All language subtitles for 1 1 Last.Week.Tonight.with.John.Oliver.S13E16.480p

Oh.

Halfway tonight.

Thank you so much for joining us. It has
been a busy week in Chicago. Obama

opened his presidential center in D .C.
despite Trump spending $14 million.

The Lincoln reflecting pool looks like
Shrek pissed in it.

And in the U .K., Andy Burnham won the
Bakerfield by -election and is now odds

-on to become prime minister. And here
is the moment that the results became

clear.

Burnham, Andrew Murray, commonly known
as Andy Burnham, the Labour and Co

-operative Party.

Yeah,

as hard as it is to believe, everyone on
that stage was running in that

election.

Meaning Burnham managed to not only
defeat the Reform UK candidate, but also

Darth Trashcan and the meth -tastic Mr
Fox.

Meanwhile, the World Cup continued, with
fans still having a great time, from

Norway's rowing up escalators to...

Dutch supporters doing the Aranya fan
walk to Australian fans coming up with

song of the summer.

Until now, the best thing Australia gave
the US was avocado toast and Nicole

Kidman, but they have just topped
themselves.

Because being drunk Aussies joyously
chanting Trump's a sex offender is the

equivalent of looking out your office
window and seeing tourists eating ice

cream on a double -decker bus.

I didn't even know you could have that
much fun here.

Meanwhile, the Scottish fans have been
in Boston making friends wherever they

go, putting cones on statues and causing
some real supply chain issues.

If your favorite beer is missing from a
tap... We've never seen anything like

it. There's a decent chance Scotland had
something to do with it. Sam Adams

downtown ran out of their signature
Boston lager over the weekend and needed

emergency delivery to keep up with World
Cup fans. And they're not the only ones

running dry.

The Whitefield Tavern.

There was no beer. The Scots fans just
drunk the taste dry, and all they had

was, like, Bud Light.

Yeah.

They drank everything but the Bud Light.

And do you know how bad a beer has to be
for Scottish people not to drink it?

Their national dish is haggis, which
looks like the sandworm from Dune shit

itself.

They'll eat that happily, but they draw
the line at America's dick spittle.

A beverage that on its best day tastes
like piss -flavoured La Croix. But it is

true. Scotland fans have been drinking
Boston Dry with one employee of a

downtown bar saying, we've been here for
over 30 years and we've never seen

anything like it. We tripled St.

Patrick's Day.

Which is wild.

I guess the Scots saw the way Bostonians
drink and said, hold my beer while I

chug three more.

Apparently when one customer came into a
Boston liquor store and purchased two

bottles of water, a bunch of Scotland
fans in the store booed her for the

purchase.

Well, that is obviously very funny. I do
have to look at it from that woman's

perspective. She had a hard day at the
office. She's a paralegal, I'm guessing.

Her doctor keeps telling her to hydrate
more, so she leaves work, after hours as

usual, and stops at the nearest spot, a
liquor store.

She doesn't drink anymore, not since the
accident, but it's pouring rain and her

ex got all the umbrellas in the divorce.

She rushes inside, grabs two water
bottles and heads to the checkout,

through credit cards, hoping one will go
through. She makes a good wage, but

online poker was the...

that she could never ignore.

She taps.

It works, thankfully. But then she spots
the clerk's name tag. Kyle.

That was his name.

Her eyes glaze and her mind drifts back
to summer 2006.

Sleepaway camp and the most beautiful
boy she'd ever seen. Kyle Kirkpatrick.

She realises her grandma was right. The
worst part of growing up isn't the

wrinkles or the restraining orders. It's
that you never know you're in the best

days of your life until they're over.

And then she suddenly snapped back into
reality by a mob of redheads booing her

face. And that is why it's impossible to
be a woman. Anyway, the World Cup's

still very fun. But the big news this
week concerns Iran.

A week ago, Trump announced a deal to
end his war, posting, the deal with the

Islamic Republic of Iran is now
complete.

Congratulations to all.

Ships of the world, start your engines.
Let the oil flow.

Like a real Cha -Cha Di Gregorio in
Greece.

And on Wednesday, Trump signed a
memorandum of understanding and it

became clear this was less a
comprehensive peace deal and more a plan

eventually have one with some pretty big
holes in it.

