337-pound feral pig caught in trap south of Abbeville

Eddie Young of Abbeville has been trapping feral pigs on his property near Forked Island for 10 years and only once has he trapped one over 300 pounds. Wednesday morning he trapped the largest ever - 337 pound wild boar.
The boar, a male pig, was trapped in a cage that is eight feet long, four feet high and four feet wide. The four-year old wild boar was lured into the trap by corn on the ground.
The boar had been in the cage for about 24 hours by the time Young and two other men went remove it.
The three walked to the metal trap and the first thing they noticed was how upset the boar was. He dug up the ground pretty well and dented the cage up as well.
“Oh, yeah, it looks 300 pounds or more,” said Young as he approached the cage. “I’m not surprised I was able to catch this one.”
For the last 10 years, Young has been trapping wild pigs on the property at his camp. He has trapped over 100, from as small as 20 pounds to as large as 337 pounds.
The reason he has been trapping them is because they are tearing up his farmland and uprooting what he has planted. He is not the only farmer having problems with feral pigs. For the last 10 years, farmers throughout the parish and campers in Palmetto State Park are also seeing many pigs uprooting crops or walking through the park.
The wild boar was killed and then skinned by Young. He loaded it up in his truck and brought the cleaned and skinned boar to a friend in Abbeville. The friend will eventually cook it.
Ricky Kilpatrick, an extension agent, said the feral hog problem has been going on for about 10 or 15 years. It is staying the same or even getting worse in areas, much like an invasive plant species, he said.
Feral hogs are wreaking particular havoc on rice and sugar cane farm land. The hogs eat or destroy plantings and eat the corn once it is grown. The hogs are even causing problems for deer hunters and the people who lease their land for hunting. Kilpatrick said feral hogs not only eat the acorns that deer eat, but sometimes also the deer.
A sow can have up to two litters of six piglets every year.