View Full Version : A Close Encounter of the Wild Hog type!
Bear Cables
06-08-2010, 23:06
This past Sat. we were at Peck's Corner shelter. We had seen evidence of wild pigs along the way there, rooting and pig hoves prints. That night just before total dark when everyone had settled down to sleep in the shelter I needed to pee one more time. I didn't want to walk the 100 yds or so to the privy in the dark so I decided I would just walk a few yards away from the shelter and squat. Just as I stopped and was about to "assume the position" I heard a lound "SNORT SNORT" in the dark very close to me. I screamed "Oh Sh**!!! And then ran with flailing arms down to the shelter losing my flip flop on the way.:eek: I took a vertical jump up to the upper bunk to my sleeping bag, Missed and just hung there shaking. I told my sister," I think I almost died!!" After I stopped shaking I couldn't stop laughing. A ranger later told me I probably scared the pig as much a it scared me. So if you go to Pecks Corner watch out for the pigs.
bigcranky
06-09-2010, 08:19
That's too funny. Well, probably not at the time.
My Rule #1 for late night pee breaks -- always take a headlamp, and use it.
Blissful
06-09-2010, 09:35
Guys have it so easy.
flemdawg1
06-09-2010, 09:45
Yep, you probaly scared the bejeezus outta lil' Porky. Wild pigs are normally pretty shy animals (that why seeing them is rare) , and would rather run away than attack (just like most animals).
HikerMom58
06-09-2010, 10:00
Haha!! That is so funny...love the way you wrote about it!! :)
hellomolly
06-09-2010, 10:47
Guys have it so easy.
UGH, seriously! I hate how guys can just whip it out and pee by turning around. I have to struggle with branches and bushes smacking my face in order to get off the trail 20-odd feet, then drop trou'. Not fair, lol.
Hey, we have to shave our faces, almost every day. Some of us anyway.
I make it a point to spend at least 5 minutes on personal grooming, every day.
UGH, seriously! I hate how guys can just whip it out and pee by turning around. Careful of thread drift.
You might want to start a different wild hog thread.
Bear Cables
06-09-2010, 12:09
That's too funny. Well, probably not at the time.
My Rule #1 for late night pee breaks -- always take a headlamp, and use it.
Right! That's my new rule too!
The mental picture of this incident is hilarious lol
Daydream Believer
06-09-2010, 12:47
I saw some wild boar near Blue Mountain GA area a few weeks ago on my section hike. I posted in the wildlife section. I did not even realize that there are wild pigs/hogs, etc... along the AT.
It is much easier for guys to take care of business like that.
There was a show on the other night, can't remember the exact channel (probably Discovery or National Geographic) about the wild boar population exploding in America. Apparently it's becoming a problem in the south...
daddytwosticks
06-09-2010, 16:02
Pig Bomb...
Bear Cables
06-09-2010, 16:03
The mental picture of this incident is hilarious lol
Thank you. I thought it good for a laugh! My best hiking story yet :D
You were just lucky there is no Hogzilla on the AT. Not yet anyway....
mister krabs
06-10-2010, 12:52
I don't think you could have hogzilla on the AT, he got so big in part from raiding catfish farm fish food bins. There's no comparable source of unlimited calories that I know of in the mountains.
WagThatTAIL
06-10-2010, 13:05
You missed an opportunity for some whole hog BBQ on the trail. You could have made lots of friends had you thrown a BBQ.
Bear Cables
06-10-2010, 20:10
You missed an opportunity for some whole hog BBQ on the trail. You could have made lots of friends had you thrown a BBQ.
We could have had quite a couchondulait!
rainmaker
06-10-2010, 21:25
Great story and I loved the way you described it. Anyway, for those of you who did not grow up with hogs let me share a few terms and thoughts. A boar is a sexually mature male hog. A sow is a sexually mature female hog. A pig is an immature hog. Do not ever get between a sow and her pigs. A sow can be every bit as protective of her young as a bear and you probably will not out run her.
There is a difference between a Wild Boar and a feral pig. Feral pigs are a problem, not so much a problem with Wild Boar (Russian). Wild Boar where introduced into the southern Appalachians for hunting purposes but I don't know how far they have expanded their range.
Sierra Echo
06-11-2010, 07:24
So did you end up peeing yourself?
curtisvowen
06-11-2010, 08:40
My neighbor had until recently 2 wild boars and a sow....all young, about 7 months old? A bear broke into their pen last week at night and dragged off one of the boars.
Bear Cables
06-11-2010, 17:02
So did you end up peeing yourself?
It took about 5 hours before I could work up the nerve to try again...on the opposite side of the shelter!
TIDE-HSV
06-15-2010, 01:08
There is a difference between a Wild Boar and a feral pig. Feral pigs are a problem, not so much a problem with Wild Boar (Russian). Wild Boar where introduced into the southern Appalachians for hunting purposes but I don't know how far they have expanded their range.
There's actually not that much difference, according to the research. Feral pigs very quickly revert to a form not really distinguishable from the Russian boars and there has been extensive cross-breeding. The ones causing the problems in the Smokeys and surrounding territories are hybrids, but not really all that different in appearance or habits.
They really are quite harmless, under normal circumstances. Years ago, on a winter pack to Spence Field, a bunch of them started playing in the area in front of the shelter (that was back when there was a "field" there). They would run at each other and butt one another in the side and roll over and over. There were fourteen flashlights illuminating the scene.
Years later, my wife and I were camped in our popup camper in Chilhowee Campground, up above the Ocoee. A whole herd of the pigs ran through the campground, running into a huge tent occupied by coeds from Maryville College. Much panic ensued, and, in the morning, the girls were gone before we even awakened.
In the last few years, a black bear took a little girl near this same campground. I'd never even thought about bears in that vicinity...
TIDE-HSV
06-16-2010, 22:31
Interestingly enough, National Geographic Wild had a program tonight on pigs. One of the subjects was the ability of hogs, once gone feral, to actually change skull shape to the straight profile of a wild hog, while wild hogs captured young developed the shovel profile of a domesticated pig. I'm sure the program is available on NatGeo.com...
Graywolf
06-16-2010, 23:02
[QUOTE=TIDE-HSV;1023687]There's actually not that much difference, according to the research. Feral pigs very quickly revert to a form not really distinguishable from the Russian boars and there has been extensive cross-breeding. The ones causing the problems in the Smokeys and surrounding territories are hybrids, but not really all that different in appearance or habits. [QUOTE]
Well, thats ok, with a good ole' bag of BBQ rub, a bottle of Sauce, a fire and a twelve pack, they all taste pretty much the same, delicious!!!
Graywolf
crazyonelost
06-19-2010, 08:58
Did that little piggy go" WEE WEE all the way home." I couldn't resist