Mulefoot Hog #4

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  • Double Naught Spy
    Chieftain
    • Sep 2013
    • 2560

    Mulefoot Hog #4

    A bit of an odd evening. I had sent a text to a buddy saying that I was available to chat about an important matter, but that was FOUR hours earlier. As it has been a slow night with a strong wind, I had the blind buttoned up most of the time and was just peeking out windows from time to time to look for hogs. Then Bob called and I took the call. After all, nothing was going on...and then...

    Video


    Kill a hog. Save the planet.
    My videos - https://www.youtube.com/user/HornHillRange
  • 81police
    Warrior
    • Feb 2013
    • 286

    #2
    The phone call made the video all the more interesting! Divided attention...what's Double Naught gonna do? haha, slammed him!
    John 11:25-26

    Comment

    • Arkhangel5
      Warrior
      • Apr 2016
      • 229

      #3
      Double00,
      Is that normal or is that a anatomical defect? I would think defect?

      Just curious.

      SY

      Comment

      • Double Naught Spy
        Chieftain
        • Sep 2013
        • 2560

        #4
        "Defect" is in the eyes of the beholder. Many breeders of hogs will kill off mulefooted offspring that occur from time to time in all pig populations as they do consider it to be a "defect." It is a mutation that can and does occur naturally. More over, it can then be passed on hereditarily. But is it a defect?

        In the late 1800s, early 1900s, pig ranchers realized that mulefooted hogs were less apt to succumb to hoof rot that the regular cloven hooved hogs had problems with after being in wet, penned conditions for long periods of time. By 1908, the mulefoot was recognized as a legitimate breed of hog and by the 1930s, their meat was a delicacy and there were a few hundred registered herds in the US. Pretty cool. Then the cattle industry took over and the need for high end pork dropped off considerably. Nowadays, the mulefoot breed is on the verge of extinction in the US, but there are a few that still breed them and keep the breed alive, though it is more of a novelty breed than a productive meat breed.

        To my knowledge, the mulefoot condition is in no way defective to the hog. It does not hinder their ability to walk/run and as noted, can be an advantage.

        That I have seen so many in my area would seem to indicate that I am not seeing individuals with a mutation, but quite likely the offspring of a mulefoot population - a hereditary trait. That is just based on the numbers. This is happening too often to be natural mutations which are rare, so I would be willing to bet that there had been a mulefoot herd in the area in the early part of the last century and so what I am seeing are descendants of that domestic population now as ferals. It is purely a guess on my part, however.
        Kill a hog. Save the planet.
        My videos - https://www.youtube.com/user/HornHillRange

        Comment

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