Feral hog management workshop set for Feb. 4 in Luling

Writer: Steve Byrns, 325-653-4576, s-byrns@tamu.edu

Contact: Jared Timmons, 254-485-4886, jbtimmons@ag.tamu.edu

 

LULING – The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, in cooperation with the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board, will conduct a Feral Hog Management Workshop from  8 a.m.-3:15 p.m. Feb. 4 at the Luling Foundation, 523 S. Mulberry St., in Luling.

“Despite greatly increased public awareness and more effective control methods, Texas feral hog populations continue to grow,” said Jared Timmons, AgriLife Extension wildlife associate at San Marcos.

 

“More feral hogs mean a magnification of some already serious problems such as the polluting of creeks and rivers from the animals congregating around water sources to drink and wallow.” Timmons said. “The result is fecal matter going directly into streams, thus adding often dangerous levels of bacteria and nutrients to the water.”

 

“Our goal for this program is to keep landowners in tune with the latest information available in regards to the feral hog situation in our region and to offer them ways to cope with it.”

Workshop topics will include: basic biology of feral swine and their damage to watersheds, feral hogs in the Plum Creek watershed, population dynamics, laws and regulations for hunting feral hogs, agricultural regulations, safety and disease concerns, transportation regulations, control and trap demonstration.

Individual preregistration is $15 by Feb.1 and $25 thereafter. For more information and to preregister, contact the AgriLife Extension office in Caldwell County at 512-398-3122 or caldwell@ag.tamu.edu.

 

Five Texas Department of Agriculture continuing education units – two general, two integrated pest management and one laws and regulations – will be offered pending the department’s approval.

Information on controlling feral hogs is available at http://plumcreek.tamu.edu/feral-hogs or http://feralhogs.tamu.edu.

 

The program is provided through a Clean Water Act nonpoint source grant from the Texas State Soil and Water Conservation Board and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

 

-30-