Hogs Kill Texas Woman-The Truth Needs To Be Heard

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Almost one fourth of all feral hog attacks reported in the U.S. have occurred in Texas.

Feral hogs have attacked and killed a woman in Chambers County, TX.

The death of Christine Rollins, 59, of Anahuac, TX has officially been ruled caused by feral hogs.

This, according to a statement released by the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office and published at KFDM.com, is conclusive.

“The Medical Examiner determined her death was not due to a medical condition or canine related.”

Rollins was killed outside of a home on Highway 61 near Anahuac where she was a caretaker for an elderly couple.

Listen to this updated podcast on the hog attack issue. Can’t miss!

The most important thing here is that someone lost their life. Family and friends will grieve the unthinkable loss of their loved one to something so horrible few could imagine.

As feral hog populations soar in Texas and spread into new territory all around the nation, more attacks will happen.

In 2017, I wrote an article called “Do Feral Hogs Attack? These Do”...

That article sites troubling statistics.

Of the 21 states reporting hog attacks, Texas led the pack with 24 percent with Florida at 12 percent and South Carolina at 10. Interestingly, when examining worldwide shark fatalities, hogs actually beat them out in deaths some years—including as recently as 2013.

In this particular case, Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne said there is “no doubt in my mind or that of my criminal investigation captain John Miller that multiple animals were responsible for the attack.”

The typical cause of fatal hogs attacks is a single lone and large boar, according to a study by Dr. Jack Mayer we have quoted on several occasions.

Almost one fourth of all feral hog attacks reported in the U.S. have occurred in Texas.

It is time as hunters that we take the hog threat more seriously. We need to not be so lax with behavior in hog country and be far more alert than we have been. It’s easy to say you have a very small chance of being attacked by hogs but this woman was and others have been as well.

There is also some basic safety information we need to pass on to our families and the community at large. This is especially true since we have been documenting the rise in feral hog numbers in urban and suburban areas. Many people have no idea the real threat of these animals.

Here are= basic tenets I believe everyone needs to know.

*Hogs are dangerous. They can attack and kill. Never approach them.

*Never approach even cute piglets. Baby feral hogs are adorable but their mothers (sows) will go to any length to protect them. The sow may be out of the line of sight if you see tiny pigs but she is nearby and will respond.

*Do not feed hogs. Unless hogs are being baited in a wild location in preparation of hunting them, do not feed them. Never feed around houses or in parks. In areas like urban centers where hogs are never hunted, they can seem tame. Do not make them accustomed to seeing people as a food source. Additionally, do not throw scraps outside. That can also attract hogs.

*Be especially mindful of large, solitary boars. If you see such an animal on a hiking trail for example give it wide berth and report to officials. That animal certainly needs to be targeted for removal and elimination.

From a hunting standpoint there are some things we can do to at least help stop the overall growth of hog numbers in the areas we hunt and manage.

*Shoot big boars. Many hunters don’t like killing big boars due to smell and taste of meat but statistics show most fatal attacks (nearly 90 percent) are large, lone boars. Kill these hogs with no hesitation.

*Shoot sows first. If you have a group of hogs coming in with the typical size structure of hogs 150 pounds and below, shoot sows, then boars. The more sows we take out the less hogs areas will produce.

*Trap. Trap. Trap. If you have a deer lease, pool resources with other lease members and get hog traps going. Mature hogs will become trap shy but you will catch younger hogs along with others. Keep the pressure on year-round. No mercy.

*Turn in hog traffickers. If you know of people releasing feral hogs into open range for hunting purposes turn them in. It’s illegal. Very few people do this any more but this is the key reason hog numbers have spread so far. A handful of hunters have released them into different areas.

If you have ever been attacked by a hog please email cmoore@fishgame.com. We would like to share these stories with others to let them know this is a real situation.

Hogs are great sport animals but the fact is we need to be killing as many as we can. I’m not saying this will reduce attacks but it will put more pressure on hogs and just might take out that one hog that is likely to attack if the opportunity presents itself.

Chester Moore, Jr.

 

 

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32 Comments

  1. Ed Schmidt says:

    If landowners would stop charging such high fees for hunting hogs, I would be happy to help reduce the population.
    Perhaps Fish & Game can somehow set up a program that matches willing, but cash-limited, potential hog hunters with property owners who are serious about reducing the wild hog problem.

    • J says:

      That program exists.
      It is called TPWD draw hunts
      It is call no license necessary

    • Melissa says:

      Then, in other words, if you have nothing to gain monetarily, you won’t help. Just be honest.

