Pillaged by pigs: Wild hogs are rooting around and damaging properties in Saginaw
Saginaw is being sabotaged by swine.
Several properties in the small city north of Fort Worth have been repeatedly damaged by wild hogs that live in the nearby Little Fossil Creek green space, and roam nearby neighborhoods at night digging up lawns in search of grub worms or other food.
“Look at that print. He’s a big boy!” C.M. Thetford, a deacon at Saginaw Park Baptist Church, said Thursday as he spotted a large hoof mark left by one of the offending beasts in a freshly dug hole outside the worship center.
Most of the church’s lawn along Blue Mound Road has been destroyed by a series of overnight hog attacks, Thetford said. Using their snouts, the beasts were able to tear out dozens of clumps of dirt and grass nearly a foot thick, and cast the clods throughout the front, side and back of the church lawn.
The animals even rooted around the foundation of the church, digging up shrubs, and tossing them aside.
“We’re building so much in this area, and the (human) population is growing so fast, we’re taking away their habitat,” Thetford said.
He said the church would probably have to spend hundreds of dollars leveling and re-sodding the property — but church leaders probably would wait until the menacing hogs had left the area before making the investment.
Damaged sprinkler system
Next door, at the Kids Gone Corporate daycare center, the sprinkler system had to be shut off because the hogs dug so furiously they damaged underground water pipes, an employee said.
The hogs also caused extensive damage to the Texas Department of Transportation’s Saginaw maintenance office, and to a small apartment complex. Both of those properties are down the street from the daycare center.
Jessica Nebrich, director of the daycare center, says the swine saboteurs tend to strike at night, although she has seen them roaming the neighborhood during late afternoon hours as well.
“Come by about 6 o’clock (p.m.) and there’s a good chance you will see them,” said Nebrich, who recently took smartphone video of the pigs rooting around a neighbor’s yard.
Nebrich said she and other employees have to be extra careful when they take children at the daycare center out for recess. Even though the playground is fenced is, she said she doesn’t want the children outside if the pigs are present, even if the porkers are only on the periphery of the property.
“There are two adults and five babies,” Nebrich said of the hogs. “The babies are so cute. One of them is white and brown, almost like a paint horse. But cute or not, they are not good creatures. They do so much damage.”
Saginaw city officials say they have been battling the pig problem for years. The animals tend to venture into neighborhoods looking for food when the area has experienced recent rains.
“We do have traps out back there,” said Jose Wheeland, Saginaw animal services manager. “We have (captured) eight so far this week, but they were piglets.”
Trapped animals typically are euthanized, and Saginaw officials “attempt to donate the meat” if they can arrange for the pork to be processed, Wheeland said.
Residents who spot a wild hog are urged not to go near the animal, but instead to call their city’s animal control office. In Saginaw, the animal control office can be reached at 817-230-0460.
But those Saginaw officials have their work cut out for them. Pigs are known for their prolific reproduction, and allowing hunters to track them down isn’t an option in a populated urban environment.
A sow typically has five to six piglets per litter, according to Texas A&M University, and an average of 1.5 litters per year.
This story was originally published November 15, 2019 at 6:00 AM.
