Sasquatch Classics: The Ottine Thing

What is it about swamps that strike such a primal chord in men? Is it the near impenetrable vegetation that obscures our view and potentially hides all manner of threats? Is it the slow moving black water of bayous and marshes that harbor all kinds of ill-tempered beasts from alligators to snapping turtles and that make travel all but impossible? The venomous snakes, perhaps? Too, there is the sense that one gets when making your way out of the swamp, almost as if the bog doesn’t want to let you go. Could that be it?

Or is it something else?

There’s a feeling one gets in the swamps, marshes and bottoms of Texas and the Deep South that is hard to define. Once surrounded by bogs, quicksand and dark woods, it becomes easy to imagine that you are setting foot in a place where no man has trod before. It is like visiting the land as it must have appeared eons before, a time when anything might have walked the swamp. Stand in that same swamp at night and the mind wonders if whatever walked the swamp in times past might not walk it still. It would seem in some locales that might be exactly the case.

To many, the Ottine Swamp is but 198 acres of bog and thicket located almost exclusively within the confines of Palmetto State Park. It is much more than that, however, and is actually made up of some 10,000 acres that flank the San Marcos River between Luling and Gonzalez. There is an amazing diversity of plant life in this area ranging from hardwood bottoms, mesquite flats and true palmetto dominated swamplands. It is a spot out of place geographically and out of time chronologically where people have reported strange encounters with a hair-covered, bigfoot-like creature known locally as “the thing.”

One of the most famous accounts regarding the thing of Ottine Swamp was documented by historian William Syers in his book Ghost Stories of Texas (1981). Syers recounts the experiences of one Berthold Jackson in the book. Jackson was a longtime resident of the Gonzales area and had spent years stalking the creature by the time he was interviewed by Syers in 1980. Jackson is described as an expert woodsman, someone who would know all of the regular denizens of the swamp. He claimed to have had several run ins with the thing but had nothing substantive to show for it. He claimed to have heard it, however, and said, “I’ve heard it, nights. I’ve heard just about every animal’s cry; this one is somewhere between human and animal – like nothing you’ve ever heard in your life.” When asked what he did whenever he had heard the creature’s cry, Jackson said, “We went after it but it is black dark in there; it moved too fast. We heard it dead ahead, then all at once, a quarter mile north.” Jackson was continually frustrated and confused by his inability to get a look at the thing. “I’ve put a big light on it; so have others, more than once. Nothing!” he said. While a true visual eluded Berthold Jackson, he did feel like he had an idea as to the size of the beast and what it might be. He told Syers that he felt that the creature was well over a hundred pounds. “Yet,” he added, “we’ve doubled back and seen limbs stepped on and broke.” Jackson added, “It could weigh more – like an ape.”

Berthold Jackson theorizing that the thing of Ottine Swamp might be an ape is interesting and might have been based on the visual descriptions of the beast given by others in the area. The thing has been described as covered in gray or black hair, ranging from four to eight feet tall, incredibly fast and, seemingly, possessing the ability to melt into the swamp almost instantaneously. This last fact could contribute to the mythology that has sprung up around the legend where it is said the beast can become invisible at will.

Jackson shared another well known, at least locally, incident that occurred in the early 1970’s involving local residents Brewster Short and Wayne Hodges, who were running dogs in the swamp one night (presumably, the pair were hunting raccoons). One of the dogs caught a scent and was off like a shot. The hunters trailed the dog for over two miles to the base of Lookout Hill, near Palmetto State Park. “They got one dog in,” Jackson recalled. “Wayne was in the back of the car holding his hound and Brewster was calling in the others. All at once, Wayne’s dog bristled all up and started howling and crying. When he did, something reared up on the back of the car. Wayne looked around and all he could see was big and gray.” The pair beat it out of the area as soon as possible, leaving the two dogs still in the swamp to fend for themselves. Jackson added the following, “Wayne’s plenty brave, always was, but when he got home, he moved into his mother and dad’s bedroom.”

