Wild hogs hold my interest even though, unlike deer, they are not a clean, graceful and beautiful animal and they aren't indigenous to America, having been brought here by Spanish explorers like Hernando Desoto. Their domestic barnyard cousin is tasty and therefore highly sought after, but as a wild animal, hogs are a nuisance. The wild hog is unwelcome by almost everyone and in many southern states they are a huge problem for farmers and homeowners. As a result, wild hogs are typically not protected by the local wildlife agencies and are even the target of eradication measures. As mentioned in the book, Delta View, Louisiana includes them in their "outlaw quadruped" list.
My experience with wild hogs only began within the past five years or so, but I have learned to have a healthy respect for them. The first up-close encounter came while hunting in the Palmetto swamplands near Yazoo City. One day, as I made my way with friend of mine into the woods for a deer hunt, we inadvertently walked into the midst of a sounder (group) of them. The head-high palmettos hid the short-legged hogs completely. I guess they must have been sleeping. Hogs appear to sleep in an almost human-like deep sleep. Deep sleeping is something most wild animals do not do, deer, for example, only doze lightly, tending to remain alert. I have had to listen to the loud snoring of a large boar from my deer stand on one occasion! I am pretty sure he was deep in dreamland!
These hogs, surprised and upset at having their nap interrupted, first reacted by running but quickly stopped, choosing to hold their ground. They were hidden to us by the palmetto palms, but were making their presence known, shaking and rattling palms all around us, grunting and making a woofing sound. We had split their sounder up and they obviously intended to "leave no hog behind". My first reaction when I realized what was happening, as it was my first experience with wild hogs and I just did not know any better, was simply, "oh, cool, wild hogs!" My lack of alarm was due to my being accustomed to deer, which always run away harmlessly, even the biggest antlered bucks usually don't make a stand. But as we stood there I noticed the hogs making a strange "popping" sound. Curious but still unafraid, I asked my friend, whose facial color was somewhat lighter than normal, what the popping sound was. He replied that the hogs were "popping their teeth together", to warn us of potential consequences. It was at that moment that I suddenly acquired a very healthy respect for wild hogs. The guttural growls and woofing noises also helped. My friend and I slowly backed out of their midst, leaving the way we came in.
In defense of discretion when encountering wild hogs, the beast's capacity to attack humans has been substantiated by many attacks on humans here in the South. Most of the accounts of these attacks have been provided by hunters. From ancient history to current times, the courage and ferocity of the wild hog is unquestioned.
Hogs are omnivores, meaning they also eat meat, even scavenging on carcasses of their own kind. With respect to their presence in the tunnel, hogs will occupy underground cavities, when they are available. It is no stretch of the imagination that in the book, Delta View, the hogs are responsible for consuming a murderer's victim within an abandoned tunnel.
So, wild, meat eating hogs, in an unknown pre-Civil War tunnel within an Indian mound, with no way out and a treasure seeking killer waiting for you. What I'm saying, in cliche movie terms is, "Hogs, it had to be hogs!"
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