A couple of months back, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples was in Arlington introducing Texas Department of Agriculture's "Get the Hog Outta Texas" campaign, intended to rid the state of our feral hog population. Said Staples, "Wild, feral hogs are causing tremendous damage across the landscape of Texas." And so October became hog-killin' season. Otherwise known as "bacon the hard way."
But this morning's Wall Street Journal reminds: The campaign is also a contest, with "the prize for the highest number of captured porkers: $25,000." Says the piece, why, maybe that winner will come from Irving or Arlington or Ennis, just some of the North Texas cities porked over by "the stout, smart, snouted invaders." Or perhaps the winner will come from Trophy Club:
High-school students in nearby Trophy Club, Texas, are manufacturing special gates for the pig traps in shop class. Their products will be distributed through the new Dallas-Fort Worth Feral Hog Initiative, a network of wildlife experts and city officials joining forces against the swine.Did I just hear the Band Name Alert go off?
Teacher Kevin Deal says he hopes the gates will help with "trying to control those boogers because they're so damn destructive."