Could A Hog Hunting Season Be Coming To The Refuge?
If you haven't heard yet, wild pigs are starting to finally inundate the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. They've been there for a long time, but now they've moved in around the Holy City and the damage these vermin do is ecologically catastrophic. I'd imagine with all the rain, those rolling green hills of soft soil are like a buffet for a wild boar. They move into an area and use their snouts to root around in the dirt for their next meal. If you've ever had them roll across your perfectly manicured lawn like I have, the damage they do is astounding. Maybe this could be the way Southwest Oklahoma sportsmen earn a few weeks of open season of these European invaders.
Before you try to convince me that shooting wild hogs is bad, it's not. They are an invasive species that reek havoc everywhere they go. You can thank the Spanish for the problem every state in the nation has because of these baconators, but the answer to the situation is as easy as a regulated hunt. Sure, there's not enough hunters in America to affect real population change, but a hunt might at least chase them back to a range where they're not interacting with the areas people most commonly visit.
Is it cruel? No, it's not. They may be adorable as little baby piggies, but wild hogs, when left no other choice, can be ferociously violent. Injuries are devastating thanks to their sharp tusks, plus you'd have to go through life telling the story of how a pig whipped up on you. Nobody wants that, and nobody wants our wildlife refuge going to hell. If only we could convince the government to allow it.