North Texas

North Texas Flooding Leads to Increased Feral Hog Sightings

North Texas Man Catches Up to 50 Feral Hogs a Day

The heavy rain and flooding in North Texas during May and June have led to increased sightings of feral hogs in the region.

The hogs live along the banks of rivers and streams. And when those areas become flooded the animals have to leave, heading closer into contact with people and private property.

Osvaldo Rojas, the only person licensed to trap wild pigs in the city of Dallas, told NBCDFW his workload has doubled in recent weeks, primarily in southeast Dallas.

There are near-nightly sightings of feral hogs crossing Interstate 20 around dusk in the area near Dowdy Ferry Road, according to Rojas.

A sounder of hogs was causing so much damage to the property of a farmer near Hutchens, he hired a helicopter last week to hunt them from above, Rojas said.

To the north, Don Gresham is trapping between 20 to 50 feral hogs hogs every night on his Montague County ranch near Decatur. There were 24 hogs in the trap Friday morning.

Gresham makes and sells hog traps across the country under the name "Go In Fencing," which allow the user to remote-trigger the gate with their cellphone.

Although he, too, has been busy, Gresham acknowledges this can be a losing battle.

Feral hogs are "prolific breeders," according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. A sow can have litter with an upward of 10 piglets, and can produce up to three litters a year. In addition, pigs become fertile around six months old.

With all the flooding lately we have had a lot of calls on how to get rid of hogs. We caught this bunch last night.

NBC 5's Holley Ford contributed to this report.

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