      • Susan says:

        Ed is correct, the farmers and ranchers need to stop the monetary gain for the hunt, however, they need to have a liability form for hunters to sign that they are not responsible for any issues arising from their negligence. If they just have a free for all, the liability could cost them their property and more in a lawsuit, which many don’t think about

        • Ralph W says:

          Here is the problem with liability clauses. IF you are found NEGLIGENT. the form will not protect you. That is way we see so many outlandish suits filed. The person suing is trying to collect on negligence. Your only protection in such a case is to assign some of the risk to an insurance company. A property owner who allows someone to hunt on their property who (the hunter) does harm to a neighbor’s property, MAY be sued as being negligent.by allowing the hunter access w/o proper vetting. In today’s world, it is not an easy problem to address.

  2. Alan Vogel says:

    I would like to know if she was feeding hogs? I am shocked and sadden that the lady lost her life. My condolences to her family. I do agree with Ed Schmidt that Landowners, outfitters, and guides have charged high fees for hunting. If these people realized that one of the best streams of increasing their business, would be catering to the retired group of sportsman in Texas. This group may not have a lot of disposable income but would increase business in areas that have a large concentration hogs. I strongly disagree with the poison method. I do not think there has been enough research on the residual affect of other species.

    • TJ says:

      No she wasn’t feeding the hogs. According to the news, She was reporting to work as an in home care taker and was attacked before she got to the door.

    • Ted says:

      Poisoning is illegal in Texas and we ran out the commissioner who suggested it. Turns out he was in cahoots with the poison developer and being paid to promote it. The insidious thing about poisoning is that it doesn’t always just poison the target animal. It can also poison various scavengers that eat the dead hog.

      • Tina Dellinger says:

        Ran out the commissioner who recommended poisoning? That was Sid Miller…he’s still the commissioner, unfortunately.

    • Dana Follis says:

      She was not feeding them. She had arrived for a visit to the elderly couple that lived there. She was apparently attacked between her car and the house.

  3. Ted says:

    Traps won’t get them all. They become trap savvy very quickly. A combo of hunting the smart aggressive hogs with dogs and trapping works best. Traps gets the young and the dumb while dogs get what’s left. Regular hunting may help somewhat.

    • Ike Revia, Jr says:

      We were attacked while hunting hogs at night once, had 2 boars and a very large sow surprise us while we were trying to close with our stand and feeder and rush us. Hunting partner was bowled over but didn’t get cut because of his snake chaps. I killed all 3 hogs with my AR and later on that night killed 20 something more. This was in a rice field about 15 miles from the site of the attack above. I didn’t know the woman well, but several of my friends did.

    • Sd says:

      That is correct, TJ.
      This is right, Dana.

  4. Tim says:

    I have found stainless steel snares can work on the trap wary. but only on their trails not near feeders or you might catch deer. but truthfully a combination of that, traps, still hunting and dogs is the only way to get em out of an area and you gotta hunt them hard!

  5. Greg says:

    “…statistics show most fatal attacks (nearly 90 percent) are large, lone boars.”
    I’m curious as to the source of this statistic.

    I’ve not done any hard looking, but deaths from feral hog attacks seem to be particularly rare and the only information I’ve found suggests that the US has experienced only five fatal attacks by feral hogs since 1825 and this is the first reported in 30 years.

    For the past 50 years, I’ve routinely seen hogs on our property in northeast Texas. When sighted, boars are almost always solo, sows almost always in groups with their young. Feral hogs have always shown fear and bolted away the instant they’ve spotted me. I’m not suggesting they’re not dangerous as they’re incredibly quick, but I’ve seen aggression in feral hogs only from a defensive posture as when wounded, trapped or cornered. One news account of this incident mentioned the victim of this most recent attack had a head wound consistent with a fall, but most reports leave out this note.
    Feral hogs will eat pretty much anything, and I once observed a feral hog feeding inside the belly of a 3-days dead cow that had been shot by poachers, but I’ve never personally observed, nor seen on any of our cameras, an attack on a healthy animal. Had this victim fallen and been rendered unconscious, it’s reasonable the hogs might have moved in and killed her. I’m not suggesting a random attack on a healthy human is impossible, but I do think it’s unlikely.

    • John Nelson says:

      I’m a disabled vet I used to live in texas but I don’t anymore what would it take for me to come down & do some hog hunting??

      • JenniferT says:

        I was walking from a bunkhouse to a van in Okechobee FL, and a group of hogs charged me. Fortunately, the van wasn’t locked, and I got into it in time to not be harmed. I didn’t even see them. The grass was neck high. So there’s no way I incited them. They just wanted to kick my arse for no reason.

  6. Mark says:

    if there was more reliable info on places that were hog infested that people could visit Texas and hunt them FREE I would love to get more hogs my last Texas hog hunt was over $1300.00 can’t afford that very often. seems you hear about places but NO HUNTING or PAY TO HUNT…. if Texas wants to get them hunted they need to get info on where and how non residents can do it on the cheap not all of Texas is infested and people don’t want to spend 2 or 3 hundred on gas and see nothing.. need where….

