Norco Council Receives Update On Damage Caused By Feral Pigs

The Norco City Council last week received an update on damage done by a herd of feral pigs coming into the city from the Santa Ana riverbed at night.

“As you know, most recently, wild boar have been leaving the riverbed at night, unwelcome residents, damaging and causing a nuisance to city property as well as residents’ yards,” Michelle Anglin, community services director, said. “Unfortunately, we are not alone, the city of Corona has the same problem as does JCSD [Jurupa Community Services District] at their community park.”

Anglin said the animals have caused damage in neighborhoods near Rio Lani Place, Pali Drive and Queens Road, the front lawn of the community center and at Clark Field, where the pigs have struck three times, causing damage throughout.

“Those boar are just going underneath and grabbing all the grub,” she said. “Both of these instances have impacted rentals, use by sports groups at Clark Field, and rentals for bocce ball at the community center.”

And while facilities and maintenance crews were able to repair Clark Field and the community center front lawn for continued use by the public in the interim, she said the long-term solution is to trap and euthanize the animals.

“The city of Norco has entered into a professional service agreement with Heritage Custom Landscape (HCL) not to exceed $25,000 to trap, humanely euthanize and remove the feral pigs in the area in according with the depredation permit granted to the city by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife,” Anglin said.

According to Anglin, net traps will be set up and baited with a fermented mash “that I understand the feral pigs just absolutely love,” during the daylight hours. HCL will then monitor the traps 24/7 using cellular-based trail cameras. Between sunset and sunrise, with some extenuating circumstances for daylight hours, the trapped pigs will be removed from the area and euthanized.

“This has been a proven method to remedy the problem,” she said. “No disturbance to residents or neighborhoods will be happening, and notices have been issued to local neighborhoods in the vicinity of the activity.”

Additionally, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department will be notified when HCL teams are going out to pick up trapped feral pigs and working hand-in-hand with the contractor.

Mayor Kevin Bash said he had gotten some emails from people scolding him for “taking out” the feral pigs and requested photos of the damage so he could better explain to people the problems they cause.

“They’re wild pigs that over the years get loose, get released,” he said. “I mean, we’ve been dealing with them for years. I remember when they were chasing us on horseback back in the sixties.”

Anglin said she would report back to the council after the first catch.

A full recording of the meeting can be found here on the city’s YouTube channel.