They Look Like Small Tanks

In August 2019, after a string of mass shootings, musician Jason Isbell tweeted in support of restricting assault-style weapons, eliciting this reply from an Arkansas man named William McNabb: “How do I kill the 30-50 feral hogs that run into my yard within 3-5 mins while my small kids play?” To the Twittersphere, the post was like some alien tongue spoken across America’s urban-rural divide, and it broke the internet.

But it also spoke to a real problem that has steadily worsened. Nearly 7 million feral hogs roam the United States, according to the most recent estimates, roughly triple the total 40 years ago. They have been spotted in at least 35 states, nearly double their 1980s range, largely in the South but also in Oregon and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. With few natural predators of adult feral hogs in North America — think mountain lions, alligators and not much else — these populations grow unchecked. [WaPo]

I do recall reading somewhere, decades ago, that in the 1800s New York City was plagued with some ridiculous number of feral hogs, maybe 30,000. But I did not realize that the plague continues to this day through much of the United States.