    • Gloria Miller says:

      We are on a hunting lease & would love to have people come and hunt hogs for free, but the land is owned by someone else and the insurance liability is great, so we can’t. There are plenty of National Forests to hunt on though.

  7. Michael suhr says:

    If you think wolves are great, release them in urban areas. Start with D.C., los Angeles, new york city.

    • Larry says:

      In the 70’same I remember having bounty”s on coyotes in over populated areas ,seemed like it worked and it puts $ in pockets

  8. G. Smith says:

    Land owners charging pig hunters are idiots. Our state is systematically being destroyed by these freakin’ vermin and you dimwits are trying to profiteer off those who have the initiative to deal with the issue.
    Texas should pass a law that punishes those land owners who pull such stunts and rewards those who maintain active kill logs (with verifiable evidence) and imprisons you jackass idiots releasing hogs into non-infested areas for profit.
    These pigs also spread disease to areas that contain non-feral herds, thus affecting the economy of those depending on such herds for their livelyhood, or weren’t you aware of that? Perhaps a good start is to confiscate property belonging to owners transporting diseased ferals ANYWHERE except regulated feral burn pits.
    Non infested herds could be used to provide agencies with protein for feeding the homeless and destitute.
    Now THERE’S your way to make money off hog herds! Just make sure each pig is disease free, or face the prison system.
    Put your brains into 4WD and think of ways to benefit our state, our hunters and our homeless and you’ll begin to reap the rewards of such initiatives. Think on it.

    • Susan says:

      Ed is correct, the farmers and ranchers need to stop the monetary gain for the hunt, however, they need to have a liability form for hunters to sign that they are not responsible for any issues arising from their negligence. If they just have a free for all, the liability could cost them their property and more in a lawsuit, which many don’t think about

  9. MexicanJoe says:

    If you know of people with land suitable for hunting ask them if you can come out to hunt Hogs for free.
    Most will allow it. Be courteous and respectful to the owner and the property.

    If you’re over them then great. If you leave them coordinate where the bodies will be dragged to with the land owner.

    I have been hunting them for years for free with this method.

  10. Ted says:

    It’s all about money because landowners are charging an outrageous amount of money to hunt them, if the hogs were really Destroying their property they would let people hunt for free, and we all know that to be true.

  11. Ralph says:

    If these hogs were such a problem then you would think that the land owners would allow hunters to eradicate them. Animals have killed people throughout time without a mass fear and eradication. If it is State land then the State could put a bounty on them with proof of the type of kill to be turned in for proof such as the lower jaw with hair intact or some way to prove that it is in fact a feral hog.

  12. Henry says:

    My dad and I broke down years ago and built a large heavy duty trap and run it basically year round. It is really effective. We do catch wild hogs that have been cut and have notches in their ears occasionally.
    Maybe if the state teamed up with local FFA and 4-H groups to build traps for farmers it could be effective.
    It’s a shame there isn’t a better market for the meat. Trapping them live and selling them can make you a little money.

  13. Bonita Alford says:

    Where I live feral hogs had my property plowed up in one night. They were getting so bad a friend of mine made a huge trap out of stock panels within a couple days they decided to get in for the mixture he set it with. He caught and killed 9 hogs at the same time and they didn’t come back . But there are hundreds of them. I took my friend and his wife to show them one night at first we didn’t see any but once we turned on a back road it was nothing but feral hogs and I mean hundreds of them. They were all laying down until.the lights hit them . Some of them ran others charged the tires .Even though we were in a Tahoe I was scared to death I never saw that many in one place and some of them were huge they look the size of a year-ling calf. Living here in Texas I have saw post people asking people to hunt there property for the hogs. I made one post and thats all it took hunters volunteered to hunt them free. Thank God they did .

  14. Ralph W says:

    For all you who believe the land owners should allow free or low cost hunting, you need to consult a lawyer concerning NEGLIGENCE, You can limit some liability via a signed release, but if you are found negligent, that document is worthless. You cannot sign away your negligence. . You can assign portions to an insurance company. That is not cheap.

  15. JenniferT says:

    If the meat from the big boars is distasteful for people, feed it to the dogs. Can’t it be sold to dog food companies?

    • Bar Pluc says:

      No dog I’ve ever known would eat it, and cleaning the nasty things will make you stink for days. No best to bury them or burn ‘em. It isn’t a waste.

  16. John says:

    Those insistent on passing more laws to control the behavior of land-owning people (land these landowners paid for and continue to pay taxes on) need to understand that the last thing needed is more bureaucracy and stop being greedy for power. Buy your own land, speak for yourself. Landowners are responsible for a lot, the last thing I’ll do is allow a bunch of drunken fools shoot my place up with their AR15s – for free!