The Lookout Hill area has remained a hotspot for encounters with the thing. Many an amorous couple has been run out of the area. Sometimes they abandon their parking spots because of blood curdling screams emanating from just inside the brush line. Others have reported having their vehicles shaken violently or struck by something amazingly strong. A smaller number of people have reported actually catching a glimpse of a huge, hair-covered creature that glowered at them from the edge of the woods or, in rare cases, actually approached their vehicle and peeked in the window or windshield at uncomfortably close quarters. These types of experiences are not limited to only the Lookout Hill area; however, they have been reported for several miles up and down the river between Luling and Gonzales. Mobile homes have been slapped and shaken, pets have come up missing and strange tracks have been found over the years.

The legend is not only historical in nature, however, as incidents continue to occur. Recently, I investigated the report of a couple that was out for an afternoon hike at Palmetto State Park when they had an encounter with something that matches the description of the thing. The couple had a rock thrown at them, heard odd howling vocalizations and, finally, caught a glimpse of a large, bipedal, black creature tearing from one side of the hiking trail to the other. You can read my investigation report on this incident here. Too, Palmetto State Park, and by extension, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, seems to have embraced their swamp monster. A framed photo, taken by a camper in 2011, allegedly showing the beast, hangs in the park headquarters. In addition, a small bigfoot figurine sits on the mantle, swamp monster t-shirts are for sale in a wide range of colors and a pamphlet titled The Thing of Ottine Swamp is available, free of charge, to park visitors. The legend is alive and well.

While South-Central Texas does not contain the type of habitat most would consider ideal for a sasquatch-type animal (the possible exception being Ottine Swamp) the area actually has a long history of encounters with such creatures. The tales of the wildwoman of the Navidad, the beast of Bear Creek, the bear king of Marble Falls, the Converse werewolf, the naming of Woman Hollering Creek, the hairy man of Round Rock and, now, the Ottine thing all contain elements that, if described today, would have most people thinking “bigfoot.” Granted, most of these tales involve flaps of sightings that took place decades ago but encounters continue to be reported sporadically, especially along the San Marcos River between Luling and Gonzales, to this very day.

Does the Ottine Swamp hold a secret? I cannot say for sure. What I can tell you is that a few weeks ago I traveled to Palmetto State Park to meet with the couple that had reported seeing the creature. I arrived the day before I was to meet with this couple. I wanted a chance to walk the trails and get the lay of the land prior to visiting with them. As I explored the area where the pair claimed to have had a rock thrown at them, I heard a deep, guttural growl coming from the brush. I backed away a few steps and the growling ceased. I took a few steps forward and the growling resumed. I stared into the brush but saw nothing. The growling was loud enough to give the impression that the animal making it was very close. I felt like I should have been able to see it but I could not. I retreated again but the growling continued, albeit from a more distant location, and went on intermittently for the next ten minutes, or so, as I resumed my hike. I tried to record the growl on my iPhone but by this time it was too distant to pick up. The whole experience was rather odd. I simply don't understand why I was unable to see an animal that, judging by the deep tone of the growling, must have been fairly large. It was close yet, somehow, remained out of sight.

As I approached my campsite, I stopped and looked back at the primeval swamp. The sun was low but there was still a solid hour of daylight before dusk. Even so, the gloom emanating from the swamp was almost palpable. The children of some campers who, when I had started my hike about two hours before, had been playing near the boundary of the swamp, had moved closer to their tents, trailers and parents, away from the dark wood line. Too, the nightly chorus of insects and frogs had already started within the marsh. Despite what my watch told me, darkness had already come to the Ottine. I smiled and walked back to my camp. I realized that whatever secret the Ottine Swamp holds, it would remain secret at least one more day.

Maybe it will remain so forever.

Source: Syers, William. Ghost Stories of Texas. : Texian Press, 1981. Print.

NAWAC Report #01140018: Couple Encounters Something Strange While Hiking in Palmetto State Park

Following is my write-up of a recent investigation I did concerning an alleged sighting of a sasquatch, or wood ape, type creature within the confines of Palmetto State Park. What follows is my write-up. For the full text of the witness's original report, visit the NAWAC site here.

This investigation was conducted as a result of an incident that allegedly occurred in Gonzales County, Texas, within the confines of Palmetto State Park, 08 June 2014.

