We have been told for so long that wild pigs are dangerous and destructive that they are now used as a metaphor for describing other problem animals.
In an October 2025 article on the news site SFGATE.com about the growth of the mute swan population in California, we were dismayed to read a quote from a California Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesperson: “Mute swans are kind of like ‘aquatic feral pigs.’”
This is a poor way to describe mute swans, and it is revealing about how wild pigs are viewed in the United States.