KOUNTZE, Texas — It's not hunting season right now, but the National Park Service wants you to pull out your traps to catch the feral hogs in the Big Thicket National Preserve.
The invasive species is multiplying across Southeast Texas, endangering local wildlife, destroying land, and frustrating hunters.
Feral hogs eat whatever they encounter. That can include smaller livestock like rabbits and deer, but they can also go for bigger livestock like the cows behind me. That's why these trapping permits are so important.
Rangers are giving hunters permits to trap them on the park's property.
Starting this Monday, hunters can pick up hog trapping permits from the Big Thicket visitor's office every day from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Since starting this trapping permit program in 2019, Big Thicket National Preserve has trapped at least 400 hogs and given out more than 100 permits.
These permits allow one person to have two spots within Big Thicket to put out one trap.
And they are allowed up to two UTVs or ATVs to get in and out of the forest.
But why are wild hogs such a big problem in Texas?
"Hogs have no real natural predator here and so there's nothing here to keep their numbers in check.” said chief of interpretation and education Megan Urban. "They are prolific family builders, you know, they can produce a whole lot of pigs in one litter and they produce litters multiple throughout the year."
Experts said the only way to get rid of these vicious pigs, who go after smaller animals and destroy people's land, is to trap and shoot them.
These trapping permits will be available until the end of the extended hog hunting season, which is February 28. The park is giving away 50 permits this year and they're on a first-come-first-served basis.