The witnesses, a husband and wife, are avid hikers and decided to stop at Palmetto State Park for a hike on their way home from a trip to New Braunfels. The pair live farther to the east and stopping for a hike was a welcome way to break up their trip and get some exercise.

The couple began their hike on the San Marcos River Trail and located what they believed to have been a very large footprint in the sandy soil just off the main trail. The track was located close to one of the spots where hikers can leave the trail and negotiate the steep riverbank to reach the San Marcos River, approximately 30 feet below. They did not think too much about the track at the time other than the husband commenting, “That was one big boy,” as the track, according to the couple, measured approximately 16” in length. The pair proceeded to negotiate the steep incline to the waters edge below the trail. After taking in the sites along the water and taking a short break, the pair began making their way back up the bank to the trail. The female witness walked ahead of her husband and reached the top first. The bank, slick from recent rains, was giving the husband some trouble as he tried to walk back up. He decided to attack the incline quickly in the hopes that his momentum would be enough to propel him to the top. Just as he picked up his pace, a large rock struck the ground behind him. The rock struck the spot where, in his estimation, he would have been standing had he not decided to pick up his pace just a few seconds before. Both hikers heard the thud of the rock impacting the hillside and then tumbling down the incline toward the water. The husband stated, “Somebody just threw a rock at me!” The wife initially believed that her husband was playing a joke on her until she saw how angry he was about the incident. Once the couple crested the hill, they took a good look around and below them in an effort to spot the rock thrower. They saw no one. A bit confused and perturbed, the couple continued their hike.

As they walked on, the pair heard various snaps and breaks, which led them to believe the local wildlife was very active that day. Shortly before reaching the point where the San Marcos River Trail meets the Mesquite Flats Trail, the couple heard a loud vocalization from just behind them and in the direction of the river. The couple described the noise as a howl of some kind. They described the sound as similar to that of a cow bellowing but different and deeper. It should be noted that the male witness is a USDA meat inspector by trade and has worked in a slaughterhouse for years. He is quite sure he knows every sound a cow is capable of making and insists what he and his wife heard that day was not a cow. The couple was a bit unnerved and the thought occurred to them that they were being followed or stalked by the unseen rock thrower. Deciding this kind of thinking was silly, the pair decided to continue on the outer loop of the trail instead of taking a shorter route back to the parking area.

Shortly after entering the Mesquite Flats Trail, the pair heard another loud vocalization from behind them that was identical to the first howl a few minutes earlier. The pair, getting more uneasy by the minute, picked up their pace significantly. The hiked roughly ¾ of a mile without incident, the female walking about 15-20 feet in front of her husband. About ¼ of a mile from the point where the Mesquite Flats Trail transitions to the Ottine Swamp Trail, the couple crossed a long boardwalk-style bridge. The male witness was no more than 30 feet beyond the bridge, his wife ahead of him, when the couple heard a loud snap behind them. They wheeled around quickly to see what had caused the loud snap. The male witness's attention was focused on a tree limb that had appeared in the middle of the trail. It had not been there moments before. The limb was a bit curved, almost bow-like, in shape and was still rocking or wavering as it rested on the trail. As he stared at the stick, he caught a glimpse of something black to his left moving quickly away from the trail. The female witness was not distracted by the stick in the trail and caught site of a large, black figure running at breakneck speed from her right to left away from the trail. She got a good, if brief, look at the figure. She described it as jet black and “ungodly fast.” She was positive that what she saw was upright and bipedal. While mainly taken aback by the speed of the figure, she also noted that it was very large. The female witness described the figure as “massive.” The only sound the pair reported hearing was four heavy “thumps” as the figure ran away from them.

The couple made their way closer to each other and stared out in the direction in which the figure had fled. As they looked, they both saw it, partially obscured by a tree but peeking around it and seemingly looking back at them. The figure was now roughly 40 yards from the amazed couple as they stood on the trail. The couple decided to get going and began their hike onto the Ottine Swamp Trail, all the while trying to keep an eye on the large black figure that appeared to be observing them. The trail took a bend back to the right shortly thereafter and some vegetation blocked their view of the figure for a few moments. When the couple got a bit farther up the trail and again had a window through which they could see the tree the figure had been behind, it was no longer there. Neither witness heard it move away.

