THE HOPKINSVILLE KENTUCKIAN — APRIL 21, 1910
THE RAZOR-BACK HOG ♢ Menace to Hunters—Destroys Egg and Young of Game Birds.
A North Carolina correspondent says that through the enforcing of the stock laws in the mountains of that State the ravages of the razor-back hog are being curtailed.
“In a number of the Southern and Middle Western States hogs are permitted to roam at will through the woods and river bottoms of sparsely settled regions. An attempt is made to mark them by means of notching, slitting or clipping the ears, an unsatisfactory method at best, and one which has caused many a neighborhood feud and the spilling of some human blood.
“There is always a certain percentage of these hogs that cannot be claimed or taken up by any person, because proof of ownership is lacking, and, as the practice has been in vogue for great many years, there are plenty of genuine wild hogs.
“Whether or not the progenitors of the razor-back hog were fat, slow going beasts, such as prosperous farmers own, we do not know. The fact is that the present woods rangers are long of leg, swift of foot and so lean that the term “razor back” is fairly appropriate. Accustomed to encounters with other woods prowlers in defense of their young, they have developed courage of a sort, and, while they will not attack men, they often set upon hunting dogs, invade camps and despoil everything within their reach.
