District to Hold Night Hog Hunts on Flatwoods Park Portion of Lower Hillsborough Wilderness Preserve February 11-13

News Release

The "Southwest Florida Water Management District":http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/ will hold a night hog hunt on the Flatwoods Park Portion of Lower Hillsborough Wilderness Preserve on February 11-13.

Only permitted hunters will be allowed on the property during these dates. All of the permits for these hunts have been sold.

Flatwoods Park is located at 14302 Morris Bridge Road in Temple Terrace.

The hunt is one of a series of hog hunts being held on District lands in an effort to control the damage being caused to the natural habitats.

The District only allows hogs to be controlled through hunts when the damage they cause exceeds unacceptable levels, and damage is occurring more frequently and with increasing severity.

Wild hogs live throughout Florida in various habitats, but prefer moist forests and swamps, as well as pine flatwoods. The hogs eat both plant and animal food sources and feed by rooting with their broad snouts, which can cause extensive damage to the natural habitats. In fact, they can leave an area looking like a plowed field.

Wild hogs are not native to Florida and are believed to have been introduced by explorer Hernando DeSoto as early as 1539. They can weigh more than 300 pounds and travel in herds of several females and their offspring.

For more information, please call the "Land Management Section":http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/documents/plans/landusemgmt/ at the District's Brooksville Headquarters at 1-800-423-1476 or (352) 796-7211, ext. 4467.