Now thoroughly unnerved, the couple hiked quickly down the Ottine Swamp Trail and back toward Park Road 11 and the parking area. Roughly ½ mile from the end of the trail, the pair heard one last loud vocalization. It was the same loud bellowing/howl they had already heard twice previously. This time, however, the vocalization originated from a spot much closer to them and, much to their chagrin, ahead of them, between them and the perceived safety of the park. Cautiously, but quickly, the couple covered the final ½ mile and made their way back to their vehicle.

The witnesses immediately went to the park headquarters to report their experience. They were surprised to hear from the rangers that they get similar reports often. The witnesses claim the rangers told them the most common experiences are strange sounds/vocalizations and rock throwing. While at the park headquarters, the couple got a brief education on the history of the Ottine Swamp thing or Ottine Swamp monster. The creature is extremely well known locally and sightings go back decades. The park actually promotes the monster in their gift shop. A framed photograph, allegedly showing the creature, taken by a camper in 2011 hangs on the wall. A small bigfoot figurine adorns the mantle. Swamp monster t-shirts are for sale and a handout is available, free of charge, which briefly documents the history of the thing in the Ottine Swamp. A bit overwhelmed, the couple returned home and immediately set about doing some research on their own. It was during this research that they came across the NAWAC site and filed a sighting report.

I found both witnesses to be very credible. Their story did not vary from the initial written account. Each of the witnesses experienced moments while retracing their steps that day when they got very nervous and had to take a moment to regain their composure. At one such point, the male witness struggled to light a cigarette due to his hands shaking so badly. I detected no signs of deception and, to the contrary, came away feeling that the couple had encountered a form of wildlife for which they had no explanation.

The NAWAC continues to collect and investigate reports of encounters, both contemporary and historical, with strange, bipedal ape-like creatures in Texas and its neighboring states that fit the traditional description of the wood ape.

Reader Reports Childhood Encounter With A Giant Snake

The growing population of Burmese pythons in the Everglades of Florida has become a well-known issue to the general public. While other invasives, such as the Argentine tegu, the zebra mussel and the piranha-like pacu are all causing problems for native wildlife and eco-systems, nothing seems to grab a hold of the imagination of the public quite like the thought of a mammoth snake slithering about the swamps and marshes of the American South.

I’ve long feared that the issues with which Florida is currently dealing in regards to invasive snakes could become a problem for us in Texas. I did a post a while back in which I compared the annual precipitation amounts and average temperatures of the Everglades to those in SE Texas and found them similar enough to think that Burmese pythons, and other exotic reptiles, would do just fine here as well. You can read that post here.

While this “invasion” of large exotic snakes has not taken place yet, there have been a few stories that have made their way in to me. You can hit the “giant snakes” tag in the right-hand margin to read about a couple of them. Recently, another account came in via email from a reader detailing an experience he had with a giant snake as a child. As you can imagine, I cannot absolutely verify that the story he tells is true but I can tell you that this reader provided his full name and sent the story in via an email. Most people who provide accounts of this nature simply send them in anonymously in the form of a comment to an existing post making communication after the fact impossible. That is not the case here, so make of all of that what you will. I am withholding the name of the reader of my own volition. He has not asked me to do so.

His account follows:

"A True Giant Snake Story

Two young children, a boy 7 and a his older sister, 8, lived occasionally with their adopted “Grandparents” who lived in a wooded area on Taylor Lake near Seabrook, Texas. Their home, well out in the country off a gravel road in those days, the boy and his sister would dismount from the school bus and walk just a little over a quarter of a mile up a one lane oyster shell road leading to the little farm house overlooking the lake.

On one particular day, the two children decided to walk through the edge of the woods adjoining the shell road. They were approximately 30 feet or so from left side the road when they approached a downed tree in their path. It was then that they saw something that chilled their blood. They never saw the snake’s head for it had already crossed the length of the rather large fallen oak tree; but they saw the body, as big around as a man’s arm—or more—as it slithered along, and, looking to the shell road as a way of putting distance between them and the snake, the children saw the tip of the tail of the giant snake as it crossed the shell road quite a distance away, disappearing into the grass beside the road.

