Hoglets

When we first arrived here in East Texas we were told by several locals that we had a hog problem on our property. It has become our family joke, trying to imitate the Texas accent. Son does it best, "Ya'll gahd a hawwwwgg prablem."

But that was almost two years ago and I've yet to see a hog on our property. I've only seen the evidence of their digging everywhere. I have seen roadkill hogs several times but nothing up close and personal. Maybe that's a good thing.

Guv'nor was out working in the far pasture the other day. The neighbor's black cows had roamed through the fence again, somehow. He was trying to encourage them back into their own field. Meanwhile, some baby hogs were roaming with the cows. I wasn't home at the time or I would have dashed right out there to take a look for myself. Probably from the inside of my car or Guv'nor's truck.

Feral hogs are a big problem in Texas with estimates of a few million in the state. Some people are calling it a plague because they are destructive and carry diseases. There are no natural predators for hogs. They thrive in all types of environments. They can reproduce quickly (12-15 months) and have big litters. It is almost impossible to keep them off your property because they're clever and will find a way in. There is no "hog season" and the best we can hope for is to control them rather than eliminate the problem.

Guv'nor took a few photos for me. I'm not sure what the correct term for them is, but he's calling them hoglets. There were three of them. They ran off before he could do anything.

This is a field on the way into town that has been destroyed by the hogs.