Since January last year the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry received 81 reports of wild pig sightings, according to Jolanta Kowalski, a spokesperson for the ministry. Locations where people report seeing wild pigs over the years range across southern Ontario from Chatham to the Bruce Peninsula in the southwest, Brantford and Dunnville in the southeast, Lefaivre toward Quebec and as far north as Temagami. The province defines a wild pig as any pig, whether domestic, Eurasian wild boar or a hybrid, that is outside a fence without an identifiable owner. Wild pigs have not yet established a self-sustaining population in Ontario, and groups like the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters are asking for all Ontarians to be diligent to ensure they do not.
TORONTO When Carrot first wandered onto Lee-Anne Carver’s lawn as a fawn a few years ago, she knew there was something different about the deer. It was gentle, affectionate and even endeared itself to Carver’s golden retriever. “He didn’t hold the normal characteristics of a deer. It was something else and I can’t explain it,” said Carver, a wildlife photographer who has been close to hundreds of deer. But now something else is making Carrot stand out from the herd: a bright green crossbow bolt through the back of its head. Last week, when Carrot came to their property in Kenora, Ont., Carver’s husband saw the bolt first and rushed inside in tears to tell his wife.