As fast as their little legs could carry them, they raced along the shell road to the farmhouse where their “Grandma” and “Grandpa” were sitting on the front veranda facing the lake—shelling purple hull peas. The children yelled at the old couple to “get the gun—we’ve just seen the biggest snake you ever saw. It must be 40 feet long or more.”

The old couple smiled knowingly at each other and told the children to go out and play in the back yard. Even the children’s parents, who happened to be there at the time, dismissed the report as childish imagination. It just could not be true—there could never be such a snake around Taylor Lake, or in Texas for that matter—or maybe in the whole world.

But the children knew it was true and not an exaggeration. For many years, as they grew into their seventies, they sometimes would look into each others eyes and ask, “Do you remember that snake?” The two are still alive today: my sister lives in Dallas—and I live in Houston only 28 miles from where we saw “the snake” sometime around 1947 or 1948. We could never convince even our closest family members and friends of what we saw that day.

We have thought about it for many, many years and concluded that, perhaps, a large Python or Anaconda must have escaped from the Houston zoo; or somehow an Anaconda from South America had made its way north. The following is a cut from an article I recently found on the internet:

“There are some historical reports of early European explorers of the South American jungles seeing giant anacondas up to 100 feet long and some of the native peoples of the South American jungle have reported seeing anacondas up to 50 feet long.”

This story is true and my sister and I will go to our graves declaring it to be so.

XXXX XXXXX
Houston, Texas"

I suppose it is possible that this gentleman might be overestimating the overall length of the snake. Places and things we remember from our childhood often seem smaller than they did when we were little. Even if this is true, however, this still must have been a really big snake. Even if this gentleman has overestimated the length of the snake by fifty percent, that still leaves us with a serpent that is 20-feet or more in length. There is no snake native to North America that large. There are actually only a handful of snakes found anywhere in the world that approach 20-feet in length. The reader, himself, mentions two of them in his email: the anaconda and the python (several species of python can approach, or surpass, 20-feet in length). That being the case, we are almost assuredly dealing with an invasive animal. How in the world did it get to Seabrook, Texas? The date of the sighting, 1947 or 1948, predates the exotic pet trade that is causing so many problems today. Another possibility that crossed my mind is that it might have been a true “sea serpent” of some kind. Seabrook does, after all, sit right on Galveston Bay, which in turn, opens up to the Gulf of Mexico. This is an unlikely scenario to be sure, but you never know.

One other thought crossed my mind as well. What if this reader has not overestimated the length of the snake he saw at all? That is the stuff of which nightmares are made.

If anyone out there reading this has had a similar experience to that of this reader, please email it in to me. I would love to hear about it. It may also help me gauge whether or not we are seeing an increase in invasive species of snake in the Lone Star State.

Strange Cat Photographed in Mount Pleasant, Texas

A reader sent me an interesting photo a couple of weeks ago. The photo features what looks to be a large, dark and very strange looking cat of some kind. As you will see, the cat is very unusual looking and the reader was hoping for some help in identifying exactly what kind of cat was roaming about near her home.

The photo was actually snapped by the reader’s father at his place of employment, a plant near Mount Pleasant, Texas. As if often the case with these types of photos, there is little in the picture to provide scale so determining the size of the cat with any real accuracy is impossible. Having said that, the cat appears to me to be larger than an average house cat and very long-legged. No tail is visible in the photo, though it is difficult to say absolutely if it is not present or, possibly, tucked between the back legs of the animal. Stranger still, the cat seems to be almost completely hairless. While I have seen multiple animals, ranging from coyotes and foxes to raccoons suffering from hair loss due to mange; I have never observed a wild cat in that condition.

