You may have noticed a 
seriously damaged lawn, golf course, or community common area and wondered what caused so much damage – Roto-Tiller run amuck??? More likely the culprit is Sus Scrota: Feral Hogs, termed bulldozers on hooves. They are omnivores who eat tender grass roots, grubworms and earthworms in moist environments such as landscapes in areas that abut Bush Park, the Westpark Dam and similar “wild” areas. They were there long before the landscapes: Spanish explorer Hernando Desoto probably dropped off a few; plenty have escaped or been released from farms since and they’re doing just fine, thank you.
One sow can be responsible for 2 litters of as many as 12 piglets a year, beginning when she is 10 months old. It is estimated there are 1.5 million feral hogs in Texas, and they damage $52 million worth of agricultural, residential and hunting environments. The 58 trapped along Bush Park in 2008 was hardly a drop in the bucket.
So, what to do if porky and his pals show up in your yard? Nothing and don’t encourage your dog to do anything, either. No amount of shooing and/or barking is going to disrupt the feeding frenzy and it’s a really bad idea to tangle with a 250-pound animal with tusks and an attitude!
Give the dog a treat, scout around for some bleach or other serious bactericide to spray the “leavings” when this joy of life not in the big city ends; might call the landscaper to arrange a little reclamation work but don’t bother to call animal control or any other government entity: no State or County employee will be dispatched post haste to remove the animals from private property. Suppose you could shoot them if there’s some serious fire-power around, but that’s darned un-neighborly and probably illegal.
Feral hogs are dangerous animals. They are huge disease and tick vectors: an invading pack may
destroy the lawn and rub bark off the pine trees to access the pitch, a natural tick repellent. In addition to tick-borne diseases, they can carry Brucellosis, rabies and E-coli bacteria; hence the aforementioned bactericide spray.
You can contact the Agricultural Extension Service (AgriLife Center) in your county who can arrange the capture of hogs on public property.
Then there is hunting in permitted areas: have at ‘em; no license, no limits. Will need a big bullet to penetrate the shoulder area and don’t forget to include the cute little piglets.
seriously damaged lawn, golf course, or community common area and wondered what caused so much damage – Roto-Tiller run amuck??? More likely the culprit is Sus Scrota: Feral Hogs, termed bulldozers on hooves. They are omnivores who eat tender grass roots, grubworms and earthworms in moist environments such as landscapes in areas that abut Bush Park, the Westpark Dam and similar “wild” areas. They were there long before the landscapes: Spanish explorer Hernando Desoto probably dropped off a few; plenty have escaped or been released from farms since and they’re doing just fine, thank you.One sow can be responsible for 2 litters of as many as 12 piglets a year, beginning when she is 10 months old. It is estimated there are 1.5 million feral hogs in Texas, and they damage $52 million worth of agricultural, residential and hunting environments. The 58 trapped along Bush Park in 2008 was hardly a drop in the bucket.
So, what to do if porky and his pals show up in your yard? Nothing and don’t encourage your dog to do anything, either. No amount of shooing and/or barking is going to disrupt the feeding frenzy and it’s a really bad idea to tangle with a 250-pound animal with tusks and an attitude!
Give the dog a treat, scout around for some bleach or other serious bactericide to spray the “leavings” when this joy of life not in the big city ends; might call the landscaper to arrange a little reclamation work but don’t bother to call animal control or any other government entity: no State or County employee will be dispatched post haste to remove the animals from private property. Suppose you could shoot them if there’s some serious fire-power around, but that’s darned un-neighborly and probably illegal.
Feral hogs are dangerous animals. They are huge disease and tick vectors: an invading pack may
destroy the lawn and rub bark off the pine trees to access the pitch, a natural tick repellent. In addition to tick-borne diseases, they can carry Brucellosis, rabies and E-coli bacteria; hence the aforementioned bactericide spray.You can contact the Agricultural Extension Service (AgriLife Center) in your county who can arrange the capture of hogs on public property.
Then there is hunting in permitted areas: have at ‘em; no license, no limits. Will need a big bullet to penetrate the shoulder area and don’t forget to include the cute little piglets.
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Nice picture of hog damage, and thanks for the ant specimens. They are indeed Legionnaire ants, Leptogenys species. Very nice addition to my reference collection. And fyi, I've added your blog to my site at insectsinthecity.blogspot.com. I hope you're having fun.
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