The agreement calls for the war to end
on all fronts, including Israel's

against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

But the Israelis, who have been the U
.S.'s partner in this war but were not

involved in this deal, have made clear
they aren't withdrawing from Lebanon. In

the document, Iran does not commit to
destroying its nuclear stockpile. The

only states that they've agreed to
negotiate the issue further over the

days. Yet this agreement doesn't even
address Iran's nuclear program,

the whole point of this war in the first
place.

And anyone can sign an agreement to just
figure things out later. That is not

difficult. It's the difference between
Jonas Salk discovering the polio vaccine

and him just writing, I owe you one
polio vaccine on a piece of paper.

Nevertheless, Trump took a full victory
lap, claiming his new deal with Iran was

far better than the one that Obama made
in 2015, in which Trump tore up in his

first term, using some strong language
to describe why.

He gave them $1 .7 billion in cash,
green cash from banks, into

a Boeing 757 and flew it into Iran.

And they stood at the plane, I have
pictures of it, like, oh my, look at

money's giving us. And you know what the
Iranians did? They laughed at Obama and

they said he's a stupid son of a bitch.

Okay, so lots to unpack there, but I
would like to focus on green cash from

banks.

Yet more evidence. This guy sees
everything in cartoons. They had

cash, green cash, from banks. Not the
gold pile of money that the duck jumps

into. The other kind.

And they flew it to Iran real fast
because the plane went across a little

And when the Iranians saw it, their eyes
turned into dollar signs and their

tongues turned into big wads of cash.
Again, green, like from the banks.

And they were all like, awooga, awooga.

But about that supposed $1 .7 billion
gift, as has been pointed out, For years

now, that wasn't us just handing over
money, it was us repaying a debt owed to

Iran, which had bought military
equipment from the US that it never

as usual, Trump seized on one actual
fact, the number 1 .7 billion, and

so much bullshit on top of it, it
eventually became something totally

like an oyster turning a grain of sand
into a pearl, or an improv group turning

an audience suggestion into a waste of
everybody's time.

But I guess it is good to know that
Trump's against Iran being given money.

just makes it a little strange to learn
that this memorandum includes at least

$300 billion for reconstruction and
economic development of Iran. And man,

Iran called Obama a stupid son of a
bitch for letting him get $1 .7 billion,

think we're about to find out what the
Persian word is for someone 300 times

dumber than that.

As for what the US is getting out of
this, it seems not a lot that we didn't

already have.

It's no wonder that even Republicans
have expressed outrage at the deal, with

Ted Cruz calling it an exceptionally bad
idea, and the chairman of the Senate

Armed Services Committee saying it was
completely out of step with the

president's goals. And they were not
alone.

Republican Senator Bill Cassidy posting
before the war the Strait was open, Iran

was being crushed by sanctions, and 13
service members were still alive.

Now 13 Americans are dead.

Families have paid billions at the pump.
Sanctions will be lifted and the

bombing has stopped.

Adding this is the worst foreign policy
blunder in decades.

And this morning, President Trump is
firing back at his critics, saying those

who think he hasn't been tough enough on
Iran are, quote, either jealous, bad

people, or stupid.

Look, I get Trump reflexively calling
critics bad and stupid, but jealous?

Who exactly is jealous of Trump right
now?

The man just got globally humiliated by
two different bodies of water.

Who's dying for a piece of that action?

Many observers argue that this agreement
puts Iran in a stronger position than

it was in before. Its leaders have
already said that they have plans to

introduce fees to access the Straits of
Hormuz, something they weren't doing

before this war.

And U .S. intelligence agencies have
assessed that Iran can effectively shut

down access to the Straits of Hormuz at
will from now on, with one source

saying, we've now handed Iran de facto
control over the Straits, a weapon more

powerful than any nuke. And of course it
is.

Being able to shut down a vital waterway
is extremely powerful. Remember when

this queen shut down the Suez Canal?

We all had a good laugh at that, didn't
we? But now, imagine she did that on

purpose as an act of war. Not so funny,
is it?

Iran essentially now has a button they
can push to make US gas prices go up.

Trump has signalled he'll do...

absolutely anything to keep them from
pressing it. So there is no reason to

think that we have leverage to get a
good deal moving forward. And it is not

great sign that he's already put J .D.
Vance in charge of finishing the deal.

