Feral Hogs Are Terrorizing Texas

According to Fox News, feral hogs are terrorizing the city of Irving, Texas. 

The news report said, "frustrating residents as their properties are destroyed by the invasive animals. As many as 10 hogs have been tearing up yards and rooting through trash left for garbage collectors, according to WFAA. Locals have become frustrated after they repair their yards dug up by the hogs, just for the animals to return to wreak havoc again."

After reading this, I contacted a friend who lives near there to try to find out what's happening and why haven't the locals shot those hogs. 

He told me that people are setting up game cameras in trees and on the sides of their homes to record their activity. He said a lot of folks are getting footage of hogs ripping up their yards, digging up property, and basically being destructive. He went on to tell me that the destruction by the feral hogs (wild pigs) is pretty extensive. They dig up landscaping, uproot freshly planted plants, rip up sod, and tear into just about everything. 

I told him that I read that there was garbage scattered all over the place. He confirmed that saying, "Just like how bears and other critters are lured to garbage cans, wild hogs will get into garbage cans and leave a trail of trash behind them. They make a pretty good mess of everything."

He hadn't seen the Fox News article saying that the City of Irving hired a "Wildlife Contractor" to address what's going on down there. I asked him about it and whether "Wildlife Contractor" was a euphemism for "Pig Hunter"? 

He laughed and said he hoped so. He agreed that the government, even a city government, would rather use a polite or less offensive word or term in place of what some folks see as an unpleasant or offensive word. And sadly, the way things are today with sensitivities being so high, to some folks the word "hunter" is offensive. Or at least it may be until a bunch of hogs rip up their landscaping and cost them a bunch of money to replace what's ripped up.

Irving, Texas, is not what anyone would consider a "Small Town USA" city. It is a city of over a quarter of a million residents — that's huge. According to the 2020 United States Census, the city's population of 256,684. That makes it the "12th Most Populous" city in Texas. The City of Irving includes part of the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. So yes, it's part of that whole Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex that encompasses 11 counties. Yes, 11 counties. That's huge! 

So no, unlike a small town that's challenged by monetary restraints, it shouldn't be a matter of financial resources to handle the problem of getting rid of 10 feral hogs terrorizing the city. I'm sort of surprised that the City's Animal Control, which usually responds to requests for help with wild animals isn't in charge of getting rid of the hogs. They should have the capability to trap and relocate, or terminate, those feral hogs. 

The wildlife contractor that the city hired should also have the ability to trap and transport nuisance wildlife. Of course, the contractor might just kill the 10 hogs -- especially since they are threatening public safety and destroying property as we know they are doing. And no, it's not as if the contractor doesn't know where to find them. According to the news, city officials said the hogs are coming from a wooded area near Grapevine Creek. 

Just so my readers understand, I get a lot of emails about feral hogs tearing up farms and ranches in the South and Southwest. This is a huge problem throughout the South and Southwest. Nationally, the livestock and crop damage alone exceeds more than a Billion Dollars a year. And yes, we wonder why food is so high -- eradicating such pests is just one more cost piled on to farmers and ranchers who are already having it tough these days. 

Farmers and ranchers who face this problem hunt and kill a lot of them. They also hire people to hunt wild hogs. I know of a few ranchers who used to welcome hunters, even those from out of state, to go on down there and help them eradicate the problem. A few years back, I wanted to go down there to help but sadly I couldn't make it. 

Since feral hogs cause an estimated $400 million in damage per year in Texas, it shouldn't surprise anyone that hunters can hunt on private land without a hunting license and with no bag limit. A hunter can shoot as many as they can kill on private land for a reason -- the problem is that out of control. Though the problem is just as invasive on public lands in Texas, a hunter would need a hunting license to hunt them on public land.  

Texas faces the biggest brunt of the feral hog problem. Like the huge Illegal Alien problem going on in Texas, wild hogs are an invasive species. Of course, wild hogs are an easier problem to deal with since you can shoot them if you live in rural parts of Texas. 

