As development adds more neighborhoods in Fort Bend County and eats away at undeveloped land, some Missouri City homeowners are waking up to find the manicured lawns of their newly-built homes looking like…well…a herd of wild hogs has been through.
And they’d be correct.
As development encroaches further into the hogs’ territory, they are running out of places to go, and many of them are sticking around and have turned into very unwelcomed pests in Fort Bend neighborhoods.
Within the past five moths, Missouri City began a program to attempt to decrease the number of hogs in the Waterbrook West community after hearing complaints from several residents.
The city authorized two independent contractors to work in the area to trap in the neighborhood and the surrounding property, and other properties as access is granted. So far, 60 hogs have been caught and removed.
Unfortunately, the animals breed so quickly those 60 will likely soon be replaced with 60 more. According to Michael Weiss, a State Game Warden with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Law Enforcement Division, the hogs have two or three litters per year, and the babies are ready to breed at around one year.
“They are definitely a problem, and they are something I don’t see going away,” said Weiss. “We don’t have a viable solution for population control.”
Weiss said the best solution is for Homeowners Associations and neighborhood organizations to contract with someone to trap or hunt the hogs.
“Some of the guys hunt them with dogs and on horseback,” said Weiss. “That’s a pretty good solution to get them out of an area.”
The animals are considered “exotic” and not a native game animal in Texas, so they can be hunted year-round and there is no limit to the number hunters can kill.
Weiss said the feral hogs are intelligent enough that once one or two are caught in a trap, others tend to leave that area. He also said that although the hogs are generally afraid of people, if cornered they can be aggressive – especially a cornered sow with her litter.
When Weiss started his career 25 years ago, he said he only saw the problem in certain areas of the state. Now, he said, there isn’t a county in Texas that doesn’t have the wild pigs roaming around and creating a nuisance.
“When people go and do landscaping, the hogs love to come tear it up and search for food,” said Weiss. “I don’t know what the solution is. There’s not one, really.”
I just had to crack up when I read that one conservative1. Well done!
I looked it up through the tax roles. Ferrel Hog used to own most of Fort Bend County along with his cousins Bob Alligator and Jose Watermoccasin AKA Joe Cottenmouth. The Kempners and Eldridges ran them out of town after accusing Hog and his cousins of stealing sugarcane. Of course we all know now that was just a plan to get control of valuable Oyster Creek. They were pushed in into Missouri City and have been outlaws ever since. The attacks in Sienna have increased and some say that Riverstone is privately funding their nightime terrorist attacks into Sienna but that is pure speculation. Please note, they have been putting up with racist remarks like “Unfortunately, the animals breed so quickly” which fuels the negative stereotypes. SL has instituted a new program called “Ferral Hog 101″ to entlighten the city employees of the sensitivities of the “Ferral Hog” population but some say that is just pandering for votes.