WACO--Millions of feral hogs are causing increased damage to crops, livestock and wildlife habitat in Texas, according to a wildlife damage management expert with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
"They're utter destruction is what they are," said Jan Loven, district supervisor of USDA Wildlife Services, formerly known as Animal Damage Control, Fort Worth District.
Feral hogs are predators. They kill goat kids and deer fawns. They destroy crops and ruin springs and ponds with their mud wallows. Hogs also will attack people, according to Loven, who spoke this week at the 1998 Blacklands Income Growth Conference, held here Jan. 13 an 14 at the Waco Convention Center.
There are an estimated 3 to 4 million feral hogs in Texas, more than in any other state. Feral hogs are simply domestic hogs gone wild. They share no distinct species characteristic. Some are gray, some black. Some have formidable tusks. Some have small tusks or none at all. Some look very much like domestic hogs while others look like nothing ever seen in any feedyard.
Loven's agency has seen a dramatic increase in feral hog complaints in this decade, resulting in more than 4,000 feral hog kills in 1995. Currently there are no reliable statistics as to the total dollar amount of damage done by feral hogs in Texas.
"We know the damage is there, but we don't have the personnel to document the damage," Loven said.
The actions of feral hogs are no longer limited to rural areas. In once instance, a boar attacked a woman on a Fort Worth jogging trail. Two years ago, a Cherokee County deer hunter died from a feral hog attack. In addition to being aggressive, feral hogs pose a threat to human health from the 13 diseases they are known to carry, including brucellosis, pseudorabies, tuberculosis, bubonic plague, tularemia, anthrax and trichinosis.
There are very few effective control measures other that traps and hunting. Hogs root under regular fences. They learn to break down electric fencing. Traps work for a while, but hogs often become "trap smart." Snares work well, but they must be well hidden or the animals will learn to recognize and avoid them.
"Next to the coyotes, the feral hog is about the smartest wild animal there is. He's ugly and he's stinky and he doesn't look smart, but he is," Loven said.
The best control measure for feral hogs is aerial hunting, but it's hazardous and not very effective when the hogs are in heavy brush. Aerial hunting's biggest drawback, however, is the expense of operating and maintaining a helicopter. No statewide control program for feral hogs exists; however, the legislature this year allocated money for control of the animals in Ellis, Hill and Navarro counties.
Loven said Texas needs a state-funded program for control of feral hogs statewide, much like the current program to control beavers.
The B.I.G. conference also included sessions on cotton, beef, forage, horticulture, and horses. More than 600 people registered for the conference, with 300 more attending the associated farm equipment show.
The B.I.G. 34-county region includes Bastrop, Bell, Bosque, Burleson, Caldwell, Collin, Coryell, Dallas, Delta, Denton, Dewitt, Ellis, Falls, Fannin, Fayette, Gonzales, Grayson, Guadalupe, Hill, Hunt, Johnson, Kaufman, Lamar, Lavaca, Lee, Limestone, McLennan, Milam, Navarro, Rockwall, Tarrant, Travis, Washington, and Williamson counties.
WFSC