After receiving a $7,500 grant from Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Wildlife Services, Hays County will continue countywide feral hog management efforts in 2022.
The Hays County program will include a $5 bounty on feral hogs, one workshop, one webinar, a countywide survey and damage assessment and the continuation of a volunteer-led trapping effort.
“The 2022 feral hog program in Hays County has a great opportunity for sustained success as we have received both the continued funding and support to coordinate on a regional scale with projects in Caldwell County,” said Nick Dornak, Director of Watershed Services at the Meadows Center.
Hays County is an affiliate of the Central Texas Feral Hog Task Force and has partnered with The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University, the Cypress Creek Project, the San Marcos Watershed Initiative and the Plum Creek Watershed Partnership to assist with implementation, research and educational components of the program.
Texas is home to an estimated 3 million feral hogs. Lacking sweat glands, hogs seek shelter along creeks and rivers, which can result in contamination of those waterways, such as Cypress Creek and the San Marcos River.
Recognized as an invasive species, feral hogs are responsible for significant agricul-tural and property losses in Texas, exceeding $500 million each year.
“Feral hogs continue to pose significant problems for both agriculture producers and residential property owners in Hays County,” Hays County Commissioner Mark Jones said.
The bounty program is set to begin in February. There will be two bounty claim opportunities per month for feral hogs harvested in Hays County.
A $5-per-hog bounty will be paid by check on tails and/or certified buying station receipts. Participants will be required to complete a W-9 and a participation form, which can be obtained at the Hays County bounty station or from the Central Texas Feral Hog Task Force website (http://www.feralhogtaskforce.com/).
The Plum Creek Watershed Partnership will also coordinate educational workshops for Hays and Caldwell County stakeholders throughout the spring and summer of 2022.
Final dates and locations for landowners, hunters, trappers and conservationists to learn more about managing wild pig populations and damage will be provided in the coming weeks.
Additionally, landowners engaging with the Hays County feral hog program will have the opportunity to participate in an ongoing, remote-operated feral hog trap sharing cooperative. These remote-operated traps were upgraded in 2021 to enable live video feed sharing.
For more information on these programs and to complete the 2022 feral hog survey, visit the project website at www.feralhogtaskforce.com/ hays or email the Task Force at [email protected].
