October 7, 2025 – After a recent invasion and attack of my blueberry and blackberry areas, I have learned the hard way about these creatures. To begin, a group of hogs is called a sounder, and each sounder can number from a few to several dozen or more.
Feral hogs are the most prolific large mammal in North America. Hog population in Texas is estimated to be 2-3 million and growing. Females can have as many as 3 litters of 4-6 pigs in only 14 months, with some litters being larger if food is readily available. To simply stabilize the current number of hogs, 70% of the current population must be removed (killed) each year.
Hogs can range from 1 to 5 square miles in search of food. Being omnivores, hogs will consume insects, roots, shoots, leaves, and tubers of plants, but have also been known to attack young livestock and deer fawns.
When rooting, a single hog can destroy 6.5 square feet of soil in one minute. A sounder of 20-30 hogs can easily destroy several acres of pasture in one overnight visit. A June 2025 Texas Farm Bureau report said damage is estimated to cost landowners $871 million last year in Texas.
Controls include hunting, trapping, and poison baits that use warfarin.
