Problems with exotic, invasive plants and animals—species that did not evolve in Texas and don’t belong here—continue to worsen statewide. One escalating issue involves feral hogs, which have been a problem for decades on rural ranch land, but in recent years have begun to cause damage in cities.

  Some urban parks and preserves, including Armand Bayou Nature Center near Houston and the Forth Worth Nature Center and Refuge, have had to trap and remove feral hogs. Some residential areas are also reporting hog problems. This winter, animal control workers were called to the Lake Ridge neighborhood in southwest Lubbock after residents complained of a wild hog strolling through the golf course.

  Hog problems have declined in recent years at Armand Bayou in Pasadena, probably because nature center fencing helps keep new hogs from coming in, and because they’ve trapped problem pigs in past years. But just outside the nature center fence, it’s a different story.

  "We've had a tremendous development boom in the area around us, with new houses, buildings, and industry," said Mark Kramer, Armand Bayou stewardship coordinator. "As a result, a lot of wildlife habitat loss is taking place around the nature center. We have a six foot chain link fence around the perimeter, which helps limit hog immigration to our site. However, surrounding neighborhoods in the past few years have made the six o’clock news because of hog damage in the yards of expensive new homes."

  The Fort Worth Nature Center’s hog management program was highlighted at a recent urban wildlife conference in Dallas, where it was hailed as a national model for building consensus and controlling nuisance wildlife effectively and humanely. The 3,621-acre refuge, said to be largest city-owned nature center in the nation, includes forest, prairie and Trinity River bottomland habitat, all inside the city limits.

  "Feral hogs can root several feet into soft soil, eating invertebrates and the bulbs and rhizomes of plants, so they're having negative effect on the plant community as well as wildlife," said Rob Denkhaus, natural resource manager for the city-operated Fort Worth Nature Center.

  "They can be predators on some wildlife species such as ground-nesting birds, reptiles and amphibians and the like," Denkhaus said. "So their impact is far-reaching, and all negative."

  Rick Taylor, a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department wildlife biologist in Uvalde and author of the booklet "The Feral Hog in Texas", would agree.

  "Feral hog activity can destabilize wetland areas, springs, and creeks by excessive rooting for food, trampling and wallowing," Taylor said. "In addition to wetland habitat destruction and alteration, hogs can damage trees. While not active predators, wild hogs may prey on fawns, young lambs, and kid goats. If the opportunity arises, they may also destroy or consume eggs of ground nesting birds, such as turkeys and quail."

  Taylor says early Spanish explorers probably were the first to introduce feral hogs (Sus scrofa) in Texas more than 300 years ago. In the 1930s, European wild hogs or "Russian boars" were first introduced to Texas by ranchers and sportsmen for sport hunting. Most of these eventually escaped from game ranches and began free ranging and breeding with feral hogs. Because of this crossbreeding, there are very few, if any, true European hogs remaining in Texas.

  A mature feral hog may reach a shoulder height of 36 inches and weigh from 100 to more than 400 pounds. Feral hogs are true pigs, but native javelinas belong to a separate family of mammals. Javelinas are smaller, have an unnoticeable tail, a grizzled-grayish coat with a white band of hair around the shoulder or "collar", and are more social or herd-like animals. Although feral hogs and javelinas inhabit the same range, they are not compatible. No exact numbers exist, but wildlife biologists estimate there are more than 1.5 million feral hogs in Texas.

  Feral hogs are unprotected, exotic, non-game animals which may be taken by any means or methods at any time of year. There are no seasons or bag limits. The only requirements to hunt them are a valid Texas hunting license and landowner permission. In most cities, local ordinances make it illegal to discharge firearms, and public attitudes and safety concerns make hog control more complicated.

  Such was the case at the Fort Worth Nature Center, which began noticing a growing hog problem around the year 2000.

  "When we first saw rooting in sandy soil, we thought it was coyotes following pocket gopher burrows," Denkhaus said. "But eventually we started seeing hogs every day, including a couple of troubling encounters between people and hogs. We saw more and more environmental damage, particularly in wetland and bottomland hardwood areas."

