Yes. My biggest scare in the woods so far was when I encountered a group of nine pigs. We were able to scare them away by waving our walking sticks and feeling at the tops of our lungs. They didn't run off, they just slowly melted back into the woods and for the rest of the hike we'd catch glimpses of them pacing us off about 30 yards off the trail. The largest one seemed as big as our couch!

The Woodlands (a high dollar, master-planned community) has hired a full-time trapper to try and keep things under control. He lures them into hog traps using a mix of diesel fuel and corn as the bait. I forgot how many he said he catches each week. Small ones get sold to farmers, big one go straight to the meat processing plant.

-Blast

Interesting. Apparently the feral hog meat is also prized by high-end restaurants willing to pay top dollar for it. I never imagined there were so many of them, over 1.5 million in Texas alone! From the Texas parks and wildlife website:




http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/nuisance/feral_hogs/#harm

Wow, I didn't know there were any bears in TX. Now, as far as one in The Woodlands area, I'd have to see the results of a drug test before I'd believe that.

The feral hogs do get big around here. An aunt and uncle of mine have a fairly large ranch and they are everywhere out there. One day he's out riding checking a field for dove hunting and surprised a couple of dozen feral hogs. He always had an SKS with him and as he grabbed it they took off running. He lined up on the one in front, and also the largest and shot him. Then he lined up on the second largest and shot it. On the third pull of the trigger the SKS was jammed.

The first, largest hog got up and ran into the brush. Virgil tried to unjam the SKS, but it was a bad jam. So he went back to the house, got another rifle, a Ruger revolver in .44mag, and my aunt, and went back. The second hog was down dead, so he found the blood trail for the first one. The trail disappeared into a hole (tunnel) in some very thick brush. After looking around a bit, he convinced my aunt (I kid you not!) to take the handgun and CRAWL INTO THE HOLE IN THE BRUSH TO FIND THE HOG!

She did find the hog, 18 feet in and dead. Anyway, AFTER dressing the hog out it still weighed better than 300 pounds. My freezer was full of sausage that year.


Another animal I didn't think was in Texas (except far east TX) is Beaver. A couple of weeks ago I saw 2 dead beaver on a county road just west of Belton. So to hear that bear are making it back is pretty cool.

I've had beaver swim along my canoe in the San Jacinto river, Spring Creek, and in Lake Charlotte. They are groovy dudes and in real life they can be somewhat intimidating.

-Blast

Didn't it say that they didn't know if he was mauled by the bear before or after his death? In other words, the bear may have not been the cause of death - heck he could have keeled over from a heart attack in the excitement of bagging his deer for all we know!

I've been in that area. My brother's friend had a trapping line at that locale and he casually pointed out some grizzly bear rubbings on a tree by the little cabin. Gord tried his hand at hunting deer once but an experience with a pack of wolves got him skittish while he was dragging the carcass back to his truck. He hasn't been back.

New info here suggests the hunter was killed by the bear.

Bears don't attack corpses and they don't eat human.

??? There is nothing in the article l seen that suggests what you are saying...

Hmm, I don't know if you can say that categorically.

My understanding is that it's very, extremely rare for a blackie or a griz to attack a human with predatory (as opposed to defensive) intent. But it is not unknown. A young or desperate or starving bear may sieze any opportunity that presents itself. The fact that we humans have modified head-parts and a rather good opinion of ourselves doesn't diminish our caloric value.

As to corpses, animal or human-animal, I believe bears will indeed scavenge if need be. Again, it's nothing more than a free meal in a tough landscape.

There was the case of the woman who was treed by a 200 lb undernourished adolescent grizzly outside Canmore a few years ago. It is believed she climbed a tree to get away from it but small grizzlies can also climb. She either fell or was pulled out of the tree by the bear. The fall killed her, the bear did not. When found by authorities, the bear was chewing on her dead body - whether it was for feeding or biting her just out of curiosity isn't known.