Turbo Fladry Fencing to Mitigate Short-term Agricultural Damage Caused by Wild Pigs

Authors

• Michael P. Glow, USDA/APHIS/WS/National Wildlife Research CenterFollow
• Jesse A. Tussing, USDA/APHIS/Wildlife Services
• Johnathan G. Walls, USDA/APHIS/Wildlife Services
• Robert B. Hyle, USDA/APHIS/Wildlife Services
• Joseph M. Halseth, Colorado Parks and Wildlife
• Nathan P. Snow, USDA/APHIS/WS/National Wildlife Research Center
• Kurt C. VerCauteren, USDA/APHIS/WS/National Wildlife Research Center

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Abstract

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are a destructive invasive species that damage agricultural crops in many regions of the world. Lethal techniques to reduce populations are most often used to mitigate damage, but additional techniques are also needed in conjunction with lethal tools to protect resources in some settings (e.g., where lethal control is not practical or possible to achieve population elimination). While additional tools such as deterrents or temporary fencing may provide short-term relief, few effective options are currently available because habituation by wild pigs often reduces long-term effectiveness. Turbo fladry, a type of electric fence, is an example of a potential tool to mitigate damage to agricultural resources caused by wild pigs. Though often used for protecting livestock from predators, no published research has evaluated the use of turbo fladry to protect crops from wild pigs. We evaluated the effectiveness of turbo fladry to protect corn (Zea mays) from damage due to wild pigs during April to June of 2021 in northeast Tennessee, USA, with the intent to serve as a proof-of-concept study. We installed turbo fladry around treatment plots immediately after planting because it was a particularly vulnerable stage for corn damage by wild pigs and monitored with remote cameras for 14 days. We then measured damage in treatment and control plots (no protection) after the 14-day trial. No damage was recorded in plots protected by turbo fladry compared to an average of 6.4% (range = 0–54.5%) of area damage in control plots. While turbo fladry effectively reduced damage to corn for a short period of time during our study, longer-term and larger-scale studies in different ecoregions and with additional crops are recommended.

Recommended Citation

Glow, Michael P.; Tussing, Jesse A.; Walls, Johnathan G.; Hyle, Robert B.; Halseth, Joseph M.; Snow, Nathan P.; and VerCauteren, Kurt C. (2025) "Turbo Fladry Fencing to Mitigate Short-term Agricultural Damage Caused by Wild Pigs," Human–Wildlife Interactions: Vol. 19: Iss. 1, Article 9.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/hwi/vol19/iss1/9