Pigs rarely eat humans and are unlikely to eat farmers that fall in the pig pen or den.
However, pigs can eat a human if they are extremely hungry and if the person is weak or unconscious. If a farmer starves the pigs in their pig den, it is advisable to avoid the animals until they are fed.
Falling in a pen of hungry pigs presents the risk of bites for most cases. If starved pigs taste the flesh of a bruised human, they may proceed to bite the person.
In a case where the person is extremely weak, some pigs may proceed to take even bigger bites. The chances of a person getting completely consumed by pigs rise if they fall unconscious in the pen of extremely hungry hogs.
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What Breeds of Pigs Are Most Likely to Bite a Farmer?
The cases of pigs eating farmers that fall in the pig den are extremely rare to find, but we shall look at the common patterns. The first issue is the breed of pigs.
The cases of farmers domesticating wild boars are rare, but such species are wild and may bite or eat a human. If your pig breed is very close to a wild boar, you need to monitor its behavior and restrict it to a pen or den.
Such breeds are customed to violence and often attack other animals or humans. You can find out the levels of a pig breed’s aggression by contacting a veterinary officer or a pig breeder. Monitoring the pig’s eating behavior and whether it often tries to bite you will reveal the dangers of falling in the pen.
Apart from wild boars, any large pig may eat human flesh if the animal is hungry and exposed to human flesh. However, pigs that are well-fed on plant-based feed and which are not primarily accustomed to eating raw meat present a very low risk to humans.
In fact, many farmers rear thousands of pigs with rare cases of attacks. Since pigs always have their minds on licking, sniffing, and rolling around, most of them are unlikely to deliberately attack humans for the purpose of eating the person.
To reduce the risk of pig attacks and bites, understand the condition of the animals, what they eat, and whether they are hungry.
How To Handle Aggressive Pigs to Prevent Them From Trying To Eat a Human
Many pig farmers understand the handling of aggressive pigs. Feeding the pigs on a regular cycle, handling them calmly, and staying dominant over them may reduce the risk of them attacking you.
When pigs are in their mating stage, the farmer should avoid mishandling, separating, and shoving the pigs around. The farmer should also avoid moving their food away in ways that may make the animals develop aggressive behavior towards the farmer.
The safe and usual way to rear pigs is to keep them restricted to a pen. Keeping them in the den and monitoring their aggression when you enter the den may reduce the chances of bites in the scenario of accidentally falling in the den.
Lactating pigs can be aggressive and may attack or bite a farmer that falls in the pen. If the farmer falls over a pig, the pigs that are in the vicinity may run away, but if the farmer gets unconscious, they may come back and attack.
Lactating pigs are extremely protective of their young ones, and they may attack a farmer that keeps touching or moving the piglets. The farmer should monitor common patterns in aggressive behavior for lactating pigs and use a non-aggressive routine in handling them.
One of the mistakes that farmers make is failing to stick to a routine. Since pigs are animals that need some training on what to always expect, using random and aggressive handling methods may worsen their behavior, increasing the risks of bites for a farmer that falls or gets into the pen.
What To Do If You Ever Fall Into the Pig Pen?
If you ever fall in a pig pen, the first safety precaution is trying to get out. As you try to figure your fastest way out, you should look around for feed that you may toss away from you, drawing the pigs towards their usual food.
The other way to avoid attacks is to find any rigid reachable object that you may use to shove or hit any attacking pigs. If you have to hit an attacking pig, target the shoulder area and hit as hard as possible. If the pigs keep attacking, you should continue trying to get out of the den while calling for help.
Pigs cannot climb over tall fences, and you will be safer if you are able to hang up over the fence or walls of the pig den. Keeping your shoes and clothes on is also good to reduce the chances and severity of bites.
Some pigs will calm down if you pet them gently on the forehead, and this may the only option for some people that are injured when they fall in a pig den.
Petting the pig for a minute will show whether it responds to such behavior. However, pigs that are not used to petting may not respond positively to such a move.
You should withdraw and try redirecting their focus elsewhere when they are unresponsive to petting. You should not pet pigs that often tried to bite your hand. Instead, you should try and arm yourself with something that can repel them.
Is it a Good Idea To Pet an Aggressive Pig?
Some farmers make their pigs get used to petting by routinely rubbing their backs, but this is not recommended until you understand their level of aggression.
We can now see why a farmer should not fall into a den of hungry and aggressive pigs. It is safe to conclude that staying out of pig pens and understanding your pigs’ behavior is important to avoid bites in the case of falling in the pig pen.
Pigs do not routinely target humans to eat them, and this is one source of hope that a farmer may not be eaten when they fall in some pig pens. Keeping the pigs fed and comfortable while avoiding disrupting their mating, lactation, or sleep will help avoid aggressive behavior.
When you farm pigs for a long time, you also get to understand how to control them and the animals may become used to you.
