I am now telling Ben’s story as he related it to me, a Christmas time story that began with a chance encounter on I-10 as he and his family were driving east from their home in the Houston area to Florida to visit his wife’s family.
This event almost coincided with my experience just a week or so ago when I reported on the boar who came to my camera but was spared because the fog prevented me from seeing it through my night vision (IR) scope.
Ben and family had left their home and were eastbound on the interstate in the vicinity of Baytown east of Houston. He was driving late at night in the middle of three lanes of traffic. (In case you didn’t know, Texas now has California-like traffic due to population that keeps increasing. There are plenty of people who recognize the attractiveness of living in the Lone Star State.)
Suddenly, from the right side of the highway, a feral hog darted in front of Ben’s Dodge Durango. There was no time to brake, only time to keep the vehicle aimed down the highway. The pig took out the (plastic) bumper, the radiator, and other ancillary parts between the headlights. Their trip to grandmother’s house had just been impacted in much the same way as the Durango had impacted the pig, except that the porker was beyond repair. The Durango will be repaired and restored to service.
They did make it to Florida, but it wasn’t easy and it wasn’t quick. But, they persevered and finished the trip. Well done to Ben and Deb and Jared and Addy. Overcoming obstacles, it’s what we do.
After they got back on the road and were taking the same interstate again, Deb managed to take this photo of the feral hog as it lay beside the highway. The question, of course, is why the pig would bother to cross the highway at all, it isn’t possible for it to get past the barrier in the median. These feral hogs are smart, but they aren’t that smart.
They had other adventures on their trip to Florida, but those are stories that the four of them will be telling for years to come. They are beyond the scope of this meditation.
Not only do feral hogs do agricultural damage, they do motor car damage.
It’s incumbent upon all hog hunters to reduce the population of these animals.
Porcus Hogrelius
Make Yourself a Better Hog Hunter
