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Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com

Published - Friday, May 16, 2008

Road-kill: Feral pig draws crowd in Vernon County

By Matt Johnson / River Valley Newspapers

VIROQUA, Wis. — Staring down at the hairy behemoth, Andy Sherry could hardly believe his eyes.

A feral pig sow, weighing between 300 and 500 pounds had been hit by a semi tractor-trailer five miles south of Viroqua on Hwys. 14/61 early this morning. The vehicle that had struck pig had long since gone. The massive animal was drawing a crowd.

“I took a look to see if it had any tusks,” Sherry said. “If it did, somebody got to them before I did. It was really a big, big pig.”

Feral pigs in southwestern Wisconsin have become a well-known nuisance. Last year Rep. Lee Nerison, R-Westby, authored state legislation that labeled the pigs as harmful wild animals, making it illegal to posess the animal. The pigs were trapped in Crawford County during the winter of 2008. Large populations of the hard-to-find critters are thought to live in Vernon and Crawford counties.

While a feral pig was shot by a hunter in Genoa two years ago, this is the closest report of a feral pig to Viroqua.

Four employees of C&C Landscaping of Viroqua stopped briefly to look at the pig’s carcass at about 8:20 a.m. Jeremy Turben, Phil Neprud, Ryan Flick and Brian Hooverson were impressed by the animal’s size. The pig appeared to have been dragged from the center of the road, and its main visible infliction was a severe head wound.

“It’s at least 300 pounds,” Hooverson said. “It’s probably bigger. You don’t know how big they are until you’re standing next to one.”

A steady stream of vehicles was pulling along the shoulder of the road with people getting a glimpse of the pig.

Jeremy Turben (from left), Phil Neprud, Ryan Flick and Brian Hooverson examine the carcas of a feral pig sow that appeared to have been struck by semi tractor-trailer on Hwys. 14/61 five miles south of Viroqua, Friday morning. The adult sow appeared to weigh between 300-500 pounds. (Matt Johnson photo)