  The nature center staff and supporters realized something had to be done. But an urban nature center is not like a rural ranch. The idea of trapping and killing hogs generated some controversy. Denkhaus and a team of others went through a long process that ended up taking two years, but eventually they developed an approach that all stakeholders could live with.

  "Hog control is not rocket science," Denkhaus said. "It means lethally removing hogs from the area. We wanted to do it in the most humane way possible that would allow the animal welfare community to accept it, and we also wanted it done safely."

  Pigs are nocturnal so they usually get into nature center traps overnight, and the staff checks them at first light, minimizing the time animals spend in the live traps. To minimize stress on the animals, from the moment workers approach them, Denkhaus says it takes an average of just four minutes to dispatch all animals in the trap.

  Disposing of the carcasses turned out to be another issue. Many people would have loved to see the meat go to needy organizations such as homeless shelters, but the nature center ultimately chose to leave the carcasses on site.

  "The pigs, as uninvited visitors to the refuge, have been using the natural resources since they got there," Denkhaus said. "So we’re putting the natural resources back into the natural system, and we’re also avoiding potential problems and liability for the city with disease transmission from the meat. They decay on site, which means we’re feeding our scavengers, our decomposer groups, we’re building new soil through the nutrients going through, and you can even see some changes in the plant community there. It’d be similar probably to the time when herds of bison came through and you had a one ton bison dropping and decomposing in place."

  Since the program began, Denkhaus says environmental damage at the refuge has decreased significantly, proof that the hog control program is working.

  The Fort Worth story illustrates what is believed to be a growing problem.

  "I have other communities calling, asking how we did it, which tells me other people are having the same problem," Denkhaus said. "Feral hogs are spreading just as the human population is spreading, so it’s only natural that the two populations are going to collide. Anywhere you have a river bottom type corridor coming into a city, you’re going to have the opportunity for pigs to be following it right into town."

  Taylor’s booklet "The Feral Hog in Texas" is geared primarily to rural settings, but it features a wealth of general information describing feral hogs and control practices, including specifications for building and deploying traps. An online version of the booklet resides on the TPWD Web site, where it can be viewed as HTML web pages or downloaded and printed in PDF format.

  Go to: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/nuisance/feral_hogs/ to read the booklet.

  I woke one morning and as I walked into the living room I thought I smelled the faint smell of skunk. I had seen one or two in the yards at night here in the little town I live in so I figured one had sprayed outside my house when one of the loose neighborhood dogs jumped it. Wrong!

  That evening after working at my stone business, we came home and it was a little stronger. I walked all the way around the house and there was no skunk smell, which meant, yep, the little son-of-a-skunk was under my house!

  You never heard the likes of growling and cussing and gnashing of teeth, but once I got my wife calmed down I decided there was really no need for her to slide through the vent hole under the house and go hand-to-gland with this stinky rodent after all. (Hell, I can't fit in the vent hole and besides, I’m kinda scared of spiders.) I had an old Koni-bear trap in the storage building and some aluminum sheeting panels to funnel that little critter right into the waiting jaws of death!

  My wife and I created the funnel necessary to bring the skunk out from the house and it looked pretty darn good! Then I found my trap. Hmmm. Seems I had forgot that the one I brought here from my grandparents was for beaver and about 3 times larger than what I would need for a skunk. With the jaws on it, you could easily catch a Rottweiller! I don't want a Rottweiller or any other dog harmed in my yard so we called a friend and asked him if he had any traps. He did. It was a live trap.

  One problem with live traps though. Live trap equals live skunk and I can't shoot a .22 in town! Okay, I know they aren't loud, but the city police had threatened me with harsh punishments if I shoot another gun in the city limits! (Wasn't my fault that the best dove flight pattern was right over the top of my house and I did have a license.)

  The trap had some bent wires that worked the trap doors and we had to repair them. Since the idea behind the funnel was to catch him coming or going from his new domicile, I did not see any sense in baiting it. Donnie decided that he did not bring over a can of sardines for nothing and he proceeded to open the can as we stood there beside the open vent and funnel.

  Suddenly my eyes got watery and I couldn't breathe. I thought I might throw up or faint. Donnie ate half the can of those oily sardines with his fingers. That's right! He tested the bait on himself! While I held the flashlight, Donnie put the rest inside the trap and we left it in place.

