By:
Mark Tyson, Extension Associate, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
Linda Tschirhart-Hejl, Wildlife Biologist, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension – Wildlife Services
Jared Timmons, Extension Associate, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
Photos By:
Linda Tschirhart-Hejl, Jared Timmons & Dr. James Cathey
Urban wildlife is coming more into the spotlight these days thanks to a critter scientifically known as Sus scrofa, the feral hog. With a name like that one may think this creature is from another world, and actually that is quite true. Feral hogs can be traced back to the old world and are not native to North or South America. They were said to be introduced to the U.S. mainland in 1539 by Hernando De Soto when he landed off the coast of Florida. After occupying the mainland for the last 474 years feral hogs have been quite successful in expanding their populations in both rural and urban areas.
Urban areas are becoming more attractive to feral hogs. These areas provide all the necessities of life food, water, and shelter in a relatively small area of land. Energetically speaking it is much more efficient to find all of your needs in a relatively small area versus a one that is much more spaced out. Would most Texans rather dine at an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet or an establishment that serves its meal on a single plate? I’d place my bet on the buffet. Urban areas can act as a buffet for feral hogs considering the abundance of irrigated and fertilized lawns along with lush landscaping. These healthy lawns often have a high population of earthworms and grubs which are coveted by feral hogs for their protein content, not to mention the roots of the vegetation used in landscaping.
(Urban rooting damage from feral hogs)
The most common type of feral hog damage experienced by urban landowners is rooting; which is a feeding behavior that occurs when the hogs are searching for underground vegetation or insects. Rooting damage from a single hog can be rather extensive but most often feral hogs travel in extended family groups known as sounders thus multiplying the damage. While this damage is not very aesthetically pleasing it is also very expensive to repair! Often rooting damage is not a one-time event, it can take place over the course of several weeks or months depending on the abundance of the food source in the area.
Right now I bet your thinking so what can be done about this urban feral hog problem? Let’s dig deeper into feral hog population reduction strategies and see what we can “root” up! Reducing feral hog populations in urban areas comes with a much greater set of considerations than typically occur in rural situations. In Texas there are four legal means by which feral hog populations can be reduced. Those include shooting, trapping, snaring and the use of catch dogs. It is important to note that there are no legal toxicants (poisons) that can be used on feral hogs.
While all of the resources and population reduction strategies available to rural landowners are also available to urban property owners, typically local laws or regulations hinder some of these resources from being utilized. For example in most urban areas it is illegal to discharge a firearm, thus removing the option of shooting feral hogs from the list of legal population reduction techniques. The use of catch dogs and snaring also can pose specific risks in urban settings that would most likely reduce their use. Some of the most effective urban non-lethal control methods such as exclusion fencing or electric fences are often not allowed in many areas due to homeowner’s association regulations or city ordinances. No chemical repellants are currently labeled to deter feral hogs and physical deterrents such as motion activated sprinklers or ultrasonic animal repellants which emit high pitched frequencies have not been evaluated or proven to deter feral hogs.
(Urban feral hog boar in a box trap)
(Feral hog piglets trapped in an urban area)
So what can you do? In most cases trapping can be an urban property owner’s only resource to reduce feral hog damage on their land. But even trapping brings forth several concerns, such as what to do with the feral hogs once they are trapped? One option that may be available to you is your local Texas A&M AgriLife Extension-Wildlife Services Biologist and/or Technician, who can provide technical assistance and in some cases direct control of feral hogs. To locate an office nearest you please visit their web site at http://agrilife.org/txwildlifeservices/ . Many cities already have animal control officers, and some are tasked with trapping and removing feral hogs. You can contact your city officials to determine if animal control is trapping feral hogs. In some cases professional hog trappers that have the proper equipment to handle and remove the animals in a safe manner have agreements with cities and homeowners associations in place. To determine if this is the case contact your local city officials or homeowners association.
In many cases of urban feral hog problems it may be only a few animals and the most effective way to prevent them from causing damage is to deny access to the area. Most feral hogs enter urban areas from greenbelts, creeks or bayous which are perfect travel corridors for them. In these cases a correctly constructed fence could solve the problem. One fence that works quite well at hog exclusion is a net wire fence that is constructed flush to the ground.
(Net wire fencing used for wildlife exclusion)
Now that you have an understanding of the complexity of the urban feral hog situation; where do you go from here? You can start by contacting your homeowners association or your local city representative and expressing your concern about feral hogs and the limited resources available for removing them. If fencing is not allowed in your area then this would also be a great place to start in having laws or regulations prohibiting fencing reconsidered. Another way to become part of the bigger picture is to submit a public report of feral hog activity on our newly created feral hog reporting website which can be found at http://feralhogreports.tamu.edu/. Your reports will remain confidential and help us to locate areas of high feral hog activity. The information will also serve to guide both management and educational efforts with the goal of reducing the impacts of feral hogs in Texas. Other resources such as watershed-based feral hog educational presentations and technical assistance for landowners are available through the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. These resources are provided free of charge and can provide you with detailed information on feral hogs and on the ground assistance with population reduction resources.
The hyper-linked resource document below will provide you with quick access to many of our online feral hog resources including publications, fact sheets and videos.
For free educational
programming or technical assistance with feral hogs please contact us:
Mark Tyson,
South and Southeast Texas, 979-845-4698, mark.tyson@ag.tamu.edu
Josh Helcel,
Central and North Central Texas, 254-248-0532, dan.gaskins@tamu.edu
Our services
are provided free of charge through a Clean Water Act 319(h) non-point source grant from the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board and the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency