A Plague of Pigs in Texas

[EveningStar]

Smithsonian Magazine:

John Morthland
January 2011

About 50 miles east of Waco, Texas, a 70-acre field is cratered with holes up to five feet wide and three feet deep. The roots below a huge oak tree shading a creek have been dug out and exposed. Grass has been trampled into paths. Where the grass has been stripped, saplings crowd out the pecan trees that provide food for deer, opossums and other wildlife. A farmer wanting to cut his hay could barely run a tractor through here. There’s no mistaking what has happened—this field has gone to the hogs.

[Pepper]

I blame the evil Hispanics for this plague upon the great state of Texas.

 

 

 

 

You have to follow a link at the Smithsonian to see why.

[NCTexan]

Hogzilla... Texas style obviously is the culprit.

 

 

Every thing's bigger in Texas!

[Pepper]

NCTexan!

 

That kid and his old man took a beating for that shot.

 

That was a rather tame hog, IRRC.

[Geee]

Hogzilla... Texas style obviously is the culprit.

 

 

Every thing's bigger in Texas!

 

 

I do have some wild boar recipes if you need them

[Sanguine]

 

I do have some wild boar recipes if you need them

 

My dad and brothers have been hunting wild pig for several years now in that area. And, I wouldn't have thought it, but properly prepared it's very tasty!

[Geee]

 

I do have some wild boar recipes if you need them

 

My dad and brothers have been hunting wild pig for several years now in that area. And, I wouldn't have thought it, but properly prepared it's very tasty!

 

 

Mr.Geee and sons went hunting wild boar in Eastern Tennessee man years back. They brought back 2 boars and a Ram. Did a lot of pork and lamb recipes with them, but had to make adjustments in some recipes cause they have just about no fat.

[SrWoodchuck]

I blame the evil Hispanics for this plague upon the great state of Texas.

 

 

 

 

You have to follow a link at the Smithsonian to see why.

Pepper!

 

I was thinking this post was a Sheila Jackson Lee, family expose.

 

Seriously, I have the Smithsonian magazine for a few more months & just read how one of the more successful hunters, uses special dogs to hold pigs at bay, and then pit-bulls to grab the pig by the ears, so the hunter can use a special dagger [a "pig-sticker"] to dispatch them with a thrust behind their shoulders. The dogs wear flak vests, as the wild pig's tusks can kill a dog quickly.

 

Wild pigs generally don't grow as big as Hogzilla; [as Pepper says] but one that big can eat a human being in a few hours.

[Pepper]

Thanks for info, SrWoodChuck!

 

Hispanic reference was to Smithsonian link to article on 15th century being the beginning of these tusky critters.

[Al_Simmons]

NCTexan!

 

That kid and his old man took a beating for that shot.

 

That was a rather tame hog, IRRC.

 

The kid is also crouching some distance BEHIND the pig, hence making it look as big as a rhino, which it wasn't.

[NCTexan]

The kid is also crouching some distance BEHIND the pig, hence making it look as big as a rhino, which it wasn't.

 

The same kind of depth perspective trick is used in this picture... I've seen this described as a 15 foot rattle snake.

 

[Al_Simmons]

10-foot maybe ... but they can get to 15-17 feet, can't they?

[octex]

Geee... BIG difference between wild boar, javalina and feral hogs. The latter have escaped from farms, etc., and have been breeding in the wild for MANY decades. They are the best eats!

 

 

I do have some wild boar recipes if you need them

 

My dad and brothers have been hunting wild pig for several years now in that area. And, I wouldn't have thought it, but properly prepared it's very tasty!

 

 

Mr.Geee and sons went hunting wild boar in Eastern Tennessee man years back. They brought back 2 boars and a Ram. Did a lot of pork and lamb recipes with them, but had to make adjustments in some recipes cause they have just about no fat.

[octex]

Talk about the feral hogs brought up a memory.

 

Family went to Galveston every Summer from Dallas for two weeks. In early '50s (before Interstate highways) there would be places to pull over for "relief" . These spots would have stiles that allowed folks to cross over barbed wire fences into wooded areas.

