Just in time for Halloween, the Missouri Department of Conservation has come up with the perfect blog post to combine real information and zombies. The agency offered up a page about dealing with the “state’s newest invasive species threat – ZOMBIES!” comparing the zombie invasion to the feral hog problem that has occurred in some parts of Missouri. Feral hogs are destructive, dangerous and can spread disease, and according to the MDC’s site about feral hogs, Missouri residents are encouraged to “shoot feral hogs on site.”
Like zombies, controlling feral hogs is difficult and they multiply quickly. And like most zombie outbreaks, the feral hog problem in Missouri got out of control because of human intervention. According to the MDC, the problem (with feral hogs, not zombies), started during the 1990s after hunting for European wild boars became popular and several well-intentioned groups began advocating for using the wild boars for agriculture and hunting. Unfortunately, many hogs escaped or were released onto public lands and the population grew at an alarming rate, leading to the animals causing destruction.
Feral hogs can carry and spread disease to humans, pets and livestock – much like zombies.
According to the MDC site, hunting for zombies does come with a few precautions and plenty of safety tips. The MDC combined hunting safety tips and outdoor safety tips with zombie preparation. One piece of excellent advice (along with always letting someone know where you are hunting, hiking, fishing or camping) is geared toward zombie hunters (deer hunters too, of course) who are planning to use tree stands.
The Missouri Department of Conservation encourages hunters in tree stands to use extreme safety precautions because “Falling from a tree stand can injure you or make you dead. Falling from a tree stand into the gaping maw of a zombie can make you undead.”
As a special word of advice to those who spend some time out in the field fishing, the MDC urges anglers who find a zombie attached to the end of their fishing line to “cut the line!”
As a tool for imparting important safety messages to those who love the great outdoors, zombies grab attention and the MDC certainly makes the point in a fun and funky way. Hopefully, those who visit the site will come away knowing about more than just zombies, but if they don’t, at least people in Missouri will know how to deal with the undead in their home state.