Feral Hog Invasion

Picture yourself on a crisp autumn evening walking through your dream property in Anytown, USA. The air is fresh, quiet, and you are thrilled to have planted your first winter crop. This land is bountiful, and beautiful, and you feel lucky to have the privilege of helping it to thrive. You turn a corner around a brush, when all of a sudden, you stop. There in front of you, your new, beautiful crop of expensive legumes, is being destroyed by a formidable animal that is, and has been, sweeping the continental U.S.: a herd of feral hogs.

The scenario illustrated prior is, unfortunately, a reality for thousands of individuals across the United States. Wild hogs are overtaking our crops, our properties, and without many natural predators, their population is increasing exponentially by the day. Why are they so dangerous? What is their ideal meal? Most importantly, how can we turn this hog fiasco into a realistic solution that will not only allow farmers and ranchers to breathe a sigh of relief, but also organizations that are fighting to feed the hungry?

To help us understand the feral hog better, it is important to know the history of how we wound up in this predicament. Over 300 years ago, Spaniard settlers introduced the original hogs to Texas as a livestock animal, providing cured meat, lard, and other various animal products for the settlers. Then, during the fight for Texas’s independence from Mexico, many domesticated hogs escaped for survival or were released. Finally, in the 1930’s European wild hogs, also known as “Russian boars”, were first imported into Texas by sportsmen for hunting. Inevitably, the escape of these crafty animals was the final ingredient for free range wild hogs that evolved through breeding, natural selection, into the formidable apex predator and nuisance that we know today. (Taylor, 2006)

As a nuisance in the state, Texas Parks and Wildlife Biologist, Rick Taylor, states that hogs “directly compete with livestock as well as game and nongame wildlife species for food…the main damage to livestock and wildlife is indirect destruction of habitat and agricultural commodities.” Hogs will destroy acres of land by “rooting” for their food, of which agricultural crops are a prime commodity. They are opportunistic omnivores that will forage and hunt primarily at night, and will drastically vary their diets to accommodate the availability of their surroundings and intake it to the maximum extent possible (eXtension, 2012). This ability to make the best of their surroundings and adapt to virtually any ecosystem they infiltrate enables hogs to thrive with little to no hindrance to their progress.

Additionally, therein lies the issue with opportunistic predators coexisting with human populations: the inevitable clash of the species. Dr. Jack Mayer, an expert on feral hogs, conducted a study documenting wild hog attacks on humans: of the 412 documented attacks, four of the United States’ attacks ended with human fatalities (Moore, 2018).

Feral hogs are exceedingly prolific, with Texas populations estimating their range from one to four million feral hogs (Selby, 2018). The wide range of numbers stated by experts in their fields of agricultural process as well as wildlife and biology suggest that there is a dire need for control of these numbers, by the state or otherwise. The idea of complete eradication is feeble, if not laughable. Methods such as allowing year-round hunting season for the animals, as well as the sale of their meat for exotic restaurant menu options suggest that Texans are vying for population control. Hogs are the only wildlife species allowable for hunting via helicopter, as well as traps, snares, and heavy-duty spring load cages. Currently, there are no registered birth control toxicants or repellants registered for the control of feral hogs in the state (Taylor).

Harris County Commissioner Steve Radack of Harris County recently spearheaded a unique campaign to make use of the meat harvested from feral hogs trapped at George Bush Park and Congressman Bill Archer Park (Fields, 2014). The plan has made use of four-acre metal pens to trap the hogs at both of the parks, from which they are hauled to a contracted processing plant that sends the meat to the Houston Food Bank. The representative for the food bank called it a “huge win for everybody in all the communities that we serve.”

Harvesting feral hog meat to feed to homeless is a possibility that in the bleak outlook of the financial and environmental impacts that feral hogs dole out, there may be some silver linings of a plentiful, high-quality source of protein that is readily available and relatively low-cost. Hopefully, this type of thinking is something more legislators will consider for the future.

Works Cited

Fields, Liz. “Texas County to Feed Feral Hogs to the Homeless.” ABC News, 24 April 2014, abcnews.go.com/US/texas-county-feed-feral-hogs-homeless/story?id=23457485.

“Food Habits of Feral Hogs.” EXtension, 9 Oct. 2012, articles.extension.org/pages/63655/food-habits-of-feral-hogs.

Moore, Chester. “TX Tops in Hog Attacks on Humans-Plus Hog Invades Home!” Texas Fish & Game Magazine, 30 Jan 2018, fishgame.com/2018/01/tx-tops-hog-attacks-humans-plus-hog-invades-home/.

Selby, W. G. “Texas Ranks No. 1 in Feral Hogs. It’s Not Home to 75 Percent of Nation’s Wild Pigs.” Www.politifact.com, Austin American-Statesman, Houston Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News, 1 Feb. 2018, 4:27, www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2018/feb/01/southwest-farm-press/more-feral-hogs-texas-than-any-other-state-but-not/.

Taylor, R. (2006, January 30). The Feral Hog in Texas. Retrieved November 16, 2017, from https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_bk_w7000_0195.pdf