# Feral pigs eating turtles



## marcus0002 (May 22, 2014)

Pig hunters cut open a pig they shot and found it full of baby turtles
The Queensland Government has declared war on feral pigs, but some want it to match its rhetoric with funding - ABC Rural (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)


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## GeckoJosh (May 22, 2014)

Is it just me of do those turtles look fake?


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## vampstorso (May 22, 2014)

GeckoJosh said:


> Is it just me of do those turtles look fake?



Certainly don't look partially digested :/ 

must be recently consumed or placed on top for demonstration purposes?


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## princessparrot (May 22, 2014)

Not too sure about that one


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## Bluetongue1 (May 22, 2014)

The stomach contents have obviously been arranged to highlight the number of turtles.
The turtles are perfectly normal looking young of the *Flatback Turtle* (_Natator depressus_), a species which only breeds around northern Australia and in fairly specific spots.

Blue


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## marcus0002 (May 22, 2014)

Maybe the pig swallowed them whole and was shot the same day

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## Jacknife (May 22, 2014)

Awfully skilled pig when it comes to catching that many turtles, that would be my only reality query...


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## Mr.Self-destruct (May 22, 2014)

I'm assuming the people posting that this looks fake haven't done many necropsies in their time. That is precisely what recently eaten baby turtles would look like. And Jack, in answer to you question, sea turtles emerge from their nests at the same time. This pig was obviously beach combing when it came upon a hatching nest. You will also notice each of these turtle hatchlings have been crushed ie. was chewed before being swallowed. There are also shell fragments suggesting the pig dug down to the actual nest cavity.

Pigs are not herbivores, they are omnivores, they will kill and eat everything from bugs to lambs. This is not uncommon. In some areas you can find burrowing frogs by the hundreds... by cutting open a pig's stomach. They are a devastating animal on the Australian landscape. The link above demonstrates that nicely.


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## Cypher69 (May 22, 2014)

Mr.Self-destruct said:


> That is precisely what recently eaten baby turtles would look like.



No signs of bite marks, missing limbs, crushed bodies...?

Pig must've swallowed them like whales do to plankton.


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## Mr.Self-destruct (May 22, 2014)

Cypher69 said:


> No signs of bite marks, missing limbs, crushed bodies...?
> 
> Pig must've swallowed them like whales do to plankton.



Don't be _that_ person. Hatchling flatbacks fit in your palm. Crabs can predate them. An adult pig can swallow your fist. Disregarding that, if you look at the photo you will see the hatchlings are crushed, and in fact DO have missing pieces. This isn't some big conspiracy to make you not like feral pigs.


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## marcus0002 (May 22, 2014)

Mr.Self-destruct said:


> I'm assuming the people posting that this looks fake haven't done many necropsies in their time. That is precisely what recently eaten baby turtles would look like. And Jack, in answer to you question, sea turtles emerge from their nests at the same time. This pig was obviously beach combing when it came upon a hatching nest. You will also notice each of these turtle hatchlings have been crushed ie. was chewed before being swallowed. There are also shell fragments suggesting the pig dug down to the actual nest cavity.
> 
> Pigs are not herbivores, they are omnivores, they will kill and eat everything from bugs to lambs. This is not uncommon. In some areas you can find burrowing frogs by the hundreds... by cutting open a pig's stomach. They are a devastating animal on the Australian landscape. The link above demonstrates that nicely.



Your right on the money there. Feral cats are just as bad.


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## Jacknife (May 22, 2014)

Mr.Self-destruct said:


> I'm assuming the people posting that this looks fake haven't done many necropsies in their time. That is precisely what recently eaten baby turtles would look like. And Jack, in answer to you question, sea turtles emerge from their nests at the same time. This pig was obviously beach combing when it came upon a hatching nest. You will also notice each of these turtle hatchlings have been crushed ie. was chewed before being swallowed. There are also shell fragments suggesting the pig dug down to the actual nest cavity.
> 
> Pigs are not herbivores, they are omnivores, they will kill and eat everything from bugs to lambs. This is not uncommon. In some areas you can find burrowing frogs by the hundreds... by cutting open a pig's stomach. They are a devastating animal on the Australian landscape. The link above demonstrates that nicely.



