Feral pigs eating turtles

[GeckoJosh]

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

 

[Cypher69]

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.

 

[Rlpreston]

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.

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.

 

[Gaboon]

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

 

[Cypher69]

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.

 

[Rlpreston]

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

 

[morelia_mad]

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

 

[Radar]

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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