A peculiar virtue in wildlife ethics is that the hunter ordinarily has no gallery to applaud or disapprove of his conduct. Whatever his acts, they are dictated by his own conscience, rather than that of onlookers. It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of this fact. - Aldo Leopold

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Spotted a Feral Pig

We saw a feral pig outside our east gate this morning.

It was about 7am and Beau, our Great Pyrenees, started barking. He was looking out our kitchen window. Our other dogs joined in and were frantically trying to get out.

Mary looked to see what they were so excited about, saw the pig, and called me over.

He was just outside our east gate and was mottled with brown and black. He looked pretty big - I estimate at least 200 pounds and almost 3 feet high. He didn't stay very long so I didn't have time to get my camera. He walked away heading south.

Feral pigs are non-native and very destructive to the environment because they destroy habitat with their rooting. You can read more about their impact at the USDA invasive species database here.

A friend of ours who hunts on our property has taken several in the last few years. Texas Parks and Wildlife has an information page here. Basically, they are always in season and there are no bag limits.

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