And as a Fox News reporter pointed out,
there may be a reason for that.

Is there some element to this where you
send the vice president, if it works

out, great, you look like a genius for
sending him. And if it doesn't work

out... It's the vice president. I like
that idea, sure.

I'm going to take the credit. If it
doesn't work out, I'm blaming J .D. You

better be careful, J .D.

He's going to turn his plane around and
get the hell out of here. Yeah, I like

that idea.

Yeah, I bet you do.

You know, the best jokes always have an
element of truth to them. You hear that,

JD? Pretty good, right? Wouldn't that be
funny? Your career ending and me just

kind of moving on to the next thing? But
don't worry, I wouldn't do that, even

though it would be super easy and I
probably will.

My fans tried to murder the last guy who
had your job. Do you remember that, JD?

They did!

And look... Ultimately, it's going to be
months of negotiation before the key

details in this deal are hammered out.
But it seems pretty clear there isn't

going to be much upside to Trump's
disastrous war, either for us or indeed

Iran's people, whose hopes of change and
revolution seem to have been dashed.

Basically, it looks like Trump's going
to take whatever crumbs he can get at

this point, give Iran's leadership
whatever it wants, and leave the rest of

very much like the Scots left every bar
in Boston this past week, high and

fucking dry.

And now, this.

And now, man, what do you want for
Father's Day?

Father's Day is coming up on Sunday, so
have anyone planned and you know what to

do for, say, Greg or your dad?

No, and I asked Greg this morning,
again, Greg, if you're watching, like,

know. My wife was asking, what do you
want to do? I'm like, I don't know, what

do you want to do? I hate it when your
kids ask you, what do you want for

Father's Day?

Yeah.

Really?

You know what, though? What do you want?

As for what people are buying, the
number one, greeting cards.

Dads don't want greeting cards. Okay,
what do y 'all want?

One time I went out to do some man -on
-the -street interviews and asked dads,

what do you want for Father's Day? And
they were like, nothing.

What are you doing for Father's Day? Do
you know?

I didn't even realize it was Father's
Day until yesterday, so I have no idea.

Okay. Anything, like, for a gift?

Maybe, maybe she, maybe... No.

No, it's fine.

You don't care about the gift? I don't
need a gift. No, I don't need a gift. So

would a mug be fine for you, socks,
drawers?

Sure. What do you want to do?

I have something to do, and I can't
remember it now. You asked me too fast.

Okay. I don't know.

Oh, you know what it is? I know what
I've got to do on Father's Day. Now this

going to be gross.

But I've got to get a colonoscopy on
Monday, so I've got to prep.

Moving on.

Our main story tonight concerns pigs.

Fat dogs in tap shoes.

Specifically, we're going to be talking
about feral pigs, boars or hogs. They're

the things being chased in this recent
viral clip from Poland.

Well, here's something you don't see
every day. A humanoid robot chasing a

of wild boars.

The now viral video from Poland shows a
robot named Edward.

As it chased the boars out of a Warsaw
neighborhood, Edward can be heard

shouting, go away, and Polish as the
animals fled into the forest before then

waving goodbye.

Yeah, that is real.

Apparently, Poland has a humanoid robot
named Edward who took it upon himself to

chase off some feral pigs and then
politely wave them goodbye, which is

a pretty canny PR campaign for
anthropomorphic robots. All I'm saying

is a nice way to get us all used to him
before he's inevitably one day used as a

weapon of war. Oh, no!

Edward at the Hague?

But he was so chill to those pigs!

But feral... Hogs aren't just a problem
in Poland. There are lots of them here

in the US too. As you may remember from
this tweet that went viral a few years

ago. You might have noticed that the top
trending topic everywhere seemed to be

feral hogs.

A bizarre turn of events which began
with a tweet from a guy named Willie in

Arkansas who added his two cents to the
roiling debate over banning assault

weapons. Quote, legit question for rural
Americans. How do I kill the 30 to 50

feral hogs that run to my yard within
three to five minutes while my small

play?

Yeah, the internet absolutely obsessed
over that tweet. It got its own know

-your -meme page, and people responded
with an avalanche of jokes like, my

milkshake brings 30 to 50 feral hogs to
the yard, and my neck, my back, my 30 to

50 feral hog attack, which is very
funny. Twitter used to be good. But the

is, that guy wasn't exaggerating about
the potential threat of hogs, because it

turns out they're actually a massive
problem.

