Jan. 28, 2010 - There is a saying in Texas that there are two kinds of landowners in the state: those who have feral hogs on their property today and those who will have them someday. Even with landowner-friendly hunting regulations, an open season and a near-unanimous desire to be rid of them, the wild hogs are going to be here for some time to come.
"There's supposed to be somewhere between 1.5 million and 4 million hogs in the state now, but I don't know who's counting," said Jim Cathey, Texas AgriLife Extension wildlife and fisheries specialist. "The one thing we do know is that we have a lot of hogs over most of the state."
Today's feral hogs are the descendants of domestic pigs that were turned loose by Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto in the 1500s, and later by farmers, hunters and early settlers. That created the wild, free-ranging animals known today. They are similar in appearance to domestic hogs, but can grow to as much as 400 pounds and sport four tusks used to root for food.
The sows usually have one or two litters a year of four to 12 young.
"A fellow told me that they might have 12 babies but 18 of them will survive," Cathey added.
Feral hogs root and trample for acorns and other food, sometimes taking out large areas of crops or pasture. They are omnivorous and will also eat eggs, particularly those of ground-nesting turkeys, as well as small animals. The hogs are blamed for more than $52 million in losses to agriculture in the state each year, and are also blamed for water quality problems.
They can pass along diseases like brucellosis and pseudorabies (not related to rabies) to other wild and domestic animals. Tests conducted for the Texas Animal Health Commission show that about 20 percent of the hogs tested carried pseudorabies and about 10 percent carried brucellosis.
Jacob Hetzel, a wildlife damage biologist with Texas Wildlife Services, said the problem has extended far beyond rural Texas, especially during the recent drought.
"I had a call not long ago about feral hogs a block away from the interstate in Austin," he said. "I didn't believe it, but when I went over there, sure enough, there was a hog along a little creek that runs through that area. A lot of people with nice homes and beautiful yards in the suburbs and subdivisions have had their lawns and gardens totally destroyed by hogs."
Neither Cathey nor Hetzel expect the hogs to be eradicated any time soon, but they believe the problem can be controlled through hunting and trapping. Landowners who find feral hogs in the "act of depredation or about to depredate" can shoot the hog even if he or she does not have a hunting license.
"If the hog is breathing, it's about to depredate," Cathey noted.
Hunting the hogs to eat or as a trophy does require a hunting license. There is no limit on how many can be killed and they can be hunted year-round, day or night. Unlike deer hunting, state regulations allow hunters to use spotlights to hunt feral hogs.
"If you're going to do that, it's a good idea to let your local game warden know you're going to be out there spotlighting hogs," Cathey said. "Game wardens are dispatched through the local sheriff's department, so let them know when and where you're going to be hunting."
Because the wild hogs' hides are notoriously tough, and because they have a thick shield along the shoulders, Cathey doesn't recommend using a gun that shoots anything less than a .30 caliber bullet. It also pays to be wary of the quarry, he said.
"When they start popping their jaws together that's your ticket to cowboy up or send someone else out there to get them," he said.
Feral hogs are more active early in the morning, late in the evening and at night, but hunters can have good success hunting them during the heat of the day in the summer if they don't mind the heat, Cathey said.
"They like water, so they tend to hang out in brush along the creeks," he said. "If you can go in there when they're shading up, you can really get at them."
Cathey said that's good to keep in mind when placing traps. A lot of farmers will place their traps in the middle of a field where hogs have been, but he said a better strategy might be to place the traps close to the creeks, rivers or spring heads where they hang out. Larger traps are recommended because they can trap more of the hogs at one time.
The hogs can't be legally released once they are trapped. The Texas Animal Health Commission has a list of accredited buyers who will pay for the hogs by the pound. Hetzel said he recommends cage traps because they can be moved where they need to be placed.
"It's a good idea to move traps every so often because hogs will get used to them and won't go near them," he said. "Pigs aren't stupid. They figure out that kind of stuff pretty quickly."
Hetzel also recommends pre-baiting the traps.
"It's a big world when it comes to baits," he said. "You can start with deer corn, and there are a lot of commercial products you can buy. I had a friend who had a big fish fry and he poured the leftover oil on the deer corn and the pigs ate it like crazy."
Snares are also used to catch hogs, and they can be effective, but must be placed with care because they can also ensnare white-tail deer, which is illegal.
The abundance of wild hogs and the year-round season on them has made them a popular game animal, leading some people to consider stocking the hogs on their property so they can charge hunters to hunt them. Cathey said that's a bad idea.
"Don't stock them, regardless of how much money you think you can make," he said. "Some places are getting $550 to $800 for a hunt, but on the flip side is a study showing that hogs cause an average of $7,500 in damage to farmers and ranchers, who spend about $2,500 a year trying to control them. Stocking wild hogs is a losing proposition, no matter how much money you thing you might make."
