that's different, but what's the significance? please forgive my ignorance. i'm very new and still learning very much

Reported by Kevin Ryer

Here in East Tx we run across the rare breed only occasionally. They seem rather prolific around Athens, Palestine, Van and Lindale areas. All the MuleFoots I have ran across were prodominately black and tan in color.
When trapped they were unusually aggressive strong animals. More so than the normal feral hogs. Early research indicated that the hogs were first introduced to the US by Easterners in the Early Railroad Days. But I have found no written or historical evidence to back up that claim.



[blockquote]The following information was obtained from an Oklahoma State University web page. I reference that web page to make and publish a study and facts page of my own.

According to OSU and it's research, "The most distinctive feature of the American Mulefoot hog is the solid hoof which resembles that of a mule. Pigs with solid hooves (also called syndactylism) have attracted the interest of many writers over the centuries, including Aristotle and Darwin. Yet of all the mulefooted hogs described, the American Mulefoot is the only documented population with a breed standard and a long history of agricultural use. This breed is unique to the United States and is critically rare. Recent events, however, have led to more optimism regarding its survival. The origin of the American Mulefoot breed is not clear, but it has a well-documented history over the last century. F.D. Coburn, in his classic 1916 book Swine in America, notes that the Mulefoot hog was found in Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Indiana, across the southwest and in some parts of Mexico. (In southern Missouri and northern Arkansas, Mulefoots were sometimes called "Ozark pigs.") The National Mulefoot Hog Record Association was organized in Indianapolis, Indiana, in January 1908. Two additional registries were also founded. In 1910 there were 235 breeders registered in twenty-two states." [/blockquote]