Hogs going wild in Texas

Star-Telegram Staff Writer ^ | Sun, Apr. 11, 2004 | By Bill Hanna

[holyscroller]

You can't turn a sow's ear into a silk purse.

But in Van Zandt County, a pair of them will fetch you seven bucks.

The rural county about 60 miles east of Dallas has been so overrun by wild hogs that it has instituted a bounty. For every pair of pig ears, the county will pay trappers $7.

It's the latest example of the steps being taken to control feral hogs that are beginning to overrun the state.

In its first-ever feral hog survey, the Texas Cooperative Extension Service, a division of Texas A&M University, queried 491 East Texas landowners in an attempt to quantify the havoc the animals are causing.

Ninety percent of the landowners reported seeing hogs on their property during the last five years. The average amount of damage on their property was $4,184.

The survey also showed a division between farmers, who detest the wild hogs, and hunters.

"I thought some of the people would say they liked them for extra income or liked hunting them themselves, but not one person had anything good to say about them -- not a one," said Billy Higginbotham, a Texas extension wildlife and fisheries specialist who supervised the survey.

Even with the growing anti-hog sentiments, the agency still finds itself caught between hog haters and hog lovers.

The agency holds Feral Hog Appreciation Days that try to balance the interests of landowners with the desires of hunters. Five are scheduled in West Texas counties in April and May alone.

But Van Zandt County rancher John Durgin has nothing good to say about the critters -- or hog hunters.

"Around here, we would probably hunt the hunters if we saw them," said Durgin who has caught about 300 hogs on his property in recent years. "We don't think much of hunters. When they're around, it's harder to trap. And trapping is far more efficient than hunting."

One landowner in the survey said, "I fear allowing my grandchildren to go beyond the yard as they might be attacked by wild hogs."

Wild hogs are the same species as domestic swine, but when they are released into the wild, they revert to their feral state within a few generations. Conservative estimates place their numbers between 1.5 million and 2 million statewide, the largest feral hog population in the country.

Wild hogs reproduce rapidly and have no known predators. They pose a threat to livestock, humans and even vehicles who can plow into them at night as they cross rural highways.

In the last year, Van Zandt County officials have forked over $10,731 for 1,533 pairs of hog ears, said County Auditor John Shinn.

This fiscal year alone, Van Zandt County has paid out $6,641, well over the $2,500 budgeted by county commissioners.

Brian Cummins, the Van Zandt County extension agent who oversees the bounty, said the program will probably be suspended because its budget for the year has been spent.

"We need a statewide program -- a bounty or some other way to control feral hogs -- because it can't be done at the county level," Cummins said. "Right now, they're out of control."

Bill Hanna, (817) 390-7698 billhanna@star-telegram.com

[holyscroller]

Jackie Juntti of Washington Grassroots Electronic Network had a brilliant solution to this problem.

She said: "There is a solution to this - one that any enterprising person could make lots of money on. Roundup the wild hogs - sell them to the government (bypass Halliburton to keep the profits) to ship to Iraq. We all know how feared the Muslims are of pigs. Set them loose in the streets of those places where the guerilla fighting is at its worst."

[bayourod]

"For every pair of pig ears, the county will pay trappers $7."

You can buy them at "Solutions" for $2.00 apiece.

[Bon mots]

This might be a dumb question if I were from Texas, but here in Europe, we have plenty of wild boars, and they all have pretty big tusks that they will use to rip your intestines out if they get close to you.
We instruct our kids to shimmy up a tree if they see one in the wild. They are fairly dangerous, and don't forget, related to bears... except they don't have claws.

Are the ones mentioned in this article similar to the European wild boar? Or are they simply domestic pigs that have escaped and live wild?

[bayourod]

They don't look like the black furry critter in your picture.

[Libertarianize the GOP]

ping

[dtel]

They are mostly tame hogs gone feral.
They have been running around about a hundred years and are now quite populous.
I live one county east of the county mentioned in this article and we have plenty of feral hogs out here.
In south Texas they also have a Javelina pig, which I believe is some kin of the European boar.
The feral hogs are quite dangerous and do grow tusks, although not as gnarly as the Javelina or European pigs.

The ferals are classified as a varmit and you can hunt them year round. The ones around here knosh on acorns and are quite tasty.

[Schatze]

... steps being taken to control feral hogs that are beginning to overrun the state.

Democrats are overrunning Texas??

[Tacis]

Is this another rant about rowdy homely women?

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

Barbecue pork is sounding better and better all the time. Surely the Texans can come up with a way to make a festival out of this opportunity?! ;-)

[Lester Moore]

But Van Zandt County rancher John Durgin has nothing good to say about the critters -- or hog hunters.

"Around here, we would probably hunt the hunters if we saw them," said Durgin who has caught about 300 hogs on his property in recent years. "We don't think much of hunters. When they're around, it's harder to trap. And trapping is far more efficient than hunting."

----------

"We need a statewide program -- a bounty or some other way to control feral hogs -- because it can't be done at the county level," Cummins said. "Right now, they're out of control."

They don't want taxpaying hunters, just the redistributed monies of taxpaying hunters.

Mr. Cummins, please explain to me why "We" need a statewide (taxpayer funded) program to fix Your problem?

[Syncro]

All pigs are born with "tusks"

Of course when they are young, they are just the size of teeth, but grow quite long.

When raising hogs, the tusk teeth are removed or clipped and stunted.

As was stated, in a feral state these domestic pigs revert back quite quickly to dangerous animals.

[dtel]

If you are down around Corpus next weekend, I hear this one is a hoot.

[dtel]

When they are running through YOUR yard, WE don't want to hear any bitching, alright?

[monkeywrench]

It's a sign from allah! :)

[Uncle Meat]

I've stumbled up to a few of those in Grafenwoehr.If you approach a sow with piglets,you'd better haul ass.I'd hear them rip the mess tents garbage bags up at night.

[dtel]

I found a skull of a young wild pig recently, and the tusks seem to lie along the inside of the jawbone. these were about three inches long or so and were curved so that when they grew out they naturally turned outward.
It was pretty cool seeing how they work.

[Destructor]

I hunt Feral hogs in South Texas (Edwards County). Those hogs are domestic pigs that got loose, and bred with Russian Boars that were imported for game ranches in the area. Those hogs are MEAN! Some of them even have the third tusk on the bottom jaw. That is a trait that comes directly from Russian Boars.

[Rytwyng]

Are the ones mentioned in this article similar to the European wild boar? Or are they simply domestic pigs that have escaped and live wild?

Mixture of both. We have them in California too. Feral domestic hogs crossbred with escaped purebred wild stock that had been brought in for hunting.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

Unfortunately we live in Illinois..... but if you find out about another "Wild Hog Cookoff" in the Houston area during the first weekend in May, we'll be there for a competition! :-)

PS Nice car! Woo hoo!

[holyscroller]

My daughter in Hawaii said that people who eat ferel pigs there eventually get very crippled up with a pig disease that's very similar to arthritis. Is this true of the Texas pigs too? Must be, otherwise they'd be feeding them to folks at the food banks.