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| In this photo sent by Kings Point resident Joe Baehl, it shows nine hogs that Geraldo Garcia, a contracted trapper through KSA, caught over a three-day period in late August. |
Houston Community Newspapers
September 17, 2013
More than 30 Kings Point subdivision residents held pictures of the damage to their yards made by wild hogs as they requested more help at the Kingwood Service Association’s Public Safety meeting. Residents first shared their concerns with the Observer in August about the feral hogs tearing up their yards and posing a possible threat to residents walking along the greenbelts or putting their trash out. After contacting about every Harris County and City of Houston entity about how they could rid their neighborhood of the wild hogs to no avail, they brought their issue to the Public Safety’s meeting Sept. 11 where they were able to get some answers.
“We haven’t been able to get an update all together but it is a very wide area that the pigs are traversing. We need to get rid of this problem before something bad happens,” concerned resident Edward Futterer said at the meeting.
Ethel McCormick of KSA stated that they have officially allowed a hog trapper, Geraldo Garcia, to trap the wild hogs with his dogs at no cost in East End Park where they believe some of the hogs are coming from.
But residents also encouraged them to all work together as a unified whole to send an official letter to the Friendswood Development urging them to get rid of the hogs they allege are coming from where they are developing the new neighborhood in between the Kings Point and Royal Shores subdivisions.
Royal Shores Community Association President Fred McCarty stepped up to work with the residents as a group to draft a letter to Friendswood to address this issue. The KSA Public Safety committee made a motion to draft the Friendswood Development Company in an effort to solve the problem.
All of the residents applauded this effort by adding that an entity or a group needs to step up, take responsibility for the issue and see it through to the completion which means complete removal of all hogs.
“We have talked to everyone that we can and no one can help us,” said Kings Point resident Nancy Schopman in an interview with the Observer in August. “They have been on my property numerous times and they tore up my whole yard. I have seen them mostly in the early morning hours which have me very concerned since kids will be back in school and walking the greenbelts to make it to the school.”
The residents first reached out to the Kings Point Community Association and were referred to their management company, Sterling Association Management who acknowledged they had received several calls but could not comment any further when the Observer called them for comment.
They also called the City of Houston to inquire about trapping the feral hogs or what they could do to get rid of the nuisance animals. In general, diseases from wild hogs do not pose a significant threat to humans; however, some diseases can be transmitted to livestock and wildlife.
“We understand there have been several cases recently of these animals being destructive in the Kingwood area,” said Lauren Doak with Houston City Council Member Dave Martin’s office when asked about the feral hogs. “Unfortunately, the city of Houston does not handle this sort of issue. This is a Texas Parks and Wildlife issue.”
According to information concerning feral hogs from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, feral hogs may appear basically the same as domestic hogs and will vary in color and coat pattern. A mature feral hog may reach a shoulder height of 36 inches and weigh from 100 to over 400 pounds.
Several of the residents have spent their own money to hire trappers where they have successfully trapped at least five of the feral hogs and one reportedly weighed in close to 200 pounds.
Resident Doug Henry is one of those residents who hired their own trapper through Allstar Animal Control where they captured an 172 pound male feral pig.
Fellow resident Futterer echoed everyone’s concerns by adding, “I didn’t expect to become an expert on pigs but I have studied and analyzed them to see where they come from and history about them. I suggest beyond simply trying to hunt the pigs, a trapping mechanism is necessary too.”
For more information about feral hogs, visit http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/nuisance/feral_hogs/.
http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/kingwood/news/hog-wars-residents-search-for-more-answers-to-feral-hog/article_34692032-33c0-5d24-82fa-0b94097e68f5.html?mode=story
“We haven’t been able to get an update all together but it is a very wide area that the pigs are traversing. We need to get rid of this problem before something bad happens,” concerned resident Edward Futterer said at the meeting.
Ethel McCormick of KSA stated that they have officially allowed a hog trapper, Geraldo Garcia, to trap the wild hogs with his dogs at no cost in East End Park where they believe some of the hogs are coming from.
But residents also encouraged them to all work together as a unified whole to send an official letter to the Friendswood Development urging them to get rid of the hogs they allege are coming from where they are developing the new neighborhood in between the Kings Point and Royal Shores subdivisions.
 |
| More than 30 Kings Point subdivision residents held pictures of the damage to their yards made by wild hogs as they requested more help at the Kingwood Service Association’s Public Safety meeting. Residents first shared their concerns with the Observer in August about the feral hogs tearing up their yards and posing as a possible threat to residents walking along the greenbelts or putting their trash out. |
All of the residents applauded this effort by adding that an entity or a group needs to step up, take responsibility for the issue and see it through to the completion which means complete removal of all hogs.
“We have talked to everyone that we can and no one can help us,” said Kings Point resident Nancy Schopman in an interview with the Observer in August. “They have been on my property numerous times and they tore up my whole yard. I have seen them mostly in the early morning hours which have me very concerned since kids will be back in school and walking the greenbelts to make it to the school.”
The residents first reached out to the Kings Point Community Association and were referred to their management company, Sterling Association Management who acknowledged they had received several calls but could not comment any further when the Observer called them for comment.
They also called the City of Houston to inquire about trapping the feral hogs or what they could do to get rid of the nuisance animals. In general, diseases from wild hogs do not pose a significant threat to humans; however, some diseases can be transmitted to livestock and wildlife.
“We understand there have been several cases recently of these animals being destructive in the Kingwood area,” said Lauren Doak with Houston City Council Member Dave Martin’s office when asked about the feral hogs. “Unfortunately, the city of Houston does not handle this sort of issue. This is a Texas Parks and Wildlife issue.”
According to information concerning feral hogs from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, feral hogs may appear basically the same as domestic hogs and will vary in color and coat pattern. A mature feral hog may reach a shoulder height of 36 inches and weigh from 100 to over 400 pounds.
Several of the residents have spent their own money to hire trappers where they have successfully trapped at least five of the feral hogs and one reportedly weighed in close to 200 pounds.
Resident Doug Henry is one of those residents who hired their own trapper through Allstar Animal Control where they captured an 172 pound male feral pig.
Fellow resident Futterer echoed everyone’s concerns by adding, “I didn’t expect to become an expert on pigs but I have studied and analyzed them to see where they come from and history about them. I suggest beyond simply trying to hunt the pigs, a trapping mechanism is necessary too.”
For more information about feral hogs, visit http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/nuisance/feral_hogs/.
http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/kingwood/news/hog-wars-residents-search-for-more-answers-to-feral-hog/article_34692032-33c0-5d24-82fa-0b94097e68f5.html?mode=story
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