That would be my assumption also, pig discovering nest. Not really denying it just saying that would be the only query.


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## Cypher69 (May 22, 2014)

Mr.Self-destruct said:


> Don't be _that_ person. Hatchling flatbacks fit in your palm. Crabs can predate them. An adult pig can swallow your fist. Disregarding that, if you look at the photo you will see the hatchlings are crushed, and in fact DO have missing pieces. This isn't some big conspiracy to make you not like feral pigs.



I'm not denying that the turtles were killed/eaten by the pig. I'm just saying that manipulating the shot by laying all the turtles out neatly (notice they're all facing the same way) kinda leads to people's doubts & takes the focus away from the real issue.


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## beastcreature (May 22, 2014)

Haven't you guys ever seen Hannibal?


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## marcus0002 (May 22, 2014)

Cypher69 said:


> I'm not denying that the turtles were killed/eaten by the pig. I'm just saying that manipulating the shot by laying all the turtles out neatly (notice they're all facing the same way) kinda leads to people's doubts & takes the focus away from the real issue.



How would you have taken that photo? 

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## moosenoose (May 22, 2014)

The Greens will ensure those pigs are protected...don't worry folks  That's what they're all about


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## marcus0002 (May 22, 2014)

Don't even get me started on the greens mate. They would ban private reptile keeping if they could

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## morelia_mad (May 22, 2014)




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## princessparrot (May 22, 2014)

morelia_mad said:


>


That's nasty


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## Rlpreston (May 22, 2014)

Cypher69 said:


> I'm not denying that the turtles were killed/eaten by the pig. I'm just saying that manipulating the shot by laying all the turtles out neatly (notice they're all facing the same way) kinda leads to people's doubts & takes the focus away from the real issue.



The point of the arrangement of the contents is to highlight the range and numbers of prey items found in stomachs (and is often done this way for photographs). If they just cut it open and took a pic it would not give a true indication of stomach contents as you would just see a pile of 'things'. This way it is clear exactly what is being eaten and how much, rather than relying on printed figures with no visual proof.


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## GeckoJosh (May 23, 2014)

Mr.Self-destruct said:


> I'm assuming the people posting that this looks fake haven't done many necropsies in their time. That is precisely what recently eaten baby turtles would look like. And Jack, in answer to you question, sea turtles emerge from their nests at the same time. This pig was obviously beach combing when it came upon a hatching nest. You will also notice each of these turtle hatchlings have been crushed ie. was chewed before being swallowed. There are also shell fragments suggesting the pig dug down to the actual nest cavity.
> 
> Pigs are not herbivores, they are omnivores, they will kill and eat everything from bugs to lambs. This is not uncommon. In some areas you can find burrowing frogs by the hundreds... by cutting open a pig's stomach. They are a devastating animal on the Australian landscape. The link above demonstrates that nicely.



I have done more than a few necropsies and I also think the scenario is quite plausible, its just the turtles themselves to me look very flat and rubbery. I am not familiar with that species of turtles as hatchlings so it was just a guess on my part which is why I asked for confirmation


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## Cypher69 (May 24, 2014)

Rlpreston said:


> The point of the arrangement of the contents is to highlight the range and numbers of prey items found in stomachs (and is often done this way for photographs). If they just cut it open and took a pic it would not give a true indication of stomach contents as you would just see a pile of 'things'. This way it is clear exactly what is being eaten and how much, rather than relying on printed figures with no visual proof.



I'm just one of those people that "don't necessarily believe" everything I see on the net or tv, for that matter. I mean the amount of people that believe Reality TV series is real just makes me cringe.

Look at the feral cat pic & the list of contents it's eaten...
24 Painted Dragons...all partially digested.
Do Painted Dragons live together in communities?
Did the feral cat decide to eat nothing but Painted Dragons for breakfast, lunch & dinner...all in one day?