As big as 400 pounds.

Fast as a car, sharp -toothed and
aggressive.

Feral hogs, wild boars, razorbacks,
whatever you call them, they are one of

most destructive species in America.

That is true.

Feral hogs are one of the most
destructive species in the country,

genuinely shocking because look at that
thing. It looks adorable.

It'd be like learning the number one
producer of carbon emissions is Baymax.

Sure, he's a robotic healthcare provider
who looks like a marshmallow, but it

turns out his farts are responsible for
killing most of the bees.

And if that wasn't already bad enough,
feral hogs are also spreading at an

alarming rate, and not just in rural
America.

Just listen to this man who lives in the
suburb of Dallas.

Ted Faulkner has lived in South Mesquite
for 17 years.

And the entire time, he's dealt with
feral hogs. As of late, he says they've

been coming around more frequently.

There are six to eight to ten hogs, and
some are as large as cows.

Yeah, that's not a one -off either.
There's a bunch of Ring camera footage

feral hogs roaming various US suburbs.
So hogs can now officially join the

blend of Ring camera content, dancing
UPS drivers, raccoons being sneaky

guys, and screaming confrontations
between neighbours as the increasing

technological distance between us
converts what was once a shared

a paranoid surveillance dystopia. You
know, Ring camera stuff.

The point is, there are a lot more feral
hogs in the US than you may think.

The USDA estimates there are currently
over 6 million feral swine in the US,

that they're responsible for over $3
billion in damage to US agriculture each

year. And they are spreading fast.

In the past 30 years, hogs have expanded
their range from 20 states to 36.

And experts have referred to their
increase in numbers as a pig bomb that

have... Devastating effects on food
production and the environment, which is

surprising both on its face and because
I cannot believe that the term pig bomb

hadn't already been taken by something
on the Denny's menu.

And all of that isn't even taking into
account stories like this.

A warning this morning about the growing
dangers from feral hogs. These pigs

were blamed for the gruesome death of a
woman in Texas last week, and now

experts are saying that incidents like
these are likely to become more common

across the United States.

Milder winters caused by climate change
are helping the population explode.

Wild pigs are destructive, they are
extremely difficult to control, and they

statistically more dangerous than
sharks.

Yeah, that's actually true.

Wild pigs have killed slightly more
people than sharks worldwide in the past

years. Although, to be fair,
statistically, lots of animals are more

than sharks. Cows kill more people than
they do, for example. And yet, the

cowards at Discovery Channel still
refuse to do Cow Week. Why?

Because they're afraid of cows, as to be
honest.

They fucking should be.

Now, luckily, it is still not likely.

the feral hogs will kill you. But as
you're about to see, they can still do a

lot of damage in other ways, to the
point where many researchers consider

the most destructive invasive species on
the planet.

So given that, tonight, let's talk about
feral hogs, where they came from, the

damage they're doing, and how we can
fight back. And let's start with the

that feral hogs aren't native to the US.
In fact, no pig or any other member of

the swine family is native to the
Western Hemisphere.

But over the centuries, as people came
from all over the world, they brought

pigs with them. First, domesticated pigs
were brought over by Christopher

Columbus in what's remembered as his
only moral failing.

And later...

In the 19th century, they were joined by
wild boar, which were brought over to

provide a new game species for wealthy
hunters. Many of those pigs and boars

then escaped captivity, and in some
cases bred together, eventually becoming

hybrid feral swine that we have today.
And part of the reason they survived so

well in the wild is that aside from
humans, pigs...

have very few natural predators.

They're also incredibly resourceful.
They can eat a variety of foods. And

they mainly thrive in southern states,
even in cold climates, they can burrow

into the snow, creating so -called
pigloos to survive the winter. Which is,

this is true...

Cute. They also apparently maintain
complex social relationships, can choose

resolve conflicts without violence, and
seem to understand what they see in a

mirror, which obviously, we already
knew, she can resolve conflicts without

violence, she just chooses not to.

If there's one thing a pig is going to
do, it's escalate the situation.

As for the prevalence of these hogs, a
key thing you need to understand is they

cannot stop fucking.

