By Gene Hall, Texas Farm Bureau
It was a grisly scene in Anahuac, Texas, last week, as wild hogs apparently attacked and killed a woman outside the home where she worked.
These attacks are rare, but anyone who comes across this destructive species understands they are aggressive. I once encountered a group of them alone in the Texas Hill Country. I managed to discourage the aggressive male with a few pistol shots.
The scary thing about last week’s attack is that it occurred within a town. Wild hogs are no longer just a farm problem.
Estimates peg numbers of feral hogs in Texas at between two and four million. Those guesses are nearly 15 years old and wrong. They are prolific breeders. By my own arithmetic, I believe there could be more than six million.
Some say a new law allowing hog hunting without a license will help. It won’t. The hogs breed too fast for that to matter. Other control measures are needed.
Let’s get an updated, realistic expert estimate of numbers, so we might know just how big a problem we have. This first death likely won’t be the last.
[…] pegged at approximately 1.5 million by a Texas Parks & Wildlife Department report. However, sources say these numbers are drastically underestimated. According to an article by Gene Hall of the Texas […]
Oh Bullll! True! There may be that many hogs but, I believe them to be deadly killers? Hog-wash! A wild ferral hog’s first defense is flight! Not FIGHT! I do NOT BELIEVE a Pig killed that woman! It could’ve been a dog that attacked her! When a deer is in full rut, they will definitely attack humans! I know for a fact one woman who was gorged by a Buck in full-rut! He charged her! When she grabbed his horns to stop him, he gouged her stomach and she bled to death! Sure if you pen a Pig up and/or wound him, he’s going to come out fighting! (Wouldnt you, if you were scared to death by something you’d never seen before)? I don’t believe this pig walked straight up and just began gorging this woman! Pigs will run! They’ll try to intimidate you by running toward you then turning and may even get close to you but, chase you down then gorge you! Oh Hog-wash! You could not EVER convince me that there is any truth to this woman being killed by a Pig! Not likely at all! People have convinced themselves of it and just want to believe they are big bad monsters! Absolutely NOT TRUE! My husband is a hunter and has been since je was a young boy. Hes in the woids all the time around them, hunting them, has seen many even close up! Never has a single pig ever tried to attack him! I’d have to have concrete proof to even begin to believe something so false! I believe the Veterinarian was absolutely incorrect! I raised a wild ferral hog on a baby bottle. He was huge before he got an infection in his tooth a nd had to be pit down! He got down but, could still eat! I’d go get tons of jars of baby food and put the food into his mouth with my hand! That’s right! I’d slide the baby food into his mouth and he’d NEVER even attempt to bite me! I hand fed him until he finally had to be put down due to the antibiotics not working anymore for his injured infected tooth! He was very protective of us. He’d grunt when strangers came around but, not long until he was going straight up to them and fall on his side at their feet with a big grunt, wanting a belly rub! I’m soooo sick of the scary people trying to believe they are wicked monsters! They’re just NOT! Next thing you know, they’ll be spotting one attacking Big Foot! Just about that ridiculous!