Sorry, but I naturally doubt what I see sometimes.


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## Rlpreston (May 24, 2014)

Cypher69 said:


> I'm just one of those people that "don't necessarily believe" everything I see on the net or tv, for that matter. I mean the amount of people that believe Reality TV series is real just makes me cringe.
> 
> Look at the feral cat pic & the list of contents it's eaten...
> 24 Painted Dragons...all partially digested.
> ...



That's all well and good, being sceptical is fine and your prerogative. I was just explaining why the pictures are laid out like this (as you had used that as a reason to dispute the validity). If you choose to believe the picture is 'fake' is your own business but I wanted you to understand that this is a common practice and so does not automatically render it a 'fake'.

I can't comment on those last few questions, someone else might be able to answer them though.


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## Gaboon (May 24, 2014)

All the pigs iv seen chew their food like crazy. Maybe he didnt want to get shot, so scoved them? Smart pig


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## Cypher69 (May 24, 2014)

Rlpreston said:


> I was just explaining why the pictures are laid out like this (as you had used that as a reason to dispute the validity). If you choose to believe the picture is 'fake' is your own business but I wanted you to understand that this is a common practice and so does not automatically render it a 'fake'.



I never meant to de-rail this thread into a conspiracy theory. But yeah...the initial response to this topic was questioning the validity of the photo...not the devastating impact on our natives.
As yeah Gaboon hit the nail on the head...Pigs CHEW their food...sorry but that photo shows no evidence of the sort.


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## Rlpreston (May 24, 2014)

Cypher69 said:


> As yeah Gaboon hit the nail on the head...Pigs CHEW their food...sorry but that photo shows no evidence of the sort.



I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this point. I don't know how well this zooms in on other devices but from my iphone most of those little turtles look pretty mangled. I don't imagine a pig would have much use for chewing these beyond 'crushing' them, which it appears to have done.

Like I said though, I'll agree to disagree, this is just my opinion


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## morelia_mad (May 24, 2014)

As a hunter who visits quite a few hunting forums I see a lot of similar pics. Plenty infact showing whole prey items similar to those in this thread....Feel free to check out any hunting forum or google "stomache contents of feral so and so"

Here's a link showing a pig that's devoured a ton of frogs A Question of Balance - Environmental Program=

ETA: I am not saying pigs entirely swallow whole, what I am saying is they don't always chew to a pulp. They may chew just enough to kill their prey, a single bite may be enough infact OR in the case of being in a large group may want to swallow as quickly as possible to avoid competition from other pigs


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## Radar (May 24, 2014)

Mr.Self-destruct said:


> I'm assuming the people posting that this looks fake haven't done many necropsies in their time. That is precisely what recently eaten baby turtles would look like. And Jack, in answer to you question, sea turtles emerge from their nests at the same time. This pig was obviously beach combing when it came upon a hatching nest. You will also notice each of these turtle hatchlings have been crushed ie. was chewed before being swallowed. There are also shell fragments suggesting the pig dug down to the actual nest cavity.
> 
> Pigs are not herbivores, they are omnivores, they will kill and eat everything from bugs to lambs. This is not uncommon. In some areas you can find burrowing frogs by the hundreds... by cutting open a pig's stomach. They are a devastating animal on the Australian landscape. The link above demonstrates that nicely.



A++

Having watched someone gut a pig years ago that was feeding below an egret nesting colony and seeing a number of still squirming hatchling birds spill out amoungst the other stuff, I can attest to the fact that these turtles have totally conceivably come from inside a pig. 

Turtles do indeed emerge from the nest at the same time, sometimes hatchlings will spend a day or two underground waiting for the rest of their mates to hatch and for favorable conditions. If a pig comes searches out a nest in this state it will end up with a gut full of freshly hatched turtles. 

A friend of mine did his honours on feral pigs, and I believe has been working with the pig management program up the cape. During his honours he found fragments of crocodile skin in the gut contents of at least one pig. They will eat anything.

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