One sow becomes reproductively active
when she's seven or eight months old.

can have a litter of six every time she
has a litter.

So in five years, one sow could have 1
,000 descendants.

Yeah, that is a lot of pig birth.

And look, I don't want to say I told you
so, but I do think it's time for us to

admit that abstinence -only pig sex
education just isn't working, because

pigs are going to fuck. Look at me.

The pigs are going to fuck.

And as their population has grown, feral
hogs have begun to drift from rural

environments into suburban and even
urban ones.

And it can be pretty alarming to
suddenly see them in your neighbourhood.

Residents in the southern section of the
Florida Shore subdivision around 35th

and Yuletree woke up this morning to
find their lawns looking more like

salad. And it's not the first time.
They're fed up with wild hogs having

way with the properties here.

Getting all over the place.

Going... Like they're playing.

Excellent. I want to see that man weigh
in on all local news stories.

of stabbing at the local strip mall.
They're taking out knives going, and

the blood, and the guys are like, ow,
ow, the light, you know, like he's

But as silly as doing a pig impression
on the news is, any time you have wild

animals crossing over into heavily
populated areas, it can be very

As one expert said, hitting a two or 300
pound pig on a highway is not that much

different than hitting a two or 300
pound rock.

And it's not just cars. Two F -16
fighter jets crashed after they hit pigs

runway. But the main damage these hogs
do is environmental, as they not only

farmers' crops, but can destroy
seedlings by rooting in the dirt.

There are fields that have been totally
destroyed by them, and while they are

rooting, hogs can break up irrigation
lines and infrastructure on farms and

leave holes in fields that can sink a
tractor and destroy expensive equipment.

And the thing is, they seem to do this
no matter the crop.

One expert even said, we haven't been
able to find a crop that feral swine

eat. That includes everything from corn
to soybeans to peanuts. Apparently hogs

love peanuts.

And don't just take that from me. Listen
to this former state agriculture

commissioner.

Hogs love peanuts.

See?

See? I told you that.

You didn't believe me, though, did you?
You thought, oh, bullshit, you're the

last person I trust to tell me whether
or not hogs love peanuts. But now that

Mississippi State Commissioner of
Agriculture and Commerce left a spell

oh, suddenly you're all, oh, everyone
knows hogs love peanuts, John.

That's not news.

And on top of all this, hogs will even
threaten livestock.

The big boars are our main problem. They
will kill the newborn lambs and kid

goats that are right there on the
bedding ground.

because that's when they're most
vulnerable is when they're young and

come along through there and they'll eat
those kids and lambs just like a three

-year -old would M &M's. Yeah, that's
pretty alarming, isn't it? Though quick

side note on his analogy there, you
don't have to be three years old to

absolutely hawk down a bowl of M &M's.
No one is savoring them at any age. No,

elders are out there digging in with a
knife and fork.

No, the FDA classifies M &M's as an
inhalant for a reason.

The proper way to eat them is to pour
them into your open mouth like a baby

and feel absolutely nothing afterwards.

And it's not just lambs. Hogs prey on
fawns and endangered salamanders and

clutches of ground -nesting birds and
threatened sea turtles.

In fact, one expert said that we've
taken feral swine and in necropsies

their entire stomach and intestines are
full of baby sea turtles, which is one

of the most disturbing things you could
possibly find inside of a dead hog other

than maybe a skeleton labelled the real
Tom Hanks.

So many questions there, including why
the name tag? Also, if he's in there,

was in A Man Called Otto?

You know, I guess it turns out I ended
up only having two questions, but they

are big ones and I do want answers.

And when you take hogs' impact on
agriculture and wildlife together, it is

wonder some of those who study them
describe hogs in apocalyptic terms.

Feral hogs are an ecological train
wreck.

Feral hogs are competitors for native
wildlife.

They're nest predators for anything that
lays an egg on the ground. And they're

a significant source of mortality for
sensitive species and endangered

Right, it turns out ever since pigs
showed up in America, they've set about

annihilating any living thing they came
into contact with. So I guess being

around Christopher Columbus must have
really rubbed off on them.

It's been estimated that feral swine
have played a role in the decline of

300 native plants and animals in the US
alone, over 250 of which are threatened

or endangered.

