Feral pigs and wild dogs

Jamie Dennison from Animal Control Technologies Australia gave a talk to gulf land managers at our recent field day. This is some of what he said.

To maximise effectiveness of a dog or pig control program you need to bait, shoot and trap. And the first part of a dog control program is to control your pigs.

Pigs will often be the first to find a dog bait if they are in the area. Dogs often follow pigs. If a pig eats one dry bait it won’t get sick because the required dose for a pig is higher than for a dog. It will simply result in fewer baits for the dogs. But make sure pig carcasses don't attract dogs away from the baits. 

Jamie discussed a few tips that he has picked up from experienced trappers and trackers. These included thinking and smelling like a pig or dog! Don’t have a shower the night before you go out, don’t use deodorant, use the same shoes and overalls so you always smell the same, don’t wear new overalls with a manufactured scent, and don’t smoke because they will smell the nicotine on the wire or fence post.   

Use wet baits as the hard hitting side of a dog program and follow up with dry baits. Use lots of attractants to dog baits such as dog urine and faeces, chicken liver, blood and bone and human urine. Sometimes it can be trial and error. And if you’re serious about controlling dogs, you’ll find out where the entry points are.

Jamie buries Doggone^® baits about 10-15 cm under the ground because a dog naturally goes scratching and looking for its food. He has seen dogs on camera pass a bait on the ground and dig up a buried bait. Doggone baits break down in the soil so that non-target species cannot get those baits. If you don’t have success with dry baits, use wet baits.

With pigs you should also provide free feeds to get them to trust the baits. Then about 7-10 days later you put out your toxic baits. Carosweet can help to attract pigs.

The use of 1080 is under a lot of pressure to be banned. If managers abuse it they will lose it. Use baits strictly according to the label and regulations. The Doggone^® and Pigout^® labels explain exactly how you should use the bait.

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