BEAUSEJOUR, Man. – A herd of wild boar that escaped during Manitoba’s massive flood this spring has been wreaking havoc in this farming community north of Winnipeg, ravaging fields, destroying gardens and scaring children.
Several people have been bitten in boar attacks and the animals have been blamed for causing three traffic accidents.
“It’s frustrating as hell,” said Beausejour-area farmer Murray Hudon, whose five-year- old daughter Sierra was bitten on the back of the leg as she played with toys in the front yard.
The family’s six children aren’t allowed to play outside unless their parents are close at hand.
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Seven-year-old Robert said the family dogs have a distinctive “boar bark” and when the family hears it, they all rush inside.
“I like to be with the dogs,” said Robert. “That’s the only time I’m not afraid.”
Police said the pigs are multiplying in the wild and the number at large is not known.
The Hudons said escaped pigs from nearby operations have been a problem for several years, although the flood worsened the situation, making farming in some fields impossible.
Hudon was forced to plow under his barley field last year because the animals destroyed the crop.
“It would have cost more in gas than I would have seen at the elevator,” he said of the five bushel an acre crop.
“In all the good stands the heads were totally stripped or pushed into the ground or rooted up.”
The family buys feed for the chickens because oats attract the boars, and they haven’t planted a garden for three years.
The Hudons launched a civil lawsuit for up to $50,000 to recover some of their losses. The case is still before the courts.
According to Tara Hudon, Murray’s wife, the boars have caused close to $26,000 in damage on their property, not including pain and suffering. She said the pigs even dug up the family’s pet cemetery.
Frustration pushed the Hudons to invite some hunters onto their property to take care of the problem.
Tara wouldn’t say how many boars were killed, but sightings of the animals have decreased sharply, she said.
While that eased the problem for the Hudons, it heightened concern by local RCMP.
Sgt. Paul Currie admits a solution is needed, but said residents can’t take the law into their own hands.
“There is the potential to be a dangerous situation,” Currie said.
The detachment issued a press release last week warning residents of the rural municipality of Brokenhead that they could be charged for illegally hunting the boars.
Boars are domestic animals and not governed by the natural resources statutes on hunting, Currie said.
“The only situation in which any wild boar may be killed is if there is an immediate danger to the safety of a person,” the release said, asking residents to report sightings to the owner or the police.
Boar owner convicted
Thorsten Bethge, who raises close to 300 boar in the area, has been convicted on four separate counts of allowing boar to run at large under the Animal Husbandry Act. Each count carried a $100 fine.
Bethge could not be reached for comment.
Currie said police will meet with him again to discuss his plans to recapture the animals.
The law says if a wild boar damages property, the victim may seek compensation but is not permitted to destroy the animal.
“If a hunter shoots a boar and takes it to the butcher shop, that’s theft,” Currie said. “If he leaves it (on the ground), it’s cruelty to animals or the willful destruction of property. This is not a healthy situation.”
The problem started last spring when a record blizzard dumped enough snow to cover fences and allowed the boars to walk over top.
On the heels of that came the flood, where the normally 60-metre-wide river that runs through the pasture swelled to a width of six kilometres.
“The boar simply swam to higher ground,” Currie said. “I understand they are better swimmers than dogs.”
