Pigs...

[SHANEA]

http://blogs.chron.com/shannontompkins/2006/12/pig_problems.html

Pig problems
Anyone who hunts, owns rural land, spends time afield or otherwise gets off the concrete in Texas knows the state's feral hog population has exploded over the past couple of decades.
And everyone, it seems, has a story or three about the damage these wild swine are doing to land, crops, equipment, wildlife, livestock and just about anything else the pigs can get to.
Once seen as a minor nuisance in the isolated areas in which they lived, feral hogs are, today, a statewide problem. According to experts on Texas feral hogs, only a handful of counties in the Panhandle and another handful farther south, in the desert country between Odessa and El Paso are "pig free."
Even the Big Bend country has been invaded by feral hogs.
While researching an article on Texas' feral hogs, I came across an interesting factoid illustrating just how much the problem of dealing with the destructive hogs has grown.
The Texas Wildlife Damage Management Service is a government/private program that, as part of its mission, assists landowners in addressing "negative impacts" of wildlife.
These days, the modestly-staffed TWDMS gets a lot of requests for help in "removing" feral hogs. Too many, really.
"With hogs, about all we can offer is to try putting out the small fires," said Randy Smith of TWDMS's San Antonio office.
The Service's records on hog "removal" reflect the escalation of the pig population and the problems that come with them.
In 1982, TWDMS staff, at the request of landowners, removed a total of 66 feral hogs.
Jump ahead 18 years. In 2000, agency staff trapped, shot or otherwise removed 4,600 feral hogs - about 70 times as many as in 1982.
And the numbers just kept climbing.
During 2005, Smith said, the wildlife damage folks removed a staggering 14,600 feral hogs from Texas lands.
Today, TWDMS staff often take more feral hogs off one piece of land in Texas in one day than they removed from the whole state in a year back in the 1980s.


Posted by Shannon Tompkins at December 26, 2006 04:57 PM

[Casa Grande]

Even the Big Bend country has been invaded by feral hogs.

when i first heard of this last summer, I was actually shocked. I had no idea this was the case.  Apparently the problem is quite big but, so far, it's confined to the northern part of the park.  The real concern is if/when they hit the Chisos.  :(

[chisos_muse]

Even the Big Bend country has been invaded by feral hogs.

when i first heard of this last summer, I was actually shocked. I had no idea this was the case.  Apparently the problem is quite big but, so far, it's confined to the northern part of the park.  The real concern is if/when they hit the Chisos.  :(

This is when we bring some garlic and "Chef Homero" along for the hike!

[homerboy2u]

This small Pet , yeah right :!: , was caught in Zapata,Tx. very near Carizo Springs,Tx.  I am not sure if this is a record holder or how much it weighted , but these beasts , at the rate they are growing wouldn't surprise a bit if we hear in the future of attacks to people.



 I don't care :!: ...It looks yummy to me... :twisted: , I could just savore it in beefy tamales  :!:

[chisos_muse]

This small Pet , yeah right :!: , was caught in Zapata,Tx. very near Carizo Springs,Tx.  I am not sure if this is a record holder or how much it weighted , but these beasts , at the rate they are growing wouldn't surprise a bit if we hear in the future of attacks to people.



 I don't care :!: ...It looks yummy to me... :twisted: , I could just savore it in beefy tamales  :!:

Holy pickled pigs feet, BATMAN! :shock:
That is one hefty hog :!:

[BigBendHiker]

That is a biggun!

It is amazing how much they can tear up in a pasture in one night.  My father in law has them in his pasture from time to time and they can root up a huge area in one evening...

BBH

[Roy]

Looks like "Son of Hogzilla".

Lots of them around here;  used to see them whenever I went to Aransas NWR until they initiated a removal/eradication plan several years ago.

Saw my first nutria in the area last spring;  at Leona Turnbull Birding Center in Port A.  They've done quite a bit of damage to the habitat there;  I keep hoping one of the gators will acquire a taste for the things, but they apparently taste so bad even a reptile can't stomach one.  This is an introduced species that I have absolutely no use for;  at least you can make sausage out of the hogs.

[SHANEA]

That looks like something you'd see on snopes.

www.snopes.com

[Casa Grande]

holy mother of.....that's as big as a grizzly....hard for my mind to believe it  

they would have had to be really really good in photoshop to fake that one....shadow is there and everything...wow :shock:

[homerboy2u]

Shadown is there,  the guy who is posing for the proportion of that pig is there.....has anybody seen it´s hinde legs ? ...their still on the floor. Meaning that pig has at least 2 ft. to go taller.

  I heard that the winch could not go any higher and that is why they took that picture as it is.

  Let me see , if I can get you some more info on that Pig-zilla  :!:

[RichardM]

That looks like something you'd see on snopes.
www.snopes.com" target="_blank">www.snopes.com

Like the original Hogzilla and another Big Hog.

[SHANEA]

Saw my first nutria

Only in Louisiana...

Nutria for Human Consumption

I don't know if this is a "joke" site or not.  I'm very skeptical of such things.  It touts to be a site of the "The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries", but it is not a .gov site.  

WHAT IS IT LIKE?
Nutria meat is very similar to rabbit meat and tastes like dark turkey meat.  

What's on the menu tonight Chefbeemer?

http://www.nutria.com/site9.php

How about some Nutri chili?
http://www.nutria.com/site14.php

http://www.nutria.com/site.php

[homerboy2u]

That looks like something you'd see on snopes.
www.snopes.com" target="_blank">www.snopes.com" target="_blank">www.snopes.com" target="_blank">www.snopes.com

Like the original Hogzilla and another Big Hog.

 Woah there :!: ...I just read your links Richard, if it is correct we could be having a record breaker here. I have no idea who the rancher in the picture is or where exactly he lives, but i can ask my friend who sent me the picture for more details.

  Let´s see where we can get.... :?

[Roy]

Saw my first nutria

Only in Louisiana...

Nutria for Human Consumption

I don't know if this is a "joke" site or not.  I'm very skeptical of such things.  It touts to be a site of the "The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries", but it is not a .gov site.  

WHAT IS IT LIKE?
Nutria meat is very similar to rabbit meat and tastes like dark turkey meat.  

They've been smoking crack (as far as I'm concerned).

These are the first nutria I've seen in the Corpus/Port A area.   When I was a kid in Houston, one of our Scout leaders would take us out "hunting" nutria.  He knew some of the rice farmers around Kemah/Webster and we'd clean out the varmints (nutria, cottonmouths)  around their tanks;  we'd even find them around sewers/septic tanks.  They'd let us bird hunt for free in exchange.  

Of course, these would be the "free range" nutria.  I guess the "farm bred" would be cleaner, but I'm not eating nutria stew until after WW III.

What's on the menu tonight Chefbeemer?

http://www.nutria.com/site9.php

How about some Nutri chili?
http://www.nutria.com/site14.php

http://www.nutria.com/site.php

[Roy]

Just noticed the ads at the top ot this page;  must be "targeted" advertising.