I received quite a shock earlier this week when I opened an email and found myself staring at trail camera photos of wild boars.
Even as a writer, like the rest of you, I tend to look at photos first, and to actually read the description later. Luckily, the photos that Mike Terrill had sent came all the way from Texas.
I say “luckily,” because as far as I’d heard, we don’t have wild boars here in Maine. And that’s a good thing.
I reached out to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, and wildlife biologist Kendall Marden confirmed my belief: We’re in the clear, for now. But state officials are always on the lookout for wild or feral swine.
“We do not have them here. Many jurisdictions, including Maine, are concerned with their presence because they cause substantial damage when they are in the wild,” Marden said. “They denude wetlands and farm crops, and [will prey] on bird nests and small deer fawns. They wreak havoc on the ecology of an area.”
In the photos, you can see a feeder in the background. Terrill said that’s not to draw the boars, though.
“It’s mainly for the deer. It’s legal here in Texas to have a feeder,” Terrill said. “Texas has a massive hog problem. These two boars show up almost every night in the middle of the night and they weigh [more than] 350 pounds each. I’m either going to have to trap them or eventually shoot them. They are rooting everything up and [are] very destructive.”
Do you have a trail camera photo or video to share? Send it to jholyoke@bangordailynews.com and tell us “I consent to the BDN using my photo.” In order to prevent neighbors from stopping by to try to tag particularly large bucks, moose or bears, some identities and towns of origin may be omitted.