Feral Hogs again in the news
Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2011 12:32 am
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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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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