Wild pigs in the United States are turning a color comparable only to cool blue Gatorade.
California is home to about 400,000 feral pigs, but hunters say the entrails of the wild pigs they've killed this year are neon blue.
Dan Burton, who owns a wildlife control company, told the Los Angeles Times that he found a bleached pig in Monterey County in March.
He trapped several wild pigs eating the crops of an agricultural firm and when he cut them open, he found that their insides were a sour blue colour.
“I'm not talking about blue,” the Salinas resident said. “I'm talking about neon blue, crimson blue.”
Blue pigs are nothing new, however. In 2015, a user on the photo-sharing site Imgur posted photos of a “weird pig.”
“My relatives live on a ranch in Morgan Hill [Santa Clara County] and they shot a wild boar there. They thought it was a regular boar until they ripped it open,” they wrote.
Although his in-laws live near an abandoned mercury mine (copper poisoning can turn skin blue), the user said he has shot pigs before but has never seen their fat turn blue.
They added: “Everything else about the pig was normal: meat, blood, etc. The only odd thing was the blue fat all over the body.”
Burton reported the matter to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which confirmed that the pig had been poisoned with diphacinone, a slow-acting poison.
Diphacinone is used by farmers to control squirrel, rat and mouse populations by placing it in the baits that these creatures feed on.
According to a government fact sheet, when consumed, the “extremely toxic” chemical prevents blood from clotting, causing severe internal bleeding, fever and back pain.
Pest control companies dye the coffee bean-shaped substance blue to let people know it is a rodenticide.
However, pigs can't read warning labels – state wildlife officials found the poison in the pig's stomach and liver, suggesting the pigs had eaten diphacinone from the baits.
Feral pigs, a cross between domestic pigs and wild boars, are omnivorous, so they can eat both poisoned rodents and bait.
The surreal blue hue of pork is not due to rodent control itself, but to a dye that penetrates the animal's muscles and fat.
This strange side effect occurs when an animal ingests large amounts of diphacinone, meaning that even if the pig looks juicy and red inside, it may still have ingested some of the poison.
Research has shown that people and carnivores who eat meat tainted blue by the poison may experience “secondary exposure” because the substance can remain in the animal's body for several weeks.
Cooking discolored meat does not reduce the concentration of the poison.
Burton said he believed the blue pigs were feeding on squirrel bait.
He said that given that the poison takes several days to take effect on small animals, let alone 200-pound pigs, that may be why the pigs look so healthy.
Diphacinone is effectively banned throughout California as of 2024 and can only be used by certified pest control professionals, government employees, or on farms.
Wildlife officials are now warning hunters, trappers and anyone who eats wild pig meat to stay away from blue meat.
Anyone who has had contact with blue pigs should report it to the agency.
No other blue-tinged animals have been reported in Monterey County since March.
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In 2018, researchers found that nearly one in 10 wild pigs living near human-controlled areas were contaminated with rodenticide.
CDFW pesticide use investigation coordinator Dr. Ryan Burbourg said, “Hunters should be aware that meat from wild animals such as wild hogs, deer, bears and geese may be contaminated if the animal has been exposed to rodenticides.”
“Exposure to rodenticides may pose a risk to non-target wildlife in areas where rodenticide use occurs in close proximity to wildlife habitat.”
Sourse: metro.co.uk