Cats can, and do, get mange. Mange is caused by parasites and cats can suffer from several different types. By far the most common form of feline mange is called Feline scabies (Notoedric mange) but cats can also get Sarcoptic mange, Cheyletiella mange, Otodectic mange (ear mites) and Demodectic mange. Symptoms vary, depending on the type of mange contracted, but some that are common almost across the board are weight loss, brown marks on the nose and ears, scabbed patches on and near the head and neck, patchy hair loss, very thin fur and scabs and “crusty patches” on the body. It is rare to see a domestic cat with near total hair loss as owners recognize the symptoms fairly early on and get their animal to a vet for treatment. A wild cat would be a different story, however, as there would be no treatment for an animal suffering with this condition. Certainly, mange has been a real problem among the wild canids of Texas over the last ten years or so, resulting in a host of “chupacabra” sightings. I, myself, have seen a coyote, completely devoid of hair, in the Sam Houston National Forest. Since several types of mange can affect felids as well as canids, it is only natural to think it could be a growing problem for our wild cats as well. The reason that it has not been observed, in my opinion, is that cats are so much more elusive than canids. They simply are not seen very often.

Now, back to the photo. Based on all of the above, my best guess is that the picture shows a common bobcat (Lynx rufus) suffering from a terrible case of mange. The long-legged appearance of the cat and the seeming lack of a long tail all but cement this animal’s identity in my mind. The lack of fur certainly give the bobcat an odd and alien appearance, but I believe a bobcat is exactly what we are looking at in this photo.

It just goes to show that nature always has a surprise or two for us. It also points out the need to always keep a camera handy. You just never know what you might come across out there.

Back in the Saddle Again

I apologize for the lack of action on the blog of late. While I have been quiet, all is well. My hiatus has been partially self-imposed and partially dictated by life.

Every summer, I take a few weeks off to rest and recharge. I may be doing things but I intentionally step away from the blog for a while. I think this is important as I never want the blog to feel like a job. Sometimes, regardless of how much I tell myself there isn’t, I feel pressure to get “something” out there on the site at least once a week. That feeling can sneak in even if I don’t have any quality content to post or on which to comment. To combat this, I simply force myself to step away from time to time.

I haven’t been completely idle, however, as I did recently spend a week in “Area X,” the NAWAC’s main area of study. I left immediately upon finishing up school for the year and spent my first week of summer attempting to gather evidence to help in the documentation of a species of North American ape. Things along those lines did not go well as a major rain event kept me and my team pinned down for much of our time in X. The area is very beautiful, however, and despite a lack of ape activity and evidence on this particular trip, I never consider getting back to nature a waste of time. Area X is wild, beautiful and isolated, exactly what I need after a long school year.

On top of all of that, my oldest daughter is now engaged to be married and plans for a wedding next summer are in full swing. While I do not have much of a say in most of the planning, that is the realm of my daughter and wife, I do need to be around to write most of the checks. Any Dads out there who have had daughters get married know exactly what I’m talking about. It is a joyful time, though, as my daughter’s fiancé is a terrific young man. He loves the outdoors and even has an interest in the bigfoot phenomenon. Who could ask for more, right?

I will be getting back to posting more regularly now that I’m home and rested up a bit. I’ve got some pretty good topics coming up that I want to discuss and on which I want to give my two cents. Thank you all for hanging in there with me.

More soon…

Feral Hog Population in Texas Exploding

Texas has a pig problem.

According to Mike Leggett, writing in the April 2014 issue of Texas Co-op Power magazine, the population of wild, or feral, hogs in the U.S. has been estimated at 4-5 million animals, with at least half of them in Texas. The problem has gone beyond jokes about the coming “aporkalypse” and something that affected only the most rural of farms and has become a serious financial issue that costs Texas $500 million in annual statewide economic losses, according to the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. Billy Higginbotham, an AgriLife Extension biologist in Overton, Texas, was was quoted in Leggett’s article as saying, “I always say there are two kinds of landowners in Texas, those that have pigs and those that are going to have pigs. We have an estimate of 2.6 million wild pigs in Texas. That’s with a margin for error of half a million on either side.”

How bad is it?

The hog problem is pretty bad and getting worse. Wild hogs have been documented in 253 of 254 Texas counties. Only El Paso County has yet to confirm hogs, but few folks doubt they are there, too. The population, is growing at a ridiculous rate estimated at 21% a year. When one remembers the population of feral hogs in Texas is already at an estimated 2.5-2.6 million then you realize the issue the Lone Star State is facing. Unless the wild pig population is reduced by a staggering 70% per year, EVERY year, their numbers will continue to increase and the spaces needed to occupy them will increase as well.