In fact, research shows that the habitat
where hogs are present is more than a

quarter less biologically diverse than
one where they are not. And if you are

still not convinced that hogs are bad
news, first, congratulations on being

biggest ride -or -die hog fan on the
planet.

And second, we haven't even gotten to
the potential for disease outbreaks yet.

Feral swine carry over 30 pathogens and
40 parasites, many of which can infect

wildlife. They can introduce diseases
like giardia, salmonella, and E. coli

the water supply. And the worry is that
an outbreak involving feral pigs would

be incredibly difficult to contain.

But even the diseases that don't
threaten humans directly can still carry

risks. For instance, pseudorabies isn't
a threat to people, but...

it is usually fatal to other animals.
Then there is African swine fever, which

thankfully hasn't shown up in America
yet, but given our growing feral hog

population, it could only be a matter of
time. One expert warned, if an animal

disease like African swine fever or hoof
and mouth gets into these animals, it

will be almost impossible to stop. It
will shut down our livestock industry.

And if you're thinking, well, sure, that
does sound frightening, but it's not

like infected pigs can just buy a plane
ticket and fly here.

Well, kinda.

Well, some pork problems at Hartsfield
-Jackson. Airport officials discover a

cooked pig in checked luggage.

Officials say canine Hardy, a member of
the airport's Beagle Brigade, alerted

them to the baggage of a traveler from
Ecuador.

And inside, specialists discovered this,
a nearly two -pound roasted pig head.

Look, there have been some happy moments
in my life. The birth of my children,

my wedding, yadda yadda yadda. But I
don't think...

I've ever experienced a joy as pure as
that beagle who just found two pounds of

roasted pig feet.

When you're an airport dog, you spend
all your time finding boring things like

guns or cocaine. But that is the face of
a dog who just scored himself a

surprise luau.

And look, we're all lucky that that pig
got intercepted, but I do hope they were

careful in disposing of it because
experts that we talked to pointed out

it had been infected, hadn't been fully
cooked and was just dumped into a

landfill, feral hogs often feed there
and could well have ended up spreading

disease anyway. The point here is,
clearly, an uncontrolled feral hog

is bad for a lot of reasons. And we've
actually been trying all sorts of ways

contain it.

but with varying degrees of success.

First, there is hunting.

Sport hunting can undeniably be a
powerful tool for controlling animal

populations. And some states have
loosened laws to encourage more pig

particular, eliminating seasons and bag
limits, and basically doing everything

they can to encourage hunters to kill as
many hogs as possible, with Texas

probably going the furthest.

It is now legal to kill a feral hog in
the state of Texas, even if you don't

have a hunting license. This law is the
least restrictive yet for Texas property

owners. No questions asked, no hunting
license needed.

Yeah, no license, no questions asked.

Although I guess if any state was going
to lead the way on this, it was always

going to be Texas.

The place where local news starts every
morning with a list of the things it's

now legal to kill. Good morning, Texas.
Today, it's mimes. Yeah, mimes are on

the list. So grab your gun and happy
hunting. I've already got my mime call

right here.

Yeah, it's silence.

It's just a little bit of mime hunting
fun for all of us there.

Seriously, though, it is open season on
mimes today. Go ahead and put them in a

little box.

And with encouragement like that, it is
no surprise that after Whitetail Deer...

Feral pigs are now the most popular big
game animal in North America, and that

can seem like a win -win.

After all, hogs need to be gotten rid
of, and hunters love going after them,

especially because they're a challenging
quarry because they are so smart.

For instance, hunters used to go after
them during the day, but pigs then

responded by becoming largely nocturnal.
And that intelligence has created a

cottage industry of techniques to try
and outsmart pigs, including my absolute

favourite, this device.

Okay, for you hunters that hog hunt,
this is it.

Nightingale's Hog Call. With this one,
all you got to do is go in and just see

that hog out there. You know the sound.

That's the Hog Call by Nightingale.

Yeah, is it though?

I mean, I guess it depends. Are hogs
attracted to the sound of a kazoo being

violently murdered?

Look, I'm no expert in hog calling, but
I do have it on pretty good authority

what they sound like.

Exactly. Maybe consult with that guy
next time.

But while some hog hunters rely on
calls, others have resorted to much more

extreme advantages.

The problem has gotten so bad here.

