Feral pigs are tearing up a San Jose golf course
It’s not just weekend hackers destroying the fairways and rough at Coyote Creek Golf Course near San Jose, California.
About 25 wild, feral pigs are having their way with the course, according to a report by TV station KRON, tearing up the grass in search for food.
“It’s not a new problem. The nocturnal pigs have grown wise to traps and fences. We need to thin the herd,” San Jose City Councilman Johnny Khamis told the TV station. “They have very little natural predators and they’re prolific breeders. They can multiply quite quickly.”
Thinning the population is easier said than done. Shooting firearms is illegal inside city limits.
“If we could hunt them in the traditional form, we would have this pig problem settled in a week,” said Coyote Creek general manager Mike Fish.
“It’s like if you Roto-tilled your front lawn, that’s what our golf course looks like when these pigs are done.”
A proposal to hire an archer to kill the pigs has been rejected. The city says hunting plans are too risky due to the proximity of Highway 101 and that a wounded pig is a dangerous pig.
But the cost of the damage is adding up.
“We probably spend $50,000 a month,” in repairs, estimated Fish.
Setting traps isn’t working either. Not a single pig has been caught that way.