  I would like to note for everyone Donnie did not seem to be harmed by his sardine consumption. He went home and I went in the house.

  Needless to say I put a lot of thought into what I was going to do if I had a skunk in that trap the next morning. Dreams of Pepe-LePew filled my nightmares and I almost got up twice in the middle of the night to see if I had been fortunate enough to entrap that stink spewing rodent with the enticement of half-eaten sardines.

  Part of me thought what if he had not been under the house. Suppose he had been under the brush-pile I needed to burn and was right now traipsing around my yard waiting for someone unsuspecting to wander through in range of his stink gun?

  I did not get up with the chickens, but I did rise before 9 AM. Despite the threats from our local law enforcement I decided it best to arm myself with a reliable rim-fire rifle before checking the trap. I loaded it with .22 short hollow-points and walked to the back yard.

  The trap was empty and either Donnie had returned to finish off his snack or the skunk had dined on left-over sardines before making an escape that would have made Houdini proud! The door pointing toward the vent was closed solid, but the other door had failed to trip all the way, giving just enough space for a nose to lift it up. Anyway, the trap was empty and the fish was gone and there is no skunk within a million candle power spotlighted area under my house. (That spotlight was so bright I could see everything.)

  I set the trap again, but did not put any sardines in it. How will this saga end? I’m not sure, but if I catch him, I’m sure hauling him off without being sprayed will be a story all to its own.

  As long time subscribers know, from time to time we pass along messages/letters from our readers and visitors to our site. Well it’s that time again to share our mail. We’ll start with a couple of nice ones before we get to the nasty one. Enjoy.

  "I think your site is amazing. It’s helpful." - From Stephanie.

  "I just wanted you to know that I was amazed by your photos and also by your names. We are John and Christine Vender and live in Corrales, New Mexico." - Christine Vender

  "Thanks for this site. I and my kids are avid deer hunters but here in Maryland, after the prime time of deer hunting is over, my kids love to hunt small game and geese. We have one rule major rule of hunting in our family and that's if you kill one of God's creatures, (deer, squirrel, rabbit, ground hog, snapping turtle, goose, whatever) we will make dinner of the animal. My kids find this sometimes very amusing but, finding different recipes is sometimes difficult. Until I found you site. As soon as we feel that we have a recipe worthy of sending in, we will." - Thanks, The Bonneville's

  Thanks guys. We appreciate the kind words. Now to one that….we’ll let you form your own opinion about this one.

  "After carefully reading your article about how to catch, kill and eat rattlesnakes..... I have come to the conclusion that you're an ignorant-ass redneck! First of all, hunting for sport is stupid. Does it make you feel like a big man to go out and shoot animals that are just trying to go about their business of survival? Second of all, if you were even the least bit responsible, you would advise people to stay away from rattlesnakes they encounter and give them a WIDE berth. I happen to enjoy catching rattlesnakes, however I cause them no harm except the stress of being caught and, subsequently, photographed; then they go on their way (hopefully not to encounter any of your ignorant followers). Most people getting bitten by these inoffensive reptiles are the drunk rednecks that read these articles and see a couple of shows on animal planet and decide they are now qualified herpetologists and want to impress their other redneck friends, girlfriends, or whoever else may be in the vicinity that also happens to have a mullet and a great love of Dale Earnhardt Jr. I feel dumber for reading your article, thanks!" - Thomas Owens

  In the past we’ve shied away from passing along insulting notes like this but we couldn’t resist this time. We’ve never had a problem with constructive criticism but this one just stuck in our craw. In our opinion, Thomas sounds a bit hypocritical when he says "hunting for sport is stupid" and then later states he "happen(s) to enjoy catching rattlesnakes". Sounds like he hunts them for sport doesn’t it. Personally, we avoid snakes anywhere and everywhere we can. They do their thing and we do ours. And lastly, we don’t consider ourselves "rednecks", nor does anyone here have a mullet or a great love of Dale Junior. We’re Ricky Bobby fans.

  If anyone wants to weigh in on this, send your comments to mail@backwoodsbound.com. We’ll pass along any responses in a future issue. In the meantime let’s give Thomas a chance to pull his foot out of his mouth.