Rangers with shotguns...

I've met plenty of hikers on the AT in the Smokies, but occasionally I have passed park rangers with shotguns. Fortunately, they were not hunting hikers but wild boar.

Near the turn of the century, mountain resorts were the place to visit and several of them in the south imported wild boar for sport hunting. But as automobiles and roads improved, these mountain resorts fell out of favor and many of them 'mysteriously' burned down. The boar were left to breed over many decades and now present a big threat to the safety of hikers and campers and to the parks themselves.

Wild boar dig through sensitive vegetation, tear up trails and may aggressively attack humans. For that reason, they are hunted by the local rangers. Male boar can get up to 200 pounds and they often travel in groups.

Pork...yum...