Flagler County Wants You To Report Wild Hog Sightings

​Flagler County is reaching out to residents for assistance in monitoring feral hog activity. According to a press release sent out this morning, the county has officially introduced a new "Wild Hogs" page on their website where locals can report sightings.

This initiative aims to gather data to better understand where and when feral hogs are active in the county.

While these animals cause damage to agricultural fields and spread invasive plants, the county focuses on managing them on public lands.

“In an attempt to enhance our management capabilities on county lands, and to help the public better understand the hog population in the county, Flagler County Land Management is glad to announce the new Feral Hog dashboard,” said General Services Assistant Director Michael Lagasse. “The intended use of this dashboard and the separate reporting tool is to develop a data-driven understanding of where and when feral hogs are most active in our county.”

“Feral hogs are known to carry any of number of several bacterial diseases and due to their ability to rapidly proliferate, and the difficulty in eradicating them, can be expensive and frustrating to our citizens – whether they are residents, businesses, or agricultural producers,” Lagasse was also quoted as saying in the release.

Feral hogs are an invasive species introduced to Florida in the 1500s by European explorers. Over the years, feral hogs have been found to be present in every county in Florida and many more across the southeast all the way to California and north into New England. They are prolific reproducers with very little pressure from predators as adult sized animals.

The reporting tool allows residents to provide details like location, comments, estimated hog numbers, and even submit photos.

Flagler County is not able to respond to hog concerns on private property, but staff is interested in getting a better understanding of hog populations throughout the county. The Land Management feral hog webpage has links to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Wild Hog Species Status and the University of Florida IFAS Extension’s Feral Swine Fact Sheet.