“This is the most prolific large animal on the face of the earth. They’re not born pregnant, but it is close.”

- Billy Higginbotham, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service biologist

What are the specific problems caused by wild hogs?

As mentioned previously, hogs account for $500 million in economic losses for Texas every year. They are omnivorous and root in pastures, yards, fields, the greens and fairways of golf courses and just about anywhere else where there is a patch of vegetation. They eat grasses , roots, tubers, shoots, acorns, fruits, bulbs, mushrooms, grubs and just about anything else. Hogs will dig up huge tracts of land in order to find these delicacies, leaving holes up to a foot in depth behind. This results in torn up yards and pastures. These holes often cause damage to mowers, tractors, tillers and the like. If the hogs choose to root in a cultivated field, the cash crop there is totally destroyed. The losses can get into the tens of thousands for individual landowners. Golf course superintendents and grounds keepers are beginning to be among the most vocal when it comes to the feral hog problem in Texas. It is easy to see why when rebuilding just one green on an eighteen hole golf course can run as much as $50,000. Once rebuilt, there is no guarantee that the hogs won’t return to wreak havoc again.

The hogs are beginning to cause water quality issues here in Texas as well. If there is one urgent and pressing problem in Texas, it is the issue of water. We simply do not have enough of it for our growing population. Now the water we do have is being fouled by hogs. These pigs thrive near rivers, creeks and reservoirs. They are not very discriminating about where they deposit their feces. In addition to the introduction of hog fecal matter into Texas watersheds, the rooting done by these hogs near the waterways is causing all manner of erosion. Without vegetation to hold the soil in place, that soil, and all the fertilizers, bovine waste, etc. washes into the waterways. “It’s a pretty big problem here,” said Richard Parrish, a Hays County AgriLife Extension agent. “We have yards and pastures dug up by pigs, We’re also seeing rooting in creekside areas, and that’s creating water quality and environmental problems.” Wild hogs carry at least 15 known diseases, the worst of which are probably pseudo rabies and swine brucellosis. Both of these diseases can be transmitted to humans and cause flu-like symptoms that can linger for weeks.

“The average litter for a wild sow is five to six pigs, and eight survive.”

- David Whitehouse, wildlife biologist

Is there more?

Yes. Feral hogs are extremely adaptable. The fact that they can thrive in virtually every county in a state as large and geographically diverse as Texas proves that. Dark river bottoms, arid deserts, piney woods, swamps and grasslands are all prime hog habitat. The presence of these pigs is anathema to the white-tailed deer population. The hogs are in direct competition with the deer for resources and are overwhelming their rivals with sheer numbers. This is costing landowners, who lease access to their property each year to deer hunters, money. It is estimated that Texas landowners take in nearly $1 billion annually in lease fees. Once a piece of land has been overrun by hogs, it isn’t nearly as valuable. It is true that some money can be recouped by leasing to hog hunters, but landowners can’t charge nearly as much for the privilege of hunting hogs as they can for trophy deer.

How big do they get? Are they dangerous?

Most of the feral hogs in Texas don’t get much heavier than 175 lbs. A truly big boar might get up to 300 lbs. or so. Certainly, there are outliers that are bigger than that and reports of “hogzillas” often travel like wildfire across the internet. Most of the time, the size of these monsters is at least somewhat exaggerated but huge pigs do show their snouts from time to time. Wild hogs can be dangerous but that doesn’t really make them much different than any other wild animal. Typically, there isn’t too much to worry about as these hogs have become mostly nocturnal across the state. Problems can occur when you approach a hog from downwind. The sense of small of a feral hog is truly astounding but their eyesight is poor and their hearing is nothing exceptional. If the hogs cannot smell you, it is possible to blunder extremely close to one. These situations can get ugly in a hurry as these hogs pack some very sharp tusks or “cutters.” Certainly, this sort of scenario is the exception and the main issues with these invasive non-native animals are financial in nature.

What can be done?

