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21-11-2015, 13:40
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#31
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: W Carib
Boat: Wildcat 35, Hobie 33
Posts: 13,479
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Re: Pigs in the Bahamas
Quote:
Originally Posted by Canibul
tapeworms are passed from animal to animal via feces, as I understand it. Humans can get them from eating infected pork. I came back from Brazil in the 70's with a tapeworm. I had it for about eight months until finally getting rid of it in San Diego. The doctors in Lowell Massachusetts didn't have a clue how to treat it, but the clinic in San Diego knew just what to do. The cure was worse than the tapeworm, too.
I kind of missed the little booger. Nice pet. Quiet. Goes where you go, eats what you eat. Helped me trim down a little, too.
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Yeah, best to get developing country diseases treated in developing countries where the docs are familiar with them. A young niece of mine was nearly killed by USA Docs trying to treat a simple Bot Fly parasite.
So, if you do get something from kissing the pigs...get it treated locally!
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21-11-2015, 14:31
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#32
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 2,150
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Re: Pigs in the Bahamas
Many decades ago, i did volunteer work with the Peace Corps in Panama along the Carib coast constructing concrete platforms for pigs. Pigs' poop contain a lot of nasty stuff that can get into humans via bare feet, etc. Most inland streams are polluted with Lepto an various other liver worms from pig poop. And yes, many of the stuff will either kill you, make you go blind, or rot your liver. Advice is wear boots, wash hands, and leave pigs alone.
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21-11-2015, 14:45
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#33
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Carolina Beach, NC
Posts: 111
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Re: Pigs in the Bahamas
At least in No Name Cay, if you are concerned about a virus or bugs etc, than perhaps this is not a place you should go.
Also stay clear of the iguanas and chickens in the keys and basically everywhere else you can visit.
Other than the occasional bite from feeding the pigs directly with your hands, I have never heard of anyone getting anything dangerous health wise.
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21-11-2015, 14:55
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#34
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 2,150
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Re: Pigs in the Bahamas
Otoh, we used up lots of dental floss stitching up dogs that tangled with boars. Any pig with tusks can be a real nasty problem. Of course that goes for not only pigs.
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21-11-2015, 15:07
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#35
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Antibes France
Boat: Havsfidra 20
Posts: 191
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Re: Pigs in the Bahamas
I would think killing and roasting a pig from an uninhabited island wouldn't be a problem... Am I wrong?
Gil.
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21-11-2015, 15:29
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#36
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Circumnavigating, currently in Turkey
Boat: Ex Salina 48, now Lagoon 380
Posts: 399
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Re: Pigs in the Bahamas
Keep your distance!
My wife got gored in her leg by one of them and required medical attention.
Also swimming with them is dangerous as they scratch you with their claws.
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21-11-2015, 16:21
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#37
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Senior Cruiser
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Port Moresby,Papua New Guinea
Boat: FP Belize Maestro 43 and OPBs
Posts: 12,888
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Re: Pigs in the Bahamas
Quote:
Originally Posted by gilgsn
I would think killing and roasting a pig from an uninhabited island wouldn't be a problem... Am I wrong?
Gil.
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It may be uninhabited, but it won't be un-owned. And the landowners own the pigs and anything else on the island. It would be a big problem if they found out - you will suddenly find that it was a very valuable, prized pig and it is going to cost you a lot of money to compensate them for its loss.
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21-11-2015, 16:23
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#38
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: North Carolina, USA
Boat: Big brick box and a '62 Airstream Ambassador. Formerly Pacific Seacraft
Posts: 1,017
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Re: Pigs in the Bahamas
Old wives tale says pigs will cut their throat swimming. I raised pigs on pasture for many years and watched them swim during one hurricane event that brought our mountain stream far over its banks. My pigs in the bottoms were neck deep in water by supper and the water came up many feet from there. Great swimmers though. But ya they're pigs. Treat them like pigs and you'll be fine but few know how to interact. Pigs are bright creatures but they live in a world with a pecking order and very basic physical communication. It's not novel for a farmer to hand feed hungry hogs. Running through fields of 600 lb sows with two 5 gallon buckets was a rite of passage for my staff.
Pigs live with little to no care throughout the Caribbean and Latin America and many other places. They tend to be thinner than hogs like mine, and eat less. My hogs required very little vet care but received optimal management and needed little help. I grazed them on large acreage with crops like turnips, rape, forage oats, alfalfa etc. used the right genetics. And I raised and milled all their feed so we were setting the bar for a progressive outdoor swine operation. So they were always healthy and required only fresh water, good feed, shade and wallows. Only sows required more hands on care because of farrowing, and our outdoor herd was productive, averaging 9-10 weaned per litter twice a year. I worked on sows a lot. OB stuff and a lot of first aid. They farrowed in little metal Quonset huts with straw.
They are vicious to one another. Big pig gets the food. My sows were often over 700 lbs. As 3-4 year olds. Don't want to get in between them when squabbling over feed. They often targeted each other's vulvas so old sows had gaping ripped vulvas sometimes. I had one have an entire mammary bitten off. I got much better over the years managing social groups but even then they fight.
