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Wild pigs damage crops in northeastern New Mexico
CLAYTON, N.M. (AP)--New Mexico's northeastern edge has a pig problem.
Roving bands of feral pigs are plowing through fences, targeting Wheat and corn fields for an easy meal and gashing holes into rangeland while rooting for food.
One Clayton-area rancher who has hunted hogs for more than a decade said they're showing up in larger numbers and in places they've never been before.
If something isn't done, Union County Extension agent David Graham said ranchers and farmers could be in for even more hassles.
Graham predicted that when combined with the continuing drought, pig problems this planting season are going to hit hard.
"I personally would like to see them turned into an economic asset instead of a liability," he said.
Wild pigs can weigh over 400 pounds and sport a formidable set of sleek, white tusks. They've been known to eat nearly anything from roots to crops to bugs to bird eggs to young livestock.
Parts of Union County have had pigs for years. But Texas could offer one possible explanation of why the region is seeing more of them.
Texas wildlife officials say wild hogs there have gradually spread westward and are now nearly border to border.
Rick Gilliland, a district supervisor with U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services in West Texas, said pigs are causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in crop damage in that state each year.
"We jokingly refer to them as the poor man's grizzly," Gilliland said. "They're fairly vicious when cornered. And they can bring you a challenge literally face-to-face."
Texas Parks and Wildlife Capt. Rick Gully added: "There's a saying here in Texas: There are two kinds of ranchers--those that have hogs right now and those that are going to have hogs."
As for neighboring New Mexico, if there's a place to get water and a bite to eat, pigs will be there.
Rancher Stephen Bush, who lives south of Clayton, said he first became suspicious that he might have hogs on his property about two years ago when he found a hole in one of his woven-wire gates. He had his first sighting last year.
There are now reports that motorists sometimes have to stop on N.M. 402 near his ranch to let herds of 50 to 60 pigs pass.
In March, Bush only had to go a few hundred yards from his home to find evidence that the pigs had been there. Divots the size of a snout dotted the pastureland.
Bush said such rooting can cause big problems for farmers.
"They can pretty well take out a whole crop," he said of the pigs.
Fellow rancher Bill A. Brockman's 15 acres of corn was taken out in one night by a herd of pigs last spring. He later caught up with the culprits.
"At first, I tried to kill 'em all," he said. "And when I realized I wasn't going to get that done, (I decided) to recoup some of what they were costing me in feed and other damage."
Brockman is now a hunting guide with a dozen or so specially trained dogs. For $1,000, a hunter buys a weeklong pig hunt. But the rancher said it's been more than a year since any of his hunts have lasted more than a half-day.
"Part of it is, my dogs are getting better," he said. "Part of it is, the population is getting higher."
The Union County Commission has discussed some possible control options but ranchers are trying to take care of the problem themselves.
"We can make rules. But the pigs probably wouldn't read them," Graham said, adding that he favors the idea of having organized hunts.
Brockman agreed there's room for other specialists like himself.
"A lot of the farmers don't realize yet just how much damage a pig can do," he said.
Date: 5/13/04
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