Killing hogs before they kill us

LOCKHART, Texas (KXAN) - In Lockhart, hogs roam the fields and roads, posing major risks and dangers. But a statewide competition's focus hopes to wipe out the population of the destructive animals, before they pose an even greater threat to humans.

On the first night State Highway 130 opened four people were involved in serious crashes involving hogs . The state estimates each accident with a hog costs around $1,200 to repair.

"A lot of people in this general area in Caldwell County it costs them hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars," said William Shepherd, a life-long Caldwell County resident and avid hog hunter.

Each year in Texas feral hogs cause $500 million in total damage; $52 million of which affects agricultural business in the state.

It's the third year The Texas Department of Agriculture put together the Hog Out County Grant Program. In Central Texas, Hays, Williamson, and Caldwell Counties are participating .

The winning county collects the most points by getting the most hog tails, and attending education courses about the wild boars.

For Caldwell County, the Caldwell County Farm and Ranch Feed store is accepting the tails along with the Salt Flat Feed in Luling. So far, Caldwell and Hays Counties have collected over a hundred tails together.

"We've seen a really good response so far," said William Shepherd, with the Farm and Ranch Feed Store. "People are definitely habveing to do stuff to take care of it on their own."

The county that collects the most tails will receive $20,000 in state grants to go towards cutting down the feral hog population.

The second- and third-place counties earn $15,000 and $10,000, respectively. Other counties also receive rewards based on how many hogs they kill.

Last year the competition brought in 12,600 tails.

Caldwell County residents say with the new toll road the money could go to good use. They're hoping with such a large feral hog population they'll win it all this year.

"I mean, yeah, it's a good program and they'll never run out here," said Shepherd. "Everyone here could do it and they'd still not run out of pigs."