Nobody really seems too sure. The Texas Legislature passed the “Pork Chopper” bill into law in 2011. This law made it legal for landowners to allow hunters, riding in permitted helicopters, to shoot hogs from the air. It is estimated that in the first two years of aerial gunning netted 24,000 hogs. The state is also training landowners in the use of various trapping methods and allows for a limited number of hogs to be sold to federally approved, and permitted, pork processors. Commercial pig processors took in 640,000 Texas feral hogs between 2004 and 2009. Trapping is difficult, however, and these pigs are smart. Tactics must be changed often or the hogs learn to avoid the traps. In addition, I would recommend that any licensed hunter shoot any and all hogs on site regardless of whether they set out to do so or not. There is no season on feral hogs in Texas and no special permit or stamp is required to hunt them. This must be done if there is to be any hope of controlling the wild hog population in the Lone Star State.


Source: Leggett, Mike. "Here A Pig, There A Pig." Texas Co-op Power 1 Apr. 2014: 13-17. Print.

Another Invasive Reptile Threatening Florida

Most people are aware that the state of Florida is battling an invasive species that is threatening to wreck local ecosystems and wipe out populations of native animals. Since these animals are aliens, there are no natural predators to help check their numbers and they threaten to overrun the Sunshine State. Though it fits the bill, I’m not talking about the Burmese python (Python bivittatus) that is causing all sorts of problems in the Everglades and other parts of the state. I’m talking about a different, and less publicized invasive reptile, the tegu.

While there are several types of tegu, the real problem in Florida seems to be the Argentine black and white tegu (Tupinambis merianae). As their name suggests, these lizards are native to the tropical rain forests, savannas and semideserts of east and central South America. In their natural habitats, these lizards fill the same niche that monitor lizards fill in Asia. Tegu are omnivorous, eating a wide variety of plants and animals. In the wild, this would include insects, fruit, birds, eggs and even hard-shelled and bony animals like turtles.

The Argentine black and white tegu is especially prized as a pet. They are strikingly marked and quite beautiful. They are intelligent and many report they actually seek out attention from owners that handle them properly. Unfortunately, as with many other exotic pets, they get to be quite a handful when full grown and expensive to feed and house. A male tegu can reach a length in excess of 4 feet. Females often exceed 3 feet in length. Many owners, either thinking they are being humane by not euthaninzing their pet or who are simply too lazy to seek a new home for their animal, simply release these large reptiles into the wild.

Tessie Offner, a wildlife biologist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is quoted in a USA Today article as saying , “People buy these cute little lizards at the pet store and then they grow to be too big for an aquarium and they are too expensive to feed and then they just set them free in the preserves.”

Offner has spent the better part of three years tracking down invasive tegus and says their population is growing. “They reproduce rapidly, laying between 25-50 eggs at a time,” she said. With no known predators in the Florida ecosystem, it isn’t hard to imagine the damage these tegus may do in time. “They eat everything from plants to other animals with bones and shells – also, amphibians and birds,” says Offner.

Indeed, the stomach of a black and white tegu is equipped to handle the boniest of prey and even those with hard shells. Marvel Stewart, a volunteer at a Florida horse rescue site near Lithia, said, “We had a gopher turtle preserve on our 1,100 acres and now they are all gone. We see 4-5 (Tegus) per week on our property.” The tegus have grown increasingly bold and even burrowed into the horse enclosures on the property.

As mentioned previously, the whole situation with the black and white tegus mirrors that the Everglades is facing with Burmese pythons. Large, aggressive predators with no natural enemies can wreak havoc on a native ecosystem and should NEVER be released into the wild. I strongly urge any pet owner that finds him or herself in a situation where they can no longer take care of a large exotic animal to contact their local animal control department, zoo or even pet store to explore different options for relocating it. It may seem harmless and more humane to dump a snake or lizard into a forest or swamp when it faces the possibility of being euthanized, but it is not. What the pet owner must consider are the lives of all the native animals that will be affected if their exotic manages to find a mate and breed. Pet owners are usually true lovers of all kinds of animals. That being the case, it isn’t hard to see what is best for the environment and the native species that live there.

Source: USA Today