There are several lethal and non-lethal options that may be used to reduce damage caused by ferral swine. Although ferral swine can sometimes be excluded from crop fields in other areas using fencing or electric fencing, these non-lethal options may or may not be practical depending on your particular situation. In most cases, landowners conduct lethal removal, which includes options such as live trapping and euthanasia, recreational hunting or opportunistic shooting, shooting ferral swine over bait, or hunting ferral swine with the aid of dogs. Ferral swine can be shot at night with the use of thermal or night vision equipment during certain periods of the year. However, check current laws and regulations regarding the legal requirements for hunting or shooting ferral swine with the wildlife and freshwater fisheries division of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Laws may change over time, and it is your responsibility to know what's legal and what's not. For example, although legal in some states, snaring ferral swine is illegal in Alabama. USDA Wildlife Services is currently conducting some ferral swine removal using aerial gunning in Alabama. This approach requires access to several thousand acres of land and can be effective at removing large numbers of ferral swine in a short period of time. For more information regarding aerial gunning of ferral swine in Alabama, contact the USDA Wildlife Services State Office. As you may have already heard, the development of toxicants or poisons specific to ferral swine has been in the news. There are two toxicants that are currently being considered for ferral swine. The first is warfarin in Kaput Ferral Hogbate, which is an anti-coagulant and is the only toxicant that is currently registered with the EPA for use with ferral swine. However, no state has yet registered or allowed the use of this product, including Alabama. The other toxicant currently under research is sodium nitrate, which when ingested in sufficient quantities by ferral swine prevents the release of oxygen by red blood cells and eventually causing hypoxia, killing the animals. Both toxicants are currently being researched, although some research is being conducted on contraceptives, this may not be a viable option anytime soon. Although hunting and opportunistic shooting are tools that may be used to remove ferral swine, in most cases these approaches are much less effective as primary removal techniques in terms of your time and money. Some fourth thought as to when and how shooting is used should be considered as it does have limitations. Shooting approaches and hunting with dogs requires you or your agent to conduct the activity, and in most cases you'll be removing ferral swine one to two at a time. Trapping can remove an entire sounder in one trapping event. Shooting the first few ferral swine is relatively easy, but once ferral swine have been shot at, they become much more skittish, oftentimes turning completely nocturnal. Once the hunting becomes difficult, most recreational hunters lose interest and give up, leaving many ferral swines still on the landscape. Your efforts will have to shift to shooting at night, requiring thermal or night vision equipment to become effective. Ferral swine don't have much eye shine like deer, making the use of a spotlight to locate ferral swine much more difficult. Additionally, from research conducted at Auburn University, shooting at or otherwise harassing ferral swine will cause them to be much more difficult to trap. Remember, this is animal damage control, and it's in your best interest to be as cost and time effective as possible. Make wise decisions about when and where shooting and hunting techniques will be used. In most cases, trapping ferral swine and euthanizing them while in the trap is the most cost and time effective approach for removing ferral swine. Once traps are set up, they can be run 24-7, increasing your chances of removing ferral swine and only need to be checked at least once a day, or if smart trap camera technology is used, traps can be checked using your cell phone at any time. Trapping also enables you to capture the entire sounder in one trapping event, thereby increasing removal efficiency and effectiveness. Additionally, multiple traps can be run simultaneously across the property, further enhancing your ability to quickly remove significant numbers of ferral swine. With the new camera surveillance and remote triggering technology available, trapping becomes even more time effective. Corral traps are one of the simplest types of traps to purchase or build for trapping ferral swine. However, do not use cage or box traps as these types of traps do not allow non-target species such as white-tailed deer or black bears to escape from the trap. The conservation incentive program offers land owners the choice between prefabricated traps and trapping systems or traps that are self-assembled, using materials commonly available from local hardware or farm co-op stores. Additionally, smart technology incorporating motion-sensitive cameras and remote triggering is also available. Several commercially available ferral swine traps are on the market that may be purchased under the Conservation and Cinev program. However, traps must meet the clearly defined standards and criteria outlined in the soil and water conservation committees' job sheet, AFI 5A. It is important that you make sure a particular trap meets or exceeds the requirements set forth in job sheet AFI 5A before purchasing it. Prefabricated traps often come ready for use with only minor assembly of some components. These traps are generally more expensive than self-assembled traps and come as several individual panels that are linked together to form a circular corral. Prefabricated traps vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, but most consist of multiple panels that are linked together, with pins to form a large corral while leaving an opening in which a trap door or sometimes referred to as a gate is installed. Most prefabricated traps will require two or more people to set up. Setup time will vary, but may take between 20 minutes to an hour, depending upon the distance panels and other equipment have to be moved. Self-assembled traps are those which individual components such as feedlot panels and T-posts are purchased and used to build a corral trap. These traps are significantly less expensive than prefabricated traps, are easy to assemble and allow the landowner to build and run many traps throughout the property at the same time. However, they are less mobile and more difficult to move from one trapping location to another. Job sheet AFI 5B lists the requirements for self-assembled traps that include such things as the use of 16 foot long by 57 inches high feedlot panels of at least 6 gauge steel with no more than 2 inch by 4 inch panel opening. Self-assembled traps allow for greater variation in trap doors that may be used and smart trap remote triggering mechanisms may be purchased and used as well. Self-assembled traps are fairly easy for two people to set up. Simply move the feedlot panels into place and fasten together using wire. Overlap panels inform a round or circular trap to avoid corners which is where feral swine will tend to pile up, allowing some animals to climb upon one another and escape. A trap door is then put in place to allow pigs to enter the trap. Many landowners often ask, should I get one of those high-tech traps where I can see what's in the trap and then close the trap door by pressing a button on my cell phone? The answer to that question is that it really depends on your situation. Here are some things to consider. Although trap camera systems that sync with your computer or cell phone are expensive, they'll save you a great deal of time and money in the long run. You won't have to travel to the trap each day to check it, you can do so from your phone, and you can drop the trap door only when feral swine are actually in the trap. Not having to drive around and check traps daily will save you a significant amount of time and money. This technology would be suited for those who may not live on site or do not have the time to check traps each day. However, you do have to be tech savvy and willing to receive notifications that feral swine are in your trap at odd hours, often times late at night or early in the morning. A cellular data service is required to operate these traps, which is an additional cost to the user. But using low tech and less expensive root stick or trip wires to allow the animals to trigger and close the trap door has some advantages. This is much less expensive than the high tech camera systems, allowing you to purchase more materials and operate more traps at one time. However, time has to be allocated to checking these traps daily once they are set. This works well if, for example, someone moves and works on site and can easily check traps daily. Although smart trap technology will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, many of the components are the same. Most systems include a camera with a motion sensor and ability to send images or video to a cell phone tower or satellite and then to your cell phone. Your cell phone will receive incoming commands from the camera, allowing you to trigger the mechanism that drops the gate. Some manufacturers offer items such as directional antennae, which are useful in areas with weak cell service or solar panels to supplement battery power. This is an example of how smart trap technology can be used to enhance trapping success. Through several days of watching this sounder becoming conditioned to entering and leaving the trap, the landowner knew there was one additional pig that would enter the trap much later than the others. Smart trap technology allows you to close the trap door when you want to, and in this case, the door is closed after the last pig has entered the trap.