NATCHEZ — To many Southerners, wild hogs are much more than a nickname for a biker gang.

Hogs are an animal population that is growing at an alarming rate and causing extensive damage to private property.

“A lot of people are just trying to hunt them,” Adams County Extension Service Agent David Carter said. “Hunting alone isn’t going to do it, and single traps won’t do it. This is a problem that isn’t going away any time soon.”

Mississippi State biologist Bill Maily said the situation is serious enough to warrant the attention of anyone who owns private land.

“The hog population in Mississippi is doubling every five or six years,” Maily said. “If we don’t have control measures in place to handle these critters, the destruction density (they leave behind) will multiply. They’re doing millions of dollars of agriculture damage.”

According to a presentation Maily made Thursday night at a seminar about hogs, the damage done across the U.S. every year to the environment and agricultural crops is estimated to cost about $800 million. Maily also said hogs will sometimes feed on young cattle, sheep and goats, as well as spread disease.

To make matters worse, the reported hog density on private lands is one hog per every 2.2 acres. For every 100 acres, the density is reported at 45 hogs, and for 1,000 acres, it’s 450 hogs.

This is due to the reproduction rate of these animals. Wild hogs are sexually mature at just six to seven months of age, and some of them produce two litters per year. Each litter is at least four piglets, and many times more. These factors cause wild hog popultions on private lands to double every year, according to the presentation at the hog seminar Thursday.

Population reduction is the only realistic means of tackling the problem, Maily said.

“The process of reducing their population is multi-faceted,” he said. “It involves both trapping and hunting.”

And the best kinds of traps, Maily said, are pre-baited, multi-catch traps.

“You can set a trap up, bait it, and have a fixed trigger to shut the door. After you catch them, the best method of removal is shooting them. Other hogs might stay away from the trap because of the blood at first, but if you keep baiting them, they’re eventually going to come back.”

There is one method of removal, however, that Maily warns against.

“ People do not need to move (living) hogs from place to place. It’s illegal, and it just gives your problem to somebody else.”

Bob Strader, manager of the St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife Refuge, said the refuge has its fair share of hogs, and that they set up traps and allow hunters to hunt them during game season.

“You have to control them, because you’re never going to get rid of them,” Strader said. “Their reproduction rate is such that you can’t kill them off. Plus, they’re way too smart.”