As for stopping the invasion of Illegal Aliens, we took our first step in doing that when we voted in President Trump. Imagine, we now have a President who will do his sworn duty and protect our border. 

Now after reading that, you're saying, "Why mention the Illegal Alien problem in Texas? What does that have to do with wild hogs." 

Well, here's why I mention it. There is only so much money in state funds that can go to everything that folks want to see done in any state. Texas is no exception to that rule. State funds are limited. State funds in Texas have been severely depleted fighting the good fight against rapists, murderers, Cartel groups, criminal gangs, child sex traffickers, and a bunch of other bad hombre who have entered the United States through the Texas border. Sadly for the people in Texas, the Federal Government said they were not going to help in that fight -- and the people of Texas had to pay for it. Well, thankfully that's changed.

Now that President Trump is in office, Biden and the Democrats in Washington, D.C. can no longer give the middle finger to Texas whenever it asks for federal help. Texas may now have more funds to use for its people -- including toward doing something to eradicate the feral hogs there. 

Do you see the connection? If the Biden-Harris Administration and the Federal Government had been actually helping Texas in their fight against Illegal Aliens, the state of Texas may have had more funds to put toward more things that the state of Texas has needed. Yes, things like education, transportation, disaster relief, and more -- including helping the folks who grow and raise our food in their fight against feral hogs.

What can be done to prevent the spread of wild hogs? This problem has been going on for a while, and it seems the hog population is getting larger. Feral hogs are an invasive species found in 35 states. There is an estimated population of over Six Million in the United States. And here's a big part of the problem: It's believed that at least half of all those Six Million feral hogs are in Texas. 

Hogs are not native to North America. Europeans first introduced them in the 1500s as a food source. And yes, folks who didn't understand the perils of introducing invasive species also introduced Eurasian wild boars into the area for recreational hunting in the early 1900s. 

According to sources, today’s feral hog populations are now comprised of escaped domestic pigs, Eurasian wild boars, and hybrids of the two breeds. Their population continues to rapidly grow because of their high reproduction rate, their ability to eat anything to survive, and the fact that feral hogs don't have very many natural predators. 

So, what makes them invasive? According to research from Texas A&M University and the National Wildlife Research Center:

"Feral hogs cause damage to the tune of $500 Million a year in Texas, and the monetary losses due to crop damage are estimated to be $1.5 Billion a year in the United States. Those are huge numbers, and so is their ecological impact.

Feral hogs damage agricultural lands and the environment by impacting water quality and destroying crops and native habitats. They disturb the ground and vegetation along wetlands and bayous when they forage or wallow, increasing particles, sediment, and dirt in the water, which changes its acidity and oxygen levels, resulting in unfavorable living conditions for native plant and animal species within the stream. This dirt and sediment can also block sunlight from reaching aquatic life and plants that rely on it to survive.

Feral hogs do not have sweat glands, so they usually search for wetlands and bayous to keep cool during hot and humid Texan summers. Since they spend their time in and around bodies of water, their waste also ends up in bayous, either directly through the deposition of fecal matter or indirectly through stormwater runoff, which increases concentrations of bacteria in surface waters. In fact, a recent study in Alabama showed that streams in watersheds with feral hogs had 40 times the bacteria levels than those in watersheds without them. This has the potential to be detrimental to our water quality in Texas, causing human health concerns.

Perhaps the most concerning potential damage is that feral hogs can spread diseases to humans. 

Wild hogs have been known to carry brucellosis, a bacterial disease that spreads among pigs through close contact. Infected pigs carry these bacteria for life. Humans can become sick if blood, body fluid, or tissues from an infected animal when it comes in contact with the human’s eyes, nose, mouth, or cuts to their skin. This disease can cause severe, long-lasting health problems, and even death if it is not diagnosed and treated quickly."
What's the solution? Can this problem be managed? 

If it were me, and I lived in an area where I could use lethal force, then I'd kill as many as I could. I'd wage war against them.  

