Dunno about reversion in "months", but I read long ago that three or four generations brings out the wildness for hair and tusks.
^^^^^^^^^
Exactly right. No such thing as "reversion" in months, or even in a domestic pigs lifetime. It takes several generations to revert back to the physical characteristics that most benefit a hog living in the wild.
But, hogs ARE 'plastic' in their ability to RE-develop their physical make up, as required to survive in their environment.
Where I live (and in most of the South), just 30 yrs. ago...the bulk of 'Wild Hogs' were Piney Woods Rooters. The term (present day) has been bastardized to include ALL 'Feral Hogs" and I can tell you...present day 'ferals' look nothing like PWR's, nor act like them.
Unfortunately, true PWR's probably no longer exist (except in very remote areas of the South).
In our area (Deep East Texas), Piney Woods Rooters...were occasionally encountered...but were never in great numbers. There was NO mistaking one, both boars and sows had a head that looked like a Chrysler 727 transmission and a large, lean athletic body.
Their disposition...is what ultimately lead to their demise. A true PWR was unlikely to 'run' or even 'give way'. They would not necessarily attack you (unprovoked) but they weren't going to yield the way either.
The feral hogs that replaced them...learned very quickly to RUN at the sign of a significant threat...and as such have survived quite nicely.
Today's 'Feral Hog' is a far cry from any predecessor in terms of survival and the application of learned behavior.
For those of you who pursue these pests PLEASE do your best to kill them the very first try! Else.... they will learn from the encounter and only become that much harder to dispatch.