WILDLIFE IN GRAHAM COUNTY
RUSSIAN BLUE BOAR / BLACK BEAR / TURKEY

2002 Hunting Season (no hunting on Sundays)

• Turkey April 13 - May 11
• Bear/Boar Oct 15 - Nov 17, Dec 10 - Jan 1
• Gray/Red Squirrel Oct 15 - Jan 31
• Deer - bow/arrow Sept 10- Oct 6, Oct 15 - Nov 17, muzzle Oct 8 - 13, gun Nov 19 - Dec 8
• CLICK HERE for the NC Wildlife Commission web site for more information

THE RUSSIAN BLUE BOAR
In 1908 the Whiting Manufacturing Company of England purchased a large tract of land in the Snowbird Mountains of Graham County, North Carolina. Mr. George Gordon Moore, an advisor for the company, was allowed to establish a game reserve on Whiting lands. About 1911 a 500-acre hog lot enclosed by split rail fencing was constructed on Hooper Bald, a 5,400-foot mountain near the Tennessee line.

In April 1912 a shipment of European wild hogs arrived in Murphy by rail. The eleven sows and three boars, purchased from an agent in Berlin, Germany, were said to have come from the Ural Mountains of Russia. Each of the hogs weighed between 60 and 75 pounds. One of the sows died during the rugged transport from Murphy to Hooper Bald by ox-drawn wagon.

From the beginning the hogs were able to escape the pen. A number were known to have rooted-out passages under the fence so they could come and go at will. The relocated animals found the extreme conditions favorable and immediately began to proliferate. In the early 1920s the population in the lot was estimated at 100 hogs, but many others were living free. A hunt with dogs was conducted in the pen and only two hogs were killed - the rest escaped in the frenzy, joining those already living in the dense wilderness.

Today the Russian Blue Boar population continues to grow in spite of hunting and the encroachment of civilization. A typical two-year-old male hog can weigh 180 pounds, but much larger boars have been taken. Now you can visit Hooper Bald in the luxury of your vehicle after a twenty-minute drive on the Cherohala Skyway. It is hard to imagine that an ox-drawn wagon could have ever made it to the top. An encounter with a wild hog is unlikely for the typical visitor. These animals tend to stay in the deepest forests.

The Blue Boar Lodge was named for these wild hogs of the Urals. Today the Blue Boar Inn shares the wilderness with these imported beasts. Hunting trips have been replaced by other forms of outdoor adventure.

THE BLACK BEAR

In the fall, black bears, deer, and turkey are heavily dependent on the acorns of the white oak tree. These acorns are the primary component of the "mast" crop, or nuts and berries available for wildlife consumption. The white oak is primarily found in the lower elevations. In the autumn, many bears that spend most of the year in the higher mountains, will migrate to the lower elevations to feed on white oak acorns. This is necessary to enable them to build the fat stores required for winter survival and the production of cubs. After an autumn feeding, most bears will return to the higher mountains to den for the winter.

Lower elevations are especially critical to the bears during mast failures, when the oaks in he higher elevations produce few acorns. Without acorns, bear health is poor and few cubs are produced. During mast failures, many bears must leave the mountains and forage in the foothills. Development of the foothills is having and will continue to have a serious impact on the regional bear population.