The experts say, "Hunt, trap, and exclude individual hogs from areas using non-lethal tools such as fencing." 

For farmers and ranchers, I say shoot as many feral hogs as one can. Trapping and shooting feral hogs is the most effective strategy that can be used against such an invasive species. Large corral pen-type traps are the most effective way of trapping larger numbers of feral hogs at one time. Those large traps can capture an entire sounder of wild hogs all at once. Once trapped, shoot them. 

It is recommended that folks try to "catch" one or two feral hogs by using smaller box traps. If that works, don't try to relocate the problem to somewhere else where it's still going to be a problem. Besides, relocating them is illegal in Texas. Just shoot them. And by the way, beware of using snares or iron traps that can harm expensive horses and livestock. 

I'm told that aerial shooting from helicopters is extremely effective if done by someone experienced on property where the hogs are out in the open away from dense groundcover where they can hide. I'm sure a few Marine buddies would love to relive their youth in Vietnam by doing that, but for me, I would go with a ground game. And frankly, if I were a rancher with such a problem, I would do what my rancher friends were doing and bring in hunters who wanted to take out as many of the pests as possible. I would furnish hunters with food and a place to stay and turn them loose where the problem exists. I would let the ranchers handle and dispose of hog carcasses. 

As for the use of poisons, I don't know if I like the idea. First, you have to have specially constructed bait feeders in place to get the hogs conditioned to go to the bait for at least a week before the poison is added to the bait. Once the poison is added, the hogs need to consume a lethal dose. Once they wander off and die, they may die on someone else's property or in a place where you can't find them. 

As for the folks in towns and cities?

For folks in cities and towns with the same problems faced by homeowners in Irving? I gather that a few wanted to shoot the hogs, but then they realized that that's not a good idea since that would be illegal to shoot within city limits -- and not very smart in a neighborhood setting. Frankly, that's what Animal Control and that "Wildlife Contractor" are for. But, since they reproduce at a rate of single sow giving birth to up to two litters of six to eight piglets each year, I suggest someone do something pretty quick. 

While I don't live in a city, or a town as far as that goes, I'm not sure what can be done to stop wild hogs from destroying property. I certainly wouldn't recommend shooting them or at them in town. That will only get you in trouble with the law. 

Well, these days it's bad enough to have to worry about two-legged predators and vandalism from the wrong element. That goes in town or in rural areas. Of course, besides all of the property damage, it is a fact that wild hogs have been known to attack pets and people. So yes, something has to be done.  

Just as a matter of information about trying to keep critters out of where they aren't supposed to be, let me tell you about one of my wife's gardens. Right after I remarried back in 2005, my new wife started a garden in the front yard of our home. She decided to turn it into an oasis and I was all for it because that's what she enjoyed doing. That harder is what I describe as her "flower garden." The following year, she started a vegetable garden. We put up an 8-foot fence around her vegetable garden.

As for the flower garden? The deer in the area must have thought she was putting out a feast for them because they came in and ate just about everything she planted every night. This went on for a while until we started looking for different types of "non-lethal" ways of keeping her garden deer-proof. Frankly, we had success with motion-activated sprinklers that we found online. 

So here you go, before you turn to fence those hogs out, and since you can't shoot them in town, you have to keep your garbage and debris in a place where they can't get to them. As for deterrents, I suggest installing security lighting, motion-activated noise makers, and motion-activated sprinklers. That worked for deer for a while -- but ultimately, I ended up putting in a 4-foot fence and using a hot wire setup.  

Just as a word of caution, I have a friend who put up a hot wire setup in his front yard -- and he lives in town in a regular neighborhood. He did it to stop critters from digging up his yard. He said it worked. But, he said that if you plan on using a hot wire and it's exposed to the public, you need to have it clearly marked with electric fence caution signs. 

I don't know if a hot wire would keep wild hogs from destroying your yard. But, I really believe a hot wire plugged into a 120-volt socket will definitely get their attention. That might be a solution worth trying.

Tom Correa