On the larger properties out toward Aucilla, Lamont and the river bottoms, there is one kind of damage that shows up overnight and makes every other lawn pest look minor. Feral hogs move through in a group, root for grubs, roots and tubers, and leave ground that looks plowed. They are established across Jefferson County and the damage is a fact of rural life here. What follows is what we tell customers who wake up to it.
Recognizing hog damage
- Large areas of turned soil, from a few square feet to most of a lawn, with turf flipped over in chunks and roots exposed.
- Furrows and troughs where a snout has plowed along, often in lines, several inches deep.
- Wallows, muddy depressions in low, wet areas where they cool off.
- Tracks like a deer's but blunter and rounder, and trails through fence lines and brush.
- Damage concentrated on soft, moist ground: irrigated lawn, drain field edges, freshly mulched beds, low spots after rain.
Armadillo damage is small cones. Raccoon damage is turf rolled back in sheets. Hog damage is neither; it is large, deep and obviously done by something heavy. Our armadillo post covers the smaller culprit.
Why they came
Hogs root for food, and the lawn is offering it: white grubs, earthworms, mole crickets, tubers of weeds like nutsedge and Florida betony, and the roots of turf itself. Soft, watered ground makes it easy. A lawn with a grub problem in late summer is a target, and once a group finds food it comes back on a route until the food is gone or something stops it.
They also like cover. A property with dense brush, an overgrown fence line or an unmanaged creek edge next to a lawn gives them a place to bed within yards of the food.
Repairing the ground
Do it soon, before the exposed roots dry out and the loose soil settles into permanent lumps:
- Flip the turf chunks back green side up and press them firmly into place. Much of it will survive in the growing season if it is replaced and watered within a day or two.
- Rake the furrows level and fill low spots with sandy topsoil, then tamp.
- Water the repaired area lightly every day for a week, then return to normal.
- Plug or sod what does not take. In dormant season, level the ground and wait for spring to replant; see bare spot repair.
- On bush hogged ground, run the cutter over it once things dry so the rough surface does not hide the next set of ruts.
Rooted ground that is left for months turns into a lumpy surface that makes mowing rough for years. Leveling it early is the cheaper job.
Reducing repeat visits
Remove the food
Check for grubs by cutting a square foot of turf and looking under it; more than a few per square foot in late summer is worth treating with a product labeled for lawns, following the label. Our grub control guide covers timing. Cut irrigation back to deep and infrequent so the ground is not soft every night.
Remove the cover
Bush hog the brush and clean up the fence lines between the woods and the lawn. Hogs cross open ground but they do not like to loiter on it. A clear, mown buffer between cover and the yard makes the property less comfortable for them. This is a big part of why we push a regular bush hog rotation on rural places.
Fence
A hog-proof fence is a serious fence: woven wire with a strand of electric at nose height, or a dedicated electric fence with low strands. It works and it is the only thing that reliably keeps them off a specific area, but it is a real cost. It makes sense around a garden, an orchard or a small lawn, not around forty acres.
Trapping
Feral hogs are unregulated on private land in Florida and can be trapped or hunted by the landowner year-round; check current state rules for the details. Corral traps that catch the whole group at once are more effective than single-animal box traps, because removing part of a group educates the rest. Many landowners in the county hire a trapper or work with a neighbor who runs traps. It is the only approach that reduces the population rather than just moving it.
What does not work
Repellents, lights, radios and scarecrows work for a night or two. Poison is illegal. A single dog usually loses. Filling in the damage and hoping is the most common approach and the least effective.
FAQ
Are wild hogs dangerous to people?
They generally avoid people, but a cornered or injured hog will charge. Give them room and keep dogs away.
Will they damage a septic drain field?
They can, by rooting down to the lines. Keep the field firm and dry and consider fencing it if hogs are regular.
How fast can they wreck a lawn?
A group of ten can turn over a quarter acre in one night.
Do you repair hog damage?
Yes: leveling, sod, plugging and the bush hog work that removes their cover. See our services.
If hogs have been through, get in touch and we'll get the ground back in shape and the edges cleared. We work the big rural properties around Aucilla, Lamont and the river country south of town.