It's legal to hunt hogs from the sky.

It's loaded.

You don't even need a license to kill
firing out of so -called pork choppers.

We'll get him out that open. Let's get
him out that open. Okay. The helicopter

hog hunting is the number one most
effective way to hunt pigs.

Good shot, baby. Thank you.

It's true.

People now hunt hogs from helicopters,
which sounds like the sort of activity

you'd plan if you asked ChatGPT to
invent a new bachelor party activity

scratch.

And apparently they are genuinely called
pork choppers, which is clearly very

good. When you come up with a pun like
that, what are you going to do? Not

rifles at pigs from aircraft? Come on!

Pork chopping has now become an
extremely popular way to hunt hogs. Not

does the USDA do it, but states like
Texas have turned it into something of a

tourism industry.

A few years ago, Texas even legalized
hunting hogs by hot air balloon,

nobody seems to have been interested in
doing, given the head of the Balloon

Federation of America told reporters, I
have never had a phone call from anybody

asking to do this.

I think that people have not stopped
laughing yet.

And you know, A proposal is stupid when
it's laughed down by the head of the

Balloon Federation of America.

But there are real problems with just
relying on hunting to be the solution

here, for one. Hogs are reproducing
faster than they can be hunted. To

them, their population must drop 60 to
80 % each year. And in a busy year,

recreational hunters kill only about
24%. But hunting isn't just

It may actually be making this problem
worse.

Because hogs are such an appealing game
animal, some businesses started

transporting them to new states so that
they could be hunted there. And

unsurprisingly, many of those who
imported pigs to their area for hunting

since come to seriously regret that.

A lot of these hunters and hunting clubs
can remember 20 or 30 years ago when

pigs were actually brought in. Now, if
you ask those people today, they would

tell you they made a huge mistake.

Yeah, I bet.

And look, I might be inclined to be more
sympathetic to someone who brought

animals where they don't belong because
they thought it would be fun only to

lose control of them and watch them
destroy everything. If that wasn't

the plot of Jurassic Park, or in this
case, I guess, Jurassic Pork, obviously.

So clearly, hunting isn't going to be
the sole answer here. But unfortunately,

every other option also has its pros and
cons. For instance, there is trapping.

which allows you to capture entire
groups of hogs at the same time. That

good. The challenge there, though, is
that pigs, as I've mentioned, are very

smart, and they tend to learn fast.

I have traps that I no longer use
because the hogs have figured out how to

out of them.

See how they're piling up?

They're forming a pig pyramid. It's kind
of for protection. They try to get

underneath each other. They'll attack
that corner, and a lot of times what

do is they'll run out over the top of
each other and jump out.

Yeah. That's both impressive and also
pretty humbling. Pigs get caught in a

once and instantly figure out how to get
out of it. Meanwhile, this morning, I

pushed a door that said pull in the
building I've worked in for 13 years.

And they might not even need to build
something as elaborate as a pig pyramid,

given that sometimes they'll get out
with pure determination, as this man

discovered when he taunted a pig that he
found in his trap.

Hello.

Little pissed off. How you doing, buddy?

Let's see.

Look at that. Oh, fuck.

Motherfucker. Wow.

There are very few instances of someone
being as completely owned by a pig as

that. It's basically just that guy and
the sheepdog who came in second at the

end of the movie Babe.

I just lost a sheep herding contest to a
pig.

What do I even do now?

And the crucial thing about trapping
pigs is you need to catch the entire

or sounder all at once because if you
don't get the whole sounder, the trap in

that location is no longer really viable
because they'll basically communicate

that's not some place to go.

That is why some have pushed for a more
extreme alternative, poison.

Researchers have spent years testing
poison options, but unfortunately, the

ideal hog bait, one that can kill them
humanely without risking hurting people

or other animals, hasn't been discovered
yet, and not for lack of trying.

A few years back, Texas' Agriculture
Commissioner pushed for the use of a

called Warfarin under the brand name
Kaput. But many hunters, wildlife

organisations and pork producers pushed
back, citing the obvious issue with

introducing a toxic ingredient into a
whole ecosystem.

You know, because you've got a deer
comes up and eats it, he dies. A buzzard

comes up and eats the deer, he dies.

Then you've got coons that eat the
leftovers that are on the ground, they

mean, you never know. It's just a chain
reaction.

