Activity Patterns by Feral Hogs in the Texas Panhandle

The state of Texas has the highest population of feral hogs, Sus scrofa, than any state in the U.S.A. The expanding abundance and distribution of feral hogs throughout North America is testimony to their ability to adapt to differing environmental and habitat conditions. We evaluated movements and a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American midland naturalist 2018-10, Vol.180 (2), p.233-245
Main Authors: Franckowiak, Gregory A, Torres-Poché, Zaria, Poché, Richard M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activity patterns
Animal spatial behavior
Collars
Disease transmission
Diurnal
Feral populations
Global positioning systems
GPS
Hogs
Land cover
Nocturnal
Observations
Precipitation
Reptiles & amphibians
Satellite navigation systems
Sexual behavior
Statistical models
Sus scrofa
Swine
Temperature
Time of use
Toxicants
Wild boars
Zoological research
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Summary:The state of Texas has the highest population of feral hogs, Sus scrofa, than any state in the U.S.A. The expanding abundance and distribution of feral hogs throughout North America is testimony to their ability to adapt to differing environmental and habitat conditions. We evaluated movements and activity of 18 feral hogs fitted with Global Positioning System (GPS) collars between March 2015 through July 2017 in the Texas Panhandle, U.S.A., following three toxicant field studies. We investigated movements of feral hogs in response to individual, weather, and environmental variables using generalized linear mixed models. Nocturnal and diurnal 3 h movements were 753.8 ± 14.28 m and 277.45 ± 8.04 m for all hogs, respectively. Overall mean distance (± se) traveled by feral hogs was 3666.9 ± 64.7 m per day (range: 7.9 to 12985.33 m). Daily distance by males and females averaged 3903.6 ± 112.05 m and 3546.1 ± 78.88 m, respectively, and were not found to be significantly different between sexes. Behavior of feral hogs showed a unimodal pattern, peaking during nocturnal hours. Time of day, land cover type, and temperature were important explanatory variables driving 3 h movements. Sex, temperature, and previous day precipitation were important explanatory variables driving daily distances. Predicting what drives hog movement (e.g., individual and external factors) can allow managers to identify when and where to locate individuals for control efforts, possibly preventing initial invasions by feral hogs.
ISSN:0003-0031
1938-4238
DOI:10.1674/0003-0031-180.2.233