Feral Hogs again in the news

[Beiruty]

RVING, TX -- Some Texas cities are going to the hogs.

Neighbors in a Dallas suburb have certainly felt that way since seeing their well-manicured lawns uprooted and sprinkler systems destroyed by packs of hefty feral hogs -- beasts that once caused problems mainly for Texas farmers and ranchers.

"I think people expect this to be a rural problem," Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples said Thursday in Irving, where the city has captured nearly 250 feral hogs since October when they first were discovered roaming around. "This shows that in rural and urban Texas ... the lines that divide us are fewer and fewer."

Arlington and Dallas are among cities along the Trinity River that also have reported problems with wild hogs that weigh several hundred pounds, Staples said.

Wildlife officials say the hogs are now starting to plague urban areas because of changing habitats and prolific reproduction. Texas has up to 2 million of the hairy beasts, about half the nation's population, and state officials say they cause about $400 million in damage each year.

Although not all feral hogs have tusks, for years the animals have been a menace in rural areas by shredding cornfields, eating calves and damaging fruit trees -- even breaking through barbed-wire fences, said Texas Farm Bureau spokesman Gene Hall. They also wreck ecosystems by wallowing in riverbeds and streams.

"They can do more damage than a bulldozer," Hall said.

Methods to stop the problem have failed, including a pig birth-control pill studied by a veterinarian and researcher. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering allowing hunters in helicopters to shoot wild hogs at a wildlife refuge in Central Texas, saying they keep destroying the habitat.

Arlington has been aware of feral hogs in its community for about four years, said Ray Rentschler, field supervisor for Arlington's Animal Services. But the city didn't start trapping them until two years ago, when they started roaming into parks and frightening joggers and nearby homeowners.

"When you've got a herd of 300-pound pigs in your neighborhood, it tends to makes people feel nervous," Rentschler said Thursday. "We want our citizens to feel safe."

The city has trapped about 30 hogs, although Rentschler said he believes many more are roaming parts of the city. Captured pigs are humanely euthanized, he said.


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[flintknapper]

Coincidentally,

I saw a boar (about 175 lbs.) right off the side of the road in a residential area just last night. I turned around and went back...to try and get a pic with my cell phone. I got within 20 yds. of the boar and had him in the headlights, but he walked off before I could get my phone out of my pocket and into camera mode.

I live out in the country and have been battling them for 25 yrs. but now I see they have moved into the cities.

[speedsix]

...it'll take someone being attacked or one being hit on the road, causing serious injury or death, before most folks realize that they need to be killed off if they're in the cities...most have no idea that they're dangerous far beyond a little yard damage...I'd rather have three pit bulls after me...

[Sidro]

I read somewhere that an adult hog can do approximately $900 per year damage to crops and livestock. If so that is a very large number. So to do my part to control them I am going up tomorrow in a helicopter with my new SX3 and 00 buck to help alleviate this financial drain to the farming and ranching industry.

[The Annoyed Man]

So if you see feral hogs in front of your house, uprooting your flower beds, and you bring out the AR and bang away at them, are you "hunting without a license," or "defending your property?"

[BobCat]

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/annual/hunt/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; - they are not specifically mentioned on the non-game animals list, but they are not game animals.

In a rural setting I think you have nothing to worry about. In the suburbs, discharging a firearm inside the city limits, anyway.

This is only my primitive understanding, not legal advice since I am not a lawyer.

Regards,
Andrew

[flintknapper]

So if you see feral hogs in front of your house, uprooting your flower beds, and you bring out the AR and bang away at them, are you "hunting without a license," or "defending your property?"

Feral hogs (in Texas) are considered an Exotic, so they may be hunted year 'round at anytime (day or night) by any legal means. There is no bag limit.

IF you are the land owner (or acting as agent for a landowner) you may dispatch depredating hogs without a hunting license.

Your location (in the city limits) might be a problem.

[Sidro]

So if you see feral hogs in front of your house, uprooting your flower beds, and you bring out the AR and bang away at them, are you "hunting without a license," or "defending your property?"

Feral hogs (in Texas) are considered an Exotic, so they may be hunted year 'round at anytime (day or night) by any legal means. There is no bag limit.

IF you are the land owner (or acting as agent for a landowner) you may dispatch depredating hogs without a hunting license.

Your location (in the city limits) might be a problem.

flintknapper am I thinking right that shooting them under the depredation or nuisance clause without a license does not allow you to harvest the meat. I know this is true for deer even with a license under nuisance clause.

[flintknapper]

"Sidro" wrote:

flintknapper am I thinking right that shooting them under the depredation or nuisance clause without a license does not allow you to harvest the meat.

Not in this case. The exotic animal (whether live or the carcass) may NOT be possessed by anyone other than the landowner without the landowners permission. So....if you are the landowner, do as you wish, if you are an agent for the landowner...you need his/her permission and if you are a third party, you likewise need permission, but other than that it IS legal to keep the resource.

I know this is true for deer even with a license under nuisance clause.

Yes, true of deer and other regulations apply to fur-bearing animals. The reason it does not apply to exotics is because they do not belong to the State (like all game animals in Texas do). If an exotic is on your property, it essentially belongs to you.

As concerns Feral Hogs though, there are definitely restrictions as to what you can do with a LIVE hog in terms of transporting or relocating it. The TAHC is chock full of regulations concerning this. Though authorities tend to "look the other way"....you can incur substantial penalties if you don't follow the laws.

Simply put, if you have a hog problem....your best solution is to start with a DEAD hog. You can do anything you like with a dead feral hog EXCEPT sell the meat.

[Mike1951]

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/annual/hunt/ - they are not specifically mentioned on the non-game animals list, but they are not game animals.

In a rural setting I think you have nothing to worry about. In the suburbs, discharging a firearm inside the city limits, anyway.

This is only my primitive understanding, not legal advice since I am not a lawyer.

Regards,
Andrew

Up until a few years ago, they WERE on the non-game list and the only regulations applied to public hunting land where seasons applied.

At that time, IIRC correctly, for non-public hunting lands, there were no regulations.

I didn't realize this had changed. Of course, I haven't been able to hunt the last few years.

I thought the Nat Geo show Wild Justice episode Pig Stalkers was totally ridiculous.

Any method, short of endangering people and property, is fine by me.

I got a call once, only to learn that the woman lived in town, in a subdivision. She had the misfortune to live on the perimeter, bordering the woods.

Hogs had taken over her property and were destroying her lawn regularly. Had to pass on that one.

[boba]

A basic hunting license is only $25 for a resident.