Why do hogs look different

Why do hogs look different in certain areas? I hunt over in leesburg and they look more like a Russian razorback kind of hog but over in Pittsburg they look more normal per say like they average hog everybody sees. They are only 15 miles apart so why do they look different?

well you got feral, then you got domestic.. dozen or so breeds of domestic are common around texas.. they get out.. get bred by a feral and you get even more diversity..

you find distinct patterns in feral pigs too mainly because they were not all the same that got brought in... something like 150 different species of swine in the world... not to hard to think of how much different genetics are in the ones here today

You are just seeing what amounts to genetic expression, where certain traits are exhibited...owing mostly to a propensity for the animals to have certain Dominant or Recessive genes.

If from a broader region...then maybe Phenotypic variation.

Odd, isn't it?

Just kill as many as you can...and call it good!

Same reason people look different?

The razorback look has more russian in him. The fat butterballs have more domestic. Russian pigs were released and bred with domestics creating ferals. Some express more russian genes than others.

LOL, russians bred with domestics do not create ferals. That isn't how it works.

That's not even on paper at 25 yards...

Hi D/C,

You aren't too far off really...and most of us get the gist of your post.

The problem is....there exists a misunderstanding as to what a 'Feral Hog' is. Often times, folks will write something that can be misconstrued, usually...suggesting that a 'Feral' hog is a different 'species'.

Strictly speaking, 'Feral' simply means 'wild' or having returned to the wild...from a domestic state.

From there... you simply see various displays of genetic diversity in terms of appearance.

But we get what you mean. Keep shooting them.....please.

Yes, that's what I meant.

It is interesting to see the difference in pigs around. I have Russian looking pigs here in Pipe Creek. They seem to have longer legs, shorter body, longer snout, longer hair, longer tusks and a mane.
But near Mason they look like farm pigs (Hampshire) running around, and good eating too. We call them "grocery store pigs."

I always wondered why a buddies place had very domestic looking feral hogs till I found out they released domestic hogs from time to time.

Texas had feral hogs at least 250 years before Russian boars were brought here in the 1930's.. The original feral hogs were domestics that either escaped or were released, but did not have or need Russian boars to breed with in order to be feral...

I use to hunt hogs with dogs and we had a place were almost every pig we caught looked like an Oreo black on both ends and white in the middle. The biggest one we every caught weighed almost 400 pounds (no I don't have pictures and a lot of people will say I am full of crap) but I am almost certain these pigs had been released by someone at some point and I figure the near 400 pounder was probably quite large when it was released.

My grandfather tells stories about when he was little people used let there pigs pretty much run wild in the bottoms. White oak river bottom. Then they would have some type of round up to get them.

I guess I don't know what a Russian hog is. I've heard it but don't really understand what it's suppose to mean. I see the European hogs on different hunting sites and they look nothing like the pigs we have here. They are bigger, nastier looking critters that look like they would eat any feral hog we have. I'm sure a lot of the diversity is inbreeding also. I don't believe there is such a thing as "Russian" hog unless he lives in Russia but what do I know.

They originated from Russia and somehow got here. A Russian look is more of a razor back kind of look. I shot a sow a few weeks ago with the body shape of a boar. It looked Russian.

I thought European explorers and settlers came here with hogs from Europe not Russians.

Geography-wise, Russia itself is part of Eurpoe and the current Russian Federation is part of Europe and Asia. The wild boar of Russia, Russian Federation, and Europe is the Eurasian boar (Sus scrofa) which is also called "Russian boar." The domestic hogs of Europe (including Russia in its various forms) and Asia is the Eurasian boar.

When the Russians came with hogs, what hogs do you think they brought?

There have been countless imports of hogs from the Old World, both from Asia and from Europe at various times into the New World of domestic hogs and a lot of imports of non-domest Eurasion boar for sport, which are the same species as domestic hogs.

When people say they have a Russian look they mean they look like this:

and this....

or this..



yes....that is a big [censored] pig eating guts....nasty [censored] bastards...

Does this qualify because it looks like any other hog I have on my place?

DAMNNNNNN!!

Except that one had a better hairstylist, wonder what he used to make his hair so luxurious? rotten cabbage? dead animal carcass juice? hmm...

My land is in Jack County Russia. These are normal looking pigs for us.