CHAMBERS COUNTY, Texas — (Editor's Note: The above video was originally published Nov. 26, when Chambers County began its feral hog response following a woman's death.)
Less than a month after a 59-year-old woman was killed by a pack of feral hogs outside a home in Anahuac, Chambers County officials are kicking off a nearly three-day wild hog control program.
Starting Wednesday night and lasting through Friday morning, the program -- a joint public health and safety effort by Chambers County and Texas A & M -- will be conducted in the vicinity of Double Bayou Park.
Chambers County Sheriff's Office officials said residents should expect bright lights, loud noises and gunshots.
Feral hogs are a big problem across Texas -- mostly in rural areas, but increasingly in cities and suburbs too, according to the USDA.
More than half the country’s feral hogs -- an estimated 2.6 million, -- live in Texas, according to USDA data.
The hogs mostly tear up yards and fences averaging about $200 of damage per hog per year, according to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension research published online.
Killing people is rare, according to the USDA. Since the 1880s, fewer than 10 people have been killed by feral hogs. Three of those deaths happened to people hunting.
The woman killed in Chambers County in November was identified as Christine Rollins, of Liberty. She was the caretaker of an elderly couple who lives at the home in the 4000 block of State Highway 61 where her body was found.
Sheriff Brian Hawthorne said wild hogs are a problem in the area and a lot of neighbors have complained that the animals were tearing up their front yards. After her death, the sheriff’s office put out traps to see if they can trap some of the hogs.
“The hog population is not going down,” he said. “So, therefore, it is getting worse as time goes by.”
Fort Bend County has a feral hog coalition dedicated to getting rid of the animals.
In Sugar Land, there are enough hogs around for the city to create a page dedicated to feral hogs basic information on the city’s website.
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