Predator Pig - caught and ate a squirrel

Jea

Overrun with beasties
Joined
Aug 4, 2016
Messages
58
Reaction score
78
Points
83
Location
PA
Our female pig must have had a lucky day because she was in her back paddock (which is a brushy area that we've opened up to give the 3 pigs more space) and came running out with a squirrel in her mouth (only the tail was hanging out.)

We tried to get it off of her, but she wasn't letting it go, and she ran into the brambles and ate it.

Is this normal behavior for a pig? I was surprised because we've seen wild rabbits run through the pig yard before and they didn't even seem to notice them.
 

B&B Happy goats

Herd Master
Joined
Oct 7, 2018
Messages
4,845
Reaction score
12,865
Points
623
Location
North central florida
Very interesting...we have five roosters that have been living with the pigs in their pen for three weeks....no missing roosters ...yet :highfive:
 
Last edited:

frustratedearthmother

Herd Master
Joined
May 7, 2013
Messages
7,972
Reaction score
14,369
Points
623
I think as long as the roo's can move they'll be fine. The only time I saw my pigs actually look like they wanted to kill a chicken was a rooster that was literally stuck in the mud, lol. I rescued him and all was well.
 

farmerjan

Herd Master
Joined
Aug 16, 2016
Messages
10,201
Reaction score
38,774
Points
748
Location
Shenandoah Valley Virginia
Hogs/pigs are omnivores. They will eat more plant type material, grains etc but will eat meat with no compunction. I have seen them kill and eat their own young... usually as they become frantic if a pig is squealing and say stuck inbetween fence boards or something, they will get "hysterical" and go to biting and killing the piglet. I have seen them kill an injured chicken before. They will go after anything they want to. Maybe the squirrel fell from a branch and was stunned... maybe another squirrel injured it in a fight.....but they will kill it if the mood strikes them and they can catch it. That said, most will not bother something that is not threatening their food, and is fast enough to stay out of their way.... and most all our domestic pigs are not exactly "starving" or having to rustle their own grub so not as food motivated to catch whatever they can find. They will also tend to go after something that is looking distressed or making alot of noise....
 

Ridgetop

Herd Master
Joined
Mar 13, 2015
Messages
6,572
Reaction score
22,280
Points
693
Location
Shadow Hills, CA
During the year of Devil Pig our 6 hogs killed and ate our female Chinese Crested goose. Chickens are also omnivores - I used to throw dead baby bunnies into my chicken yard and they gobbled those bodies up right away.

Anybody remember old stories about old time gangsters who disposed of their dead enemies by taking them to hog farms? No body, no murder.
 

thethinkingweasel

Overrun with beasties
Joined
Jan 2, 2020
Messages
31
Reaction score
47
Points
76
Location
Upstate SC
Very interesting...we have five roosters that have been living with the pigs in their pen for three weeks....no missing roosters ...yet :highfive:

In our experience they won't kill the chickens, but they are happy to eat anything that's already dead. We use them as our garbage disposals for any chickens that wear out and randomly drop dead. And yes, they eat EVERYTHING else we give them ... the only thing I've seen them leave behind is raw onion. Which the chickens don't eat either...
 

Latest posts

Top