It’s a well known fact, at least according to folks in many neighboring states (and some not so neighboring) that Californians are moving in and ruining the place. I’ve heard it everywhere from Texas to Idaho, and even way out in Colorado. The “Californicators” buy up the land, infect the local politics, and try to turn every place into little Los Angeles.
Or so the story goes. It sounds a lot like what I used to hear back in NC, with the invasion of the “Yankees”.
But apparently there’s another emigrant leaving CA for greener pastures…. much greener… and this one is even less welcome. Feral hogs are showing up in Oregon, and there’s evidence that the flow is coming up from the Golden State.
Actually, feral hogs in Oregon aren’t news. They’ve been there for quite some time. In fact, some ranchers had enough hogs on their properties to sell hunts. But last year, Oregon officials decided to get tough and passed a bill requiring landowners to trap or shoot any pigs they found on their properties, or to allow someone else to come on the property and do it for them. By removing financial incentive and aggressively trying to eradicate the swine, Oregon may actually be able to get a handle on managing these things.
According to this article, passed along to my by Holly (NorCal Cazadora), Washington state is watching closely. They don’t want these Californians moving into their state, and hope Oregon can stem the tide before it reaches their borders.
Wendy Brown, executive coordinator of the Washington Invasive Species Council, told The Capital Press there probably isn’t a feral swine population in Washington. But the state is concerned about the possible arrival of the pigs from California, Idaho and Oregon.
“The environmental impacts of feral swine are enormous,” she told the publication. “The impacts to the agriculture industry are potentially really big as well.”
I’m watching too. Oregon may be onto something with their approach.
Beastslayer
wild hogs immigrating to washington from oregon? i wonder if they could make it across the columbia river? i know they can swim. but thats a big river. i’ve hunted up there a lot. i know there are some hogs in southern oregon that are said to have come across from california. there has been a feral population in mitchell oregon for well over 10 years. i’ve seen them. escaped barnyard swine. humans are truly the most destructive of all the invasive non-native species. but i guess that goes without saying. here where i live we welcome californians (and others) but we ask that they leave their voting habits outside our state line.