Free Republic

A&M research seeks a birth control pill for the multiplying animals. By Michael Graczyk ASSOCIATED PRESS Friday, June 13, 2008 GILMER — Broad areas of grazing land at Pete Gipson's farm bear plow-like scars. But it's no out-of-control machine that's left disjointed ruts and holes amid long grass ripped from the earth. He and other ranchers and farmers in Texas and the South are waging an uphill battle against herds of voracious feral hogs. The beasts, up to 3 feet tall and 400 pounds, devour feed intended for livestock and tear up pastures at his 300-acre Red Cap Farms in...

State hunters asked to take out feral hogs Friday, November 3, 2006 The Associated Press SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- When it comes to killing off Missouri's wild hogs, conservation officials hope hunters will see the job not as a sport, but as a mission. Voracious, wily and known to carry disease, feral hogs can be killed without a permit at any time of the year in Missouri. In fact, the Department of Conservation encourages hunters to pick them off during firearms seasons for deer and turkeys. "I can't emphasize strongly enough we want these animals dead," said Bill Heatherly, wildlife protection...

Packs of feral pigs sow problems for farmers, wildlife managers in Kiowa County. EADS - They stalk the landscape by night, tusked behemoths that devour crops and critters alike. "A real nightmare," farmer Burl Scherler calls them. Reservoirs of disease. Rural vandals on four fat, super-powered legs. A few county roads west, rancher Art Fox loves 'em. Likes to watch them sneak through the brush. Sets out grain so they don't go hungry. Hunts them. Eats them. Roasts them on holidays and serves them up to eager neighbors. Feral hogs - nasty, hyperadaptable, eating, rooting, wrecking machines - are Colorado's...

AUSTIN – Yeehaw! Texans who brag they do things bigger and better are about to go faster too. State transportation officials on Thursday boosted speed limits on two stretches of rural highway from 75 mph to 80, leaving wandering armadillos and feral hogs a split-second less time to avoid becoming roadkill. It will be the highest posted speed limit in the country. New speed signs should be up in the next few days. And while state officials say the roads can accommodate it, safety and energy conservation advocates warn it will cost lives and hit drivers in the wallet at...