 

When about 12 y/o and little sis about 4, we stopped and I had to take her over the stile and into the wooded area (probably a little North of Huntsville TX). We had finished our business and were slowly walking back to the stile to return to the car, when we heard a large snorting sound and something coming through the brush. It was a LARGE red Duroc feral hog almost as tall as me!!! Must have weighed hundreds of pounds!

 

I grabbed up little sis and ran like crazy, practically throwing her over the stile while climbing as fast as I could. About the same time I reached the ground on the other side of the fence, that beast was at the bottom of the stile on the other side. HUGE... with tusks! ....Scared us both really bad. Parents were looking at maps or something and didn't believe us at first; then they say the thing and freaked.

 

Some maternal family ancesters from TN used to frequently go to the Big Thicket area of Southeast TX for a week or two every couple of months and take back bear meat, venison, pork, etc., to their families. There is a lot of wild life in that area of TX that can provide for good vittles!

 

Apologize for memory dump, but it just spilled out....

[Pepper]

10-foot maybe ... but they can get to 15-17 feet, can't they?

 

 

Nothing over 8 and 1/4 ft.

 

Of couse, that would be a snake to walk around very carefully.

[righteousmomma]

Good memories OCTex!

 

When I lived with my grandmother in rural far Eastern NC we were told not to go beyond a certain point -especially the swampy areas- because wild hogs would eat us.

Never saw one in all my errant ramblings but I always just knew they were there -just waiting to attack.

 

Now rattle snakes and water mocassins I can say I saw -plenty of them. A rattlesnake even had the nerve to bite my grandmother above the ankle while she was working in the garden. She saved herself but not the rattlesnake.

[Sabre86]

This has been a problem for years, and regardless of how many of these things people kill, there always seems to be more. Some ranches in south Texas hunt the hogs from helicopters on a regular basis.

 

What's worse is a small caliber round like a .223 has almost no effect unless it is a shot through a vulnerable area such as the eye. Most people I know who hunt wild hog use .308, 30.06, or some other high powered round like .300 Win Mag or .338 Lapua. Most also carry a high caliber pistol for backup such as the .44 or .50 caliber magnum.

[SrWoodchuck]

10-foot maybe ... but they can get to 15-17 feet, can't they?

 

 

Nothing over 8 and 1/4 ft.

 

Of couse, that would be a snake to walk around very carefully.

My family lived in Houston & Midland, Texas, at various times. While an ankle-biter in Midland, I was playing with my some other tots in a "sand-box," and my Mom was observing from the kitchen window, while doing the dishes. We had a terrier/Airedale type mixed breed dog and he was bouncing & barking like a little tea-pot; so she grabbed my Dad's .45

and went out to investigate. The dog had placed itself between us & a 5 foot rattler that was coiled & trying to strike the bouncing dog. She emptied the gun into the snake, while we waddled as fast as we could to the kitchen door. Until she started shooting, that dog was actually trying to grab the snake in between strikes! A story of Midland is that the parks are holes in the ground until it rains.....then they're lakes; but watch out for snakes in real rainy weather.

 

When I was still a curtain-climber [until I became an "adol-ape" -from boyhood to adolescence/young teen] we lived in Oklahoma City & each year they had the rattlesnake round-up & barbeque, with special shows put on by a Bob Jenni [noted herpetologist.] One year my family went [minus my Mom, who hated snakes.] Jenni had around 50-75 rattlesnakes inside a 20' by 20' area, enclosed by sheets of painted plywood, on 2x4 frames. He had a snake hook & would pick the snakes up periodically, and illustrate some aspect to the crowd around the outside edges. He asked for volunteers to stand inside with the snakes, and some one would step over for a few minutes at a time. My Dad stepped over with me, and we let the snakes slither over our feet for a while [probably would be child abuse nowdays.] I'm sure they were milked of venom, and some looked like they were in torpor [snakes loose energy after feeding & mostly lay dormant to allow digestion] but it was pretty cool for a few minutes. I've killed at least two rattlesnakes here in Colorado & a few more when I lived in Montana, and visited my grandparents at their home in Columbus, Mt. On the banks of the Yellowstone river.

 

I've never seen one as big as NCTexans pic, except for a skin from a Louisiana diamond-back that was a little over ten feet.