PUXICO — The Mingo National Wildlife Refuge north of Puxico will be closed to all public entry for all or parts of several upcoming days as staff conduct feral hog eradication operations.
The scheduled closure dates are Feb. 9-13, though the exact days will be determined by weather conditions.
“The refuge won’t necessarily be closed the entire time. If we have great weather it might be,” Mingo biologist Brad Pendley said.
“If we know we’re going to be down, we’ll try to announce it. People can call, it will be on our website and we’ll have signs up,” Pendley added. “Plus, we’ll have folks at gates and the gates will be closed.”
Just like the last few years, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) will bring its helicopter to Mingo for aerial gunning of feral hogs.
The helicopter operation, Pendley said, is considered the kick-off to the refuge’s hog eradication work each spring. Most pigs are taken in the spring and early summer before heavy foliage obscures vision.
The helicopter operation is part of the refuge’s larger feral hog eradication program, which also includes extensive trapping and limited selective shooting.
“Our goal is still elimination. We want to get rid of pigs in the Mingo basin and, frankly, throughout Missouri,” Pendley said. “Any time you have an invasive on the landscape, they’re competing with native species.”
Weather will be the biggest factor in when the operation will be completed.
“We have the helicopter for a week, but we know it’s likely this time of year we’re going to have ground days due to wind or weather,” Pendley said.
To avoid legal issues during open hunting seasons, Pendley said, refuge staff does not bait hogs for trapping during those periods. However, as soon as the recent archery season closed, baiting operations quickly began again.
“We shut down baiting on parts of the refuge throughout the fall and winter, and honestly after archery season goes out, we’re back to wide open,” Pendley said. “What we do is pre-bait (for the hog flights) after bow season goes out.”
Pendley and others also scout the refuge at night, the most active times for feral hogs, with thermal imaging equipment and even drones with night vision cameras. Doing so helps them precisely locate specific groups, or sounders, of pigs.
In its initial year, the hog flight saw little success, but the last two years have been substantially better.
“The last two years have been pretty darn good. Last year, they killed 346 while flying parts of several days,” Pendley said. “We had good conditions last year, like high water that concentrated pigs on the higher ground.
“The year before, we only got to fly six hours and killed 127.”
Once the hog flights are completed, refuge and USDA staff will continue to work to trap hogs.
In 2019, more than 900 hogs were killed on Mingo, and “We had good success in 2020 by trapping,” Pendley said.
Hog sightings have dropped significantly on the refuge, Pendley noted, particularly after last year’s flights.
“Our sightings are down, both those reported by deer hunters and by us. The staff has seen way fewer pigs during daylight. It’s way less than it used to be,” Pendley said.
Pendley described the refuge’s efforts to control feral hogs as “all hands on deck, and it’s a big effort, but we get a lot of results. We feel pretty good about the amount of effort we put in and the amount of pigs we kill.
“I think we’re starting to see some of the fruits of our labor here.”
To get the most current information on refuge closures, call the visitor center at 573-222-3589.