FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas – Home surveillance cameras have caught many wild animals on video but one Fort Bend County homeowner was surprised to see just how many animals he captured roaming his neighborhood.
Glen Garner told KHOU that he went to check his home security footage after he saw damage to his yard.
When he pulled up the video, he said he was shocked to see 25-30 hogs rooting through yards along his street.
“You’ve seen one hog, OK. And then you see the whole family troop filing in. It’s just really bizarre,” said Garner. “They move really quickly. Looking back on our camera, they were in our yard less than a minute.”
Feral hogs are an invasive species largely introduced to North America in the 1500s by Spanish explorer and conquistador Hernando de Soto. Since then, their numbers have skyrocketed due to the lack of predators and their relatively fast reproduction rate compared to other land mammals.
KHOU spoke with a hog trapper who works in the Fort Bend County area and he said the only way to control wild hog populations is to capture and kill 75% of the animals.
Feral hogs reproduce at an alarming rate with an average of five to six pigs per litter and one to two litters per year, according to Texas A&M Agrilife Extension, which estimates the feral hog population in Texas to be 2.6 million.
Feral hogs can be found in 99% of Texas counties and cause an estimated $52 million in damages to Texas agricultural enterprises each year, the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension reports.
Garner said that while there hasn’t been any structural damage caused by the hogs, the damage to landscaping has been extensive.