BOARING NEWS: A couple follow-up comments today on the stories
we brought you about the wild pigs spotted — and subsequently
killed — in the vicinity of Allegany State Park.

Donald Nelson of Chapel Ridge tells us, “Regarding the feature
in Era of the young man that shot a boar with a bow and arrow … Now
I do not set myself up as an expert on livestock but I would say
that boar was a feral domestic pig that escaped and turned wild. I
read somewhere that pigs allowed to go free adapted to wild in
several weeks.”

“It is estimated that in Texas there are about a million
domestic pigs running loose in the wild. This boar in the picture
does not have the elongated snout of a wild boar, lacking the tusks
also.”

Don tells us he is “about 88 years old” and “a terrible writer.”
We can’t vouch for his approximate age but we can agree about his
handwriting. If he didn’t have a return-address sticker on the
envelope, lord know how we might have identified him.

We also heard from Marlene Eaton who shared with us her
disappointment about our photograph of the hunter and the dead
pig.

She writes, “I figured you would remember the controversy last
year with the deer picture. However, I have a feeling that the
editors are big hunters.”

She directed us to that day’s edition of the Olean, N.Y., Times
Herald which had published a picture of kids learning about an
animal on the front page, a “nice story” about the SPCA, and an
article about a calf fitted with prosthetic legs.

Just to set the record straight: This particular editor would
not hurt a fly let alone a deer, pig, bear etc. but we do recognize
that not everyone shares our views. Many of our readers are hunters
and that’s OK with us. (We like venison, especially sausage if any
hunters out there are reading this.)

GAS PAIN: Jack Homa writes us, “Price of gas  in Kane, $2.56.
Wow. Checked all five stations; all the same price. $2.71 in
Bradford. Go figure.”

About the same time, we heard from Dr. Freda who was on a trip
to South Bend, Ind., where he found gas prices at $2.47 in that
city but toll road prices ranged from $2.66 to $2.99.