afterward, Alley said, reports were scarce, but in the last year, it appears hog numbers in the area have increased.

"We've seen some creek bank and riparian zone destruction" from the hogs, said Alley. "We even had one bowhunter who was chased up a tree by hogs."

The population "seems to be growing ... very much so," said Missouri Department of Conservation Wildlife Management Biologist David Rowold.

Feral hogs are known to eat essentially anything they can catch or dig up, including wild turkey nests and young fawns, and their rooting and wallowing can destroy areas of farm fields and expose tree root systems.

"They're really hard on turkey nests," said Park Ranger Doug Stilts. "They will destroy them."

Because of recent revelations, Alley said, officials and Corps neighbors now must worry about diseased hogs, which could potentially spread their ills to neighboring cattle and domestic hog farms.

In February, two hogs trapped in eastern Reynolds County at Clearwater's upper reaches tested positive for the swine brucellosis disease, a Missouri first since 1999. The disease can cripple reproduction in domestic animals and is contagious to humans as well, where it creates influenza-, arthritis- and meningitis-like symptoms.

"At this point, there's reason for concern," said Tom Hutton, a wildlife disease biologist working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

In addition, Reynolds County was part of a five-county region where toxoplasmosis was found in 44 feral hogs in 2007 and 2008. Also during those two years, six feral hogs in Reynolds and Iron counties tested positive for trichinella, a type of roundworm. Both parasitic diseases can be spread to humans.

Despite the positive tests, "Missouri has been very lucky to this point," Hutton said, noting the situation could be much worse.

"We're all highly concerned," said Stilts of the disease potential. "How far is it going to spread? ... We're trying to do all we can."

Hogs are scattered across Clearwater's almost 19,000 acres, according to Alley.

"They're really everywhere," he said. "They follow the river and lake shore, but the majority of our sightings are in the Logan Creek, Sinking Creek and Charlton Bluff areas, and along the Black River near Annapolis."

Hogs at Wappapello Lake are responsible for destroying many of that area's numerous food plots, but with far fewer plots on Clearwater's project grounds, the hog problem isn't as noticeable, Alley said, but it's definitely there, a thought Hutton re-enforced.

"The population of feral swine in Iron and Reynolds counties is robust," Hutton said, "even after we've removed in the neighborhood of 900 in the last few years."

Rough terrain, Hutton said, is a major limiting factor in reducing hog numbers in those counties, but efforts will continue.

Since last fall, Corps officials, working with the Missouri Department of Conservation and concerned lessees, have tried to capture hogs in traps baited with soured corn, but to date they've only been able to get 10 in the pens.

Trapping efforts were hampered further when one of MDC's traps was stolen.

"Trapping hogs is a difficult operation with limited success, and the stolen trap is just part of it," said Rowold. "It was a temptation for someone."

The hogs also are "well hunted," Rowold said, but hunting pressure keeps them on the move and mostly nocturnal, so they're hard to locate.

Clearwater's best trapping success, Alley said, occurred last winter. High water at that time forced the hogs to congregate in isolated areas, where they were more easily found.

Corps officials at Wappapello Lake, who have much more hog experience, also have lent a hand on several occasions.

"We have a common goal to eradicate this invasive species," said Wappapello Ranger Eric Lemons, who has served on Missouri's governor-initiated Feral Hog Task Force since its inception in 2007. "We've shared our technical expertise and have even let them borrow traps.

"We also showed them how to use trail cameras, because without them, you don't know what you've got."

Alley said the fight against feral hogs at Clearwater Lake is an ongoing learning process and described it like "trying to keep the mice out of your feed bin.

"We're still new to this, and we've just barely scratched the surface," he said.

The outside help from MDC and neighbors, Alley said, is critical to controlling the hog problem before it gets out of hand, especially since Clearwater only has a very small staff to deal with the problem.

"Thankfully, we have good cooperation with our adjacent landowners," Stilts added.

Both agencies, Rowold said, will "continue working together, trying to get a handle on it."