We Have a Pig Problem

When people ask me where I live, I usually say Houston.  More specifically, we live in suburban Houston.  In general, you wouldn't think that living in a large city like that would lend itself to much wildlife unless we went to the zoo!  But, we choose our neighborhood because of its natural setting; the wooded areas around it, the lakes, the creek that winds through the property.  Of course, this natural setting also comes along with nature's creatures.  We get regular visits from armadillos, raccoons, and snakes of all kinds.  My neighbor woke up one morning with a pot belly pig in his yard.  I've seen both deer and coyote by our house.  Once, I even watched a Texas Eagle snatch a squirrel from the tree I was standing under.

Recently though, they've cleared off the property beside us to start the next phase of our development.  This, coupled with the lack of rain and dry conditions, has sent all kinds of critters running around.  More specifically, its created a pig problem!

Over the last two weeks, our yard and our neighbors have been destroyed by feral hogs.  They roam through the neighborhood and on the creek trail reeking havoc.  We've been hit a least 4 times. Most of us will have to re-sod in the spring.   

One of the neighbors saw the herd moving along the creek trail late one night.  He estimated there were about 25 hogs in the pack.  Our street has taken most of the damage because we're the first green grass they see coming out of the woods.  So, we set a trap on the vacant lot next to my neighbors house.  And guess what!  We caught some piggies!  We caught these three a couple nights after we first set the trap.  We caught another 4 hogs the next night.  We're thinking of keeping one as a pet.......just kidding!

I help coordinate National Night Out for our block every year.  My proposal was to send them to the butcher and we have a big cook-out on October 4th.  We could "Live High on the Hog!" literally.  After considering all the fertilizer, pesticides, fungicides, and ant killer Jacob puts in the yard each season and knowing how much of my grass these hogs have eaten, we decided that wouldn't be a good idea.  I hear wild hog doesn't taste that good anyway.