It seems that early conservation efforts have produced an over-abundance of dangerous animals in a variety of places, including Texas, where the Texas State Legislature is considering adopting the same approach Sarah Palin has to reducing the wolf population in Alaska. Soon-and evidently it can't be too soon to suit the numerous farmers and ranchers of West Texas-you will be able to pay a fee in order to engage in the sport of aerial hunting. The target?
FERAL HOGS!
A word of caution though about that link. I used it due to it's focus on the Texas legislation, despite it's many inaccuracies, the most egregious being the statement by the reporter to the effect that, though feral hogs are dangerous to small animals and even some livestock, they are not dangerous to humans, from whom they would just as soon run away from "on their stubby legs".
In fact, they are as dangerous to humans as they are to any other animals. They are in fact very aggressive, especially when hungry or horny-which seems to be a perpetual state in all cases.
Aside from their aggression, they wreak havoc on plants and crops, thus endangering the food supplies of other animals in their native habitats. They will in fact eat anything and everything that is biodegradable.
A commenter to the article gives a compelling description of the feral hog, as well as a rundown of the many dangers it poses.
The feral hog population is completely out of control. We will do something about it when they take down a couple of kids near the populated areas. And when they get into a feeding frenzy, they will eat anything, including each other. I was riding around a ranch with the owner in South Texas and asked how do you know there are feral hog out here? He said "do you see any cow poop"? They travel in packs and they have werewolf-looking heads – snouts grow out, balding hair patterns, gnarly looking teeth that go ever which way, and beady little eyes mounted on the side of big ol heads. They are incredibly fast. And there are millions of them now. They have no known predator. They carry Brucellosis. They have nasty scent glands. The males are caped with an inch of tallow armor, a clavicle protecting a heart shot, a thick bone head that bullets glance off of. And they are smart until they get hungry or horny, then they make mistakes – just like us. And you can make them mad. Good eating, tho (ha!). But save the last pistol shot for yourself, if the hunt goes bad.
Admittedly, this is by no means an expert opinion, and the numbers that he cites-millions-are doubtless exaggerated, but it provides a good anecdotal backdrop to the story.
Here is another web-site that gives probably a more accurate description of the animal, along with numerous separate articles pertaining to them.
Some might mistakenly confuse them for wild boars, and although to a great extent they are part wild boar, an animal which was brought over centuries ago from Europe, they are for the most part predominantly the offspring of escaped or abandoned domesticated hogs, and native American wild hogs, which was seemingly the intended breeding target among those who brought the wild boar across the Atlantic. Now they are a big problem, not only in the ways previously listed, but due to the simple fact that they can live in, and adapt to, any type of terrain. Although they are relatively limited for now, this could easily change, given their adaptability and prodigious rates of reproduction.
Of course, there are some who object to the aerial hunting bill, though it is hard to conceive of how they could possible have the grounds to do so, and certainly garner any kind of significant support, especially in Texas, where this is a growing problem of some significance.
On the other hand, I never would have thought it possible that hunting bears would ever be illegal in Kentucky, but it was, and now that there is an official bear hunting season, opponents are trying their best to limit the kinds of weapons that could be used to kill these animals, despite the fact that they are with ever greater frequency finding their way into areas of human habitation. Despite the obvious danger involved here, the anti-bear hunting activists insist that hunters during bear season should be limited to flint-lock loading rifles and cross-bows, out of some misguided sense of fairness to the bears-one of which not too long ago broke into a man's house. Despite the fact that had the man not killed the bear it would have killed his dog and possibly himself, to say nothing of the property damage that might have resulted, the man was actually prosecuted.
Some people just don't get it, and probably never will. It's going to be interesting to see what kind of excuses these so-called wildlife activists come up with in Texas. I guess the folks there had better be thankful there are no Republican politicians supporting this bill who have a conceivable shot at achieving national office.
2 comments:
Troutsky being a fisher and hunter, is good on these issues.
There is such a thing as ethical hunting.
To not cook the best meal possible from the meat, is disrespecting the animal.
Sad to say, though, these animals serve no useful purpose. They are more like big, giant overgrown rats than anything. I would be scared to death to eat anything from one of them. Domesticated pork is bad enough if it isn't thoroughly cooked, I don't even want to think about what you could catch from one of these things.
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