County Weighs Merits vs. Costs of Hog Eradication

Recently a citizen addressed the commissioners court urging the county to eliminate the feral hog and coyote bounties in a cost-saving effort.

So County Judge Dan Mueller asked County Extension Agent Scott Willey Thursday to address the court with information about the bounty program.

Willey said that since the feral hog bounty was started in Fayette County in 2009, some 51,808 feral hogs has been turned in.

The records for coyote turn-ins do not go back that far but 1,208 have been turned in over the last four years.

The bounty the county pays for those has changed over the years and now is $5 per hog and $12 per coyote.

“Was it money well spent?” Judge Mueller asked Willey.

Willey said that wasn’t for him to decide but that feral hogs were a bigger problem than coyotes “without a doubt and that hogs here do a lot of damage and need to be controlled ... about 52,000 animals have been eliminated from the population (since 2009) and that’s significant ... There’s no silver bullet. I’m all for multiple approaches and the bounty is one of those tools.”

The commissioners seemed to agree with him.

Willey also advocated for deer hunters to make sure their feeders had a fence around them so hogs can’t eat the corn.

Willey said wild hogs average two litters per year and six piglets per litter – and that number can go up if they are well fed.

The county also provides hog traps that locals can rent.

“If we’re not proactive, that’s when we can get into a problem,” Willey said.

Wild pig crop damages and control costs are reported to be greater than $1.6 billion across the nation and conservatively $800 million in Texas, annually.

Most damage caused by wild pigs is through either rooting or the direct consumption of plant and animal materials, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.