More than two million feral pigs roam across Texas, from Lubbock to Houston and everywhere in between. Quite frankly, they’re beginning to act like they own the state, tearing up farmers’ fields and eating whatever they want. Not to mention the diseases they carry. It’s been estimated that feral hogs cause about $400 million in damage each year in Texas. Blame the Spanish. When explorers came here several hundred years ago, they let wild boar go in hopes that they’d be fruitful and multiply. The hogs did that and then some.

Back then, the Spanish hoped they’d come back and have something to hunt. Hunters today have an embarrassment of riches, but they must be on Terra firma if they want to fire a shot.  Now some Texas state lawmakers are considering whether it might not be better to let hunters take aim from the air. There are a limited number of people who can already do that. Farmers have to pay a pretty penny to hire these companies to clear hogs from their property. What Texas State Representative Sid Miller thought might make more sense is to allow farmers to sell the hunting rights to regular hunters—who also might like to take a shot from the air. Miller reasons that hunters would get a good outing and farmers, instead of paying money, might make some.

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But the plan doesn’t sit well with everyone. Susan Hendrix with the Texas Humane Legislation Network opposes the legislation. She says shooting from a helicopter means hunters might miss and leave an animal wounded. Her group advocates keeping the laws just the way they are.

Others say whether you shoot from the air or ground, it’s not going to be enough to keep the hog population in check. That’s why researchers at Texas Tech are working the ultimate pig population reducer— feral hog birth control. They’re trying to figure out something to feed the hogs that would cause them to be sterile but wouldn’t impact other animal populations.

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