It seemed too strange to be true, but there it was: A group of dozens of feral hogs munching away on grass at an Army Reserve building in Texas.
While such a large group certainly turned heads, these feral hogs are hardly new to Texas, where residents have been enduring their environmental destruction for decades.
What happened?
Chron reported on the latest incident, noting a pack of feral hogs — possibly the same ones spotted by the Army Reserve building — decimated five soccer fields at the Veterans Park and Athletic Complex in College Station.
In a single night, the pack caused nearly $150,000 worth of damage, causing the park to close for emergency repairs. Their timing was particularly bad, as the soccer complex was set to host a tournament with over 100 teams.
And while this was a particularly costly incident, feral hog populations have generally been growing and wreaking increasing havoc around the state. According to Chron, 99.6% of Texas counties have reported feral hog sightings.
Why are feral hogs so harmful to local ecosystems?
A rather far cry from the gentle farm animals, feral hogs are descendants of pigs brought over for agriculture by the Europeans who colonized the U.S. in the 16th century.
Now, they cause incredible amounts of damage to local ecosystems. They root, trample, eat, and generally raze lands, from soccer fields to forests and farmlands, Chron reports. They can also serve as disease vectors or transmitters.
They also prey on the nests and young of native species, eating small mammal species like deer fawns and feasting upon the eggs of ground-nesting birds and even alligators.
What's being done to manage the hog populations?
Other states have struggled with similarly destructive species, such as ash borer beetles in Oregon and invasive blue catfish in Maryland.
In each case, the population management effort generally consists of a multi-pronged approach, eliminating the living population while reducing the factors that allow for continued breeding, according to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
This can include treating the habitat, such as cutting down ash borer–infested trees in Oregon to eliminate hospitable breeding ground. Scientists have also experimented with more creative approaches, including the simple yet effective method of releasing sterile male individuals into a population, such as with invasive sea lamprey in the Great Lakes.
And for Texans, one small retribution is the fact that feral hog, when prepared properly, is completely edible and delicious.
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