Anyway, yes there are some things you can pick up from hogs. The stuff already mentioned, and ring worm if they have it. I don't cozy up to my hogs but I regularly handled them and pet them and was careful to wash up. I also don't bite my nails, but my staff that did would get infected with ascarids, so they do share some internal parasites with us. Plenty of reasons not to kiss that population of swine, but not everyone lives by the principles of science and life is short so do as you will. Don't be surprised if you get bitten in the face though if you aren't used to animals. Treat them like your family dog or a person at your own risk. Be friendly and confident but be quick to correct errant behavior. They're smart so your voice is a good start, but beyond that, if you want to communicate with a pig, be physical. No need to hurt them, but a gruff response with a snack on the face or ears will keep them from chewing on your shins or whatever else they may be doing.
I'm assuming there arent any intact boars there. That's a whole 'nother convo. I had staff seriously injured by big boars. We handled all our boars a lot and they had good routines. But left alone in a field for a while they would get pretty independent and fro time to time I'd have to retire them because they got to be too dangerous for my staff to handle regularly. Boars were the cause of several injuries over the years, including a few severed tendons on a woman's hand. Took serious surgery to repair. Wasn't because they were mean or something dumb like that. It's because they were boars in a fight, and all of a sudden some soft humans flesh ends up in one of the boars mouth.
Great animals. Treat them as they are and wash your hands if you touch them.
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21-11-2015, 17:16
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#39
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Now limited to seasonal NE sailing
Boat: PT-11
Posts: 1,541
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Re: Pigs in the Bahamas
Good post, Cheoah. Thanks.
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21-11-2015, 17:25
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#40
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Outer Banks NC
Boat: Cape Dory 36
Posts: 43
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Re: Pigs in the Bahamas
Of all the animal life I ever encountered in the Bahamas "wild pigs" scared me the most, being chased into the ocean by a gang of angry pigs.... brings back some vivid memories
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21-11-2015, 17:49
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#41
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,829
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Re: Pigs in the Bahamas
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cadence
Since you put it that way, Dr. Oz will be marketing them for dieting on TV.
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Not the first time someone sold tapeworms for weight loss:
Later,
Dan
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21-11-2015, 18:11
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#42
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Carlsbad, CA
Boat: 1976 Sabre 28-2
Posts: 7,505
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Re: Pigs in the Bahamas
Surprised no one has mentioned trichinosis. It's a worm that burrows into the muscles and can be very painful and the cure isn't much better. It's passed on to humans through undercooked pork and is probably the reason for the Jewish and Moslem ban on eating pork. Growing up, pigs were common on almost every farm and often turned loose to forage so trichinosis was a possibility. Everyone I knew cooked pork till it was shoe leather to be sure to kill the parasite. Hated eating pork as a kid as it was always so dry. It's been largely eradicated with the commercial growing of pigs so not much of a concern today. Every once in a while, someone gets trichinosis in Hawaii from Lau Lau, pork wrapped in Ti leaves and steamed or cooked in an Imu. Always turns out that the pig was feral and shot by hunters. Believe the curing process for ham and bacon also kills trichinosis.
Boy are we really really leading a sheltered life to even come up with the question whether wild pigs have professional medical and dental care. They may get food scraps, water, and the males castrated, but that's about it outside of a modern 1st world farm. The local pig farmers collect food scraps (garbage) from the restaurants and hotels to feed their pigs. They cook the garbage, however as it can be a source of disease. The farmers are very careful about the health of their animals as a case of trichinosis can put them out of business right quick.
__________________
Peter O.
'Ae'a, Pearson 35
'Ms American Pie', Sabre 28 Mark II
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21-11-2015, 18:24
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#43
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Marine Service Provider
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Auckland, NZ
Boat: Compass 790 , 7.9 metres or 26 ft
Posts: 2,803
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Re: Pigs in the Bahamas
Drink lotsa beer before kissing the pigs & you will be protected. :-)
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21-11-2015, 18:32
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#44
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Netherlands
Boat: Ohlson 29
Posts: 1,519
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Re: Pigs in the Bahamas
Quote:
Originally Posted by roverhi
It's passed on to humans through undercooked pork
//
Boy are we really really leading a sheltered life to even come up with the question whether wild pigs have professional medical and dental care.
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Maybe it didn't come up as the topic is other people -not even the OP him- or herself- playing around with live, wild pigs and those people getting sick and passing whatever they caught on to them or their pets.
As to the sheltered life: made me smile. We discussed this topic for a bit on our rainy jetty here today; agreeing a lot of Americans seem to go by "Trust nobody, fear everything"
But all joking aside: wild animals, poor countries ... very doubtful there's vet care involved. Also very doubtful it's needed. Just don't kiss the pigs and you'll probably live to cruise another day.
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21-11-2015, 18:38
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#45
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,829
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Re: Pigs in the Bahamas
Quote:
Originally Posted by roverhi
Surprised no one has mentioned trichinosis. It's a worm that burrows into the muscles and can be very painful and the cure isn't much better. It's passed on to humans through undercooked pork and is probably the reason for the Jewish and Moslem ban on eating pork. Growing up, pigs were common on almost every farm and often turned loose to forage so trichinosis was a possibility. Everyone I knew cooked pork till it was shoe leather to be sure to kill the parasite. Hated eating pork as a kid as it was always so dry. It's been largely eradicated with the commercial growing of pigs so not much of a concern today....
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I was thinking about trichinosis but I got sidetracked with Tapeworm Weight Loss Programs(TWLP) and Doc Martin on TV.
We always cooked pork very well, I want to say at least 170F degrees? to kill the worm(s). Shoe leather is a good description. Now we can safely eat factory farm raised pork cooked at lower temperatures.
Later,
Dan
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