Food & Travel...

In Texas and across the country, deer hunters are on the trail of an animal we associate more with breakfast than hunting season. Wild hogs have been rummaging along golf courses and through backyards. Apparently these pigs have always been a problem in the south, but in recent years, as the New York Times sports section recently reported, four million wild hogs have made their way into 37 states and are now causing millions in property damage each year. (One pig causes $200 worth of property damage.)

To stop the pigs, hunters are taking on the project with abandon—new Mississippi regulations allow feral hogs to be “hunted, taken, killed, chased or pursued on private lands at any time with no weapon restriction.” And, “no weapon restriction” may be necessary. These pigs aren’t your average Wilber. They’re descended, as the Times put it “from the unholy union of swine introduced to Florida by conquistadors, domestic pigs escaped from farms and Eurasian wild boars released by hunters.” They’re as tall as three feet, weighing up to 400 pounds. They reproduce quickly, root up anything that sits still long enough, and easily evade hunters, which makes the game, for the hunters at least, that much more fun. (See the accompanying slide show at The New York Times.)

Wild pigs aren’t the only species that are invading heavily populated areas: coyotes, deer, and other animals have expanded into suburbs and cities for a while. So, how do you think we should handle it when we’re forced to live with (or try to live without) a new animal? And, from a green eating standpoint--what's being done with this meat? Is it organic? Feral bacon for breakfast anyone?

Photo from Lease Hunter in Texas.

More about pigs on River Wired: The Whole Hog and Pigs as Pesticides.