Has Central Texas Gone Hog Wild?

Here piggy piggy piggy, ready to go to market? Care to bring along about 800 of your closest piggy friends and hog relatives?

In scouring the media landscape for tidbits about Texas which you have not yet heard, I came upon this article, "Texas is Losing the War on Feral Hogs."

It turns out this is not a recent problem. In searching for a video to accompany this piece, I found footage of people attempting to offset this over abundance of pigs going as far back as nine years ago.  This video from the state shows the situation worsening... and it was shot three years ago.

I was prepared to make some smartalecky comment that we were just eating enough of these beasts. Our fixation on the brisket in Texas and all things cow has not created enough of a demand for the tasty meat of the pig.  As it turns out, demand has little to do with the multiplication of these feral hogs, pigs which have descended from formerly domesticated animals which long ago escaped captivity.

It also turns out pigs can reproduce about as fast as rabbits.  And rabbits can have a new litter almost every month. Yikes!

By the way, rabbits are tasty too! Hasenpfeffer! Nom nom nom!

It's not uncommon to see pulled pork on the menus of Texas's finest barbecue restaurants. It's a fairly recent culinary trend compared with the promenience of beef on the tables of Texas. Elsewhere in the south, like in Memphis and the Carolinas, pork has long been the thing.  When you realize there was more beef in Texas, running through Oklahoma and up into Kansas City, you can see why these areas are beef dominant. In the Carolinas, different story.

The solution? I think the Texas wildlife officials are better source than I could ever be but a demand for hogs can only stoke the demand for professional hog trappers.  I'll happily do my part at local barbecue and Cuban restaurants.