Yeah, that makes sense, doesn't it? It's
not like you can just put up a sign in

the woods that says delicious treats for
pigs only for a bunch of reasons. One,

deer can't read. And two, raccoons
famously don't recognize authority.

Fuck you, oppressor! Live free and eat
trash!

Researchers have tried to develop all
sorts of tactics to ensure that only

eat poisoned bait, including putting it
in a container with a 17 -pound lid.

Although, unfortunately, that still
doesn't keep out bears who would remain

risk of getting poisoned. They've even
tried this.

A new type of feeder is being tested at
LSU that would only distribute poisoned

bait through technology that recognizes
feral hogs through their voice.

According to Commissioner Strain,
this... Oink recognition technology

usher the return of kaput if it proves
to just target pigs. Look, it is not the

point, but credit whoever wrote the
phrase, this oink recognition technology

could usher in the return of kaput,
because that is just a beautiful

of words.

There should be a mini Pulitzer for
sentences, and it should be yours.

Unfortunately, though, there are real
questions regarding cruelty when it

to warfarin, as it can cause a slow,
days -long death due to internal

That is why, when Australia considered
using it, it eventually concluded that

the method of death was so cruel that
use of warfarin should be outlawed.

Meanwhile, still other researchers have
looked into contraceptive baits, which

would neutralise hogs' ability to
reproduce, which honestly sounds like

solution here. There's even a product
out there right now called Hogstop,

claims it is effective at lowering...
sperm count in boars the problem there

though is it is female hogs that drive
fertility given that one sow can have

multiple male pig fathers in a given
litter so ideally there'd be a

contraceptive targeting the sows as well
as the boars but there isn't yet the

bottom line here is that as it stands no
single method is going to be able to

control our feral hog population by
itself. Instead, it's going to take a

of tools, and the key thing is to use
them wisely, because almost all of them

could backfire.

So that's going to mean hunting without
incentivising the spread of pigs,

trapping in a way that doesn't teach
hogs to avoid traps, and devising a

bait that isn't unnecessarily cruel and
doesn't do even more damage to the

environment. And success is going to
look different depending on where you

In states with new or small hog
populations, eradication...

is possible. Iowa, New York and Idaho
have all managed to eliminate feral hog

populations because they addressed the
problem early on. But for the hardest

state, like Texas, the truth is
eradication is never likely to happen.

researchers determined Texas would need
to remove approximately 2 million wild

pigs per year just to keep 3 million of
them on the landscape.

Which is a hell of a lot of hog killing
to still have a hell of a lot of hogs.

Look, let's face it here. The hard truth
is that feral hogs are probably always

going to be with us in some capacity.
But that doesn't mean that we have to

surrender. In fact, we shouldn't
surrender.

Because I've learned one thing from the
movies.

Is that whenever America gets invaded,
it fights back immediately.

After that is an appropriate pause for
an inspirational speech.

And if that is what America needs right
now.

Then that's what it's going to get.

Look, I'm not saying that this is going
to be easy.

But believe me, if we work together, we
can look this fog invasion

straight in its beady little eyes and
start pushing back.

You know, we can turn back this pig talk
if we stand together.

We can defuse this pig bomb.

And we can push their population back
down to a manageable level. Because

now, they think they've beaten us.

Just because these hogs are able to
routinely eat our crops and destroy our

fighter jets and snack on our baby
turtles. So we need to respond with

ingenuity, with grit.

I can't believe I'm about to say this.

With a judicious application of assault
helicopters.

I've got a gun!

Good, good. Then you can bring it.

Actually, that needs more research, so
let's hold off on using it now and

back later when the science improves.

I got all these hog -sized condoms! I
absolutely love to hear it, but unless

you've got an IUD for pigs, it's just
not going to be enough. What I'm saying

here is, we need to work together.

In fact, you know what?

We have to work together.

And if we do, if we can catch this
menace by its curly little tail, then I

promise you, this...

will be our swine dependence day!

Yeah!

Yeah!

And for all the hogs out there watching,
I have just one thing to say to you.

They get it.

That's our show. Thank you so much for
watching. We'll see you next week. Good

night.

Exhale. Inhale.

And you get... I don't know what all
that

hand action is, but it looks good.