GREGG COUNTY, Texas (KETK) - The Gregg County AgriLIfe Extension Agency is warning people who hunt feral hogs to pay extra attention if you plan on eating them.

This after a green substance was found embedded in the fat of a few hogs in Texas.

Randy Reeves with The Gregg County AgriLife Extension said, "A lot of people shoot hogs. A lot of people eat hogs. That's fine, I know that, but I also know they need to be careful."

Meat that is contaminated is believed to be considered as larval of Spirometra mansonoide the common name is referred to as bob cat tapeworm and it can infect Humans with this larval stage.

Most folks that we spoke with say they choose not to eat the meat of a feral hog. The reason is because the diet of a feral hog.

"They'll eat just about anything. Hogs are opportunists," said Reeves.

Should the contamination spread, it could mean business lost for people like Cullen Parker.
He and his family have owned PaP's Fishing & Hunting Guide in Henderson for nearly a decade.

"I would say 30% of hunters actually take the time to skin the hog, process the meat." said Parker.

Texas Parks and Wildlife suggest there are more than 1.5 million feral hogs in Texas. Should the contamination scare be a valid one, that number is likely to climb.

"People just need to be aware and please be careful. If you plan on eating your kill, cook it all the way through. Like a well done steak. Otherwise, you're putting yourself a risk," said Reeves.

First of all, Texas is lucky to have that many hogs! Absolute God send!

Second of all, the government sure wants to scare everyone from eating wild meat. Seeing it with the CWD thing with Elk and Deer. I guess they want us to eat that lab grown meat instead.

Green substance in the fat ? Weird . Never heard of it.

Godsend?

You mean like a plague?

I don't think the general feeling on hogs is they are a God send any where they have them in large numbers. Have you ever seen what they do to the country when they are thick? If you do a little research you may figure out that CWD is not a made up scare tactic. When it covers the country, which it will, it will devastate the deer population.

Wild hogs are not a Godsend. Plague would be the correct word.

Guessing the guy that said so many hogs are a “godsend” has not dealt with many hogs, everyone thinks they’re cool and fun for little bit, that fades quickly.

Not sure I agree with this statement. CWD has been around since at minimum the late 70s in Colorado and Wyoming, where it was originally identified. In no way have the deer populations disappeared or will. EHD is way deadlier when it breaks out. Will CWD continue to spread across the US, of course it wil.

It was created in a lab like swine flu and Ebola. It’s the way to keep people scared and others poor.

What will it do once the entire country is saturated with it. It just showed up in ND in the last couple years and they are finding more of it every year. Some states are baiting and killing deer to try to keep it from spreading. Once in the soil it never leaves. It will keep spreading faster as it covers more ground.

Godsent really, I lost a K9 Xtreme on a drag to one of them d... suckers yesterday. Because it rained my trapline dog could not even find it and he good. Lucky to keep a trap bedded a whole week when there around.

[quote=Jurassic Park]First of all, Texas is lucky to have that many hogs! Absolute God send!
. [/quote}

You are talking out your hind end. The last estimate I saw on the population was 3 million +. They tear up everything doing millions of dollars a year in damages.

Two Mexicans near Rocksprings died from gutting wild hogs on a game ranch. They didn't have to eat any of the meat.

A big threat of uncontrolled populations of feral swine is the threat to hog producers. Feral swine commonly carry brucellosis and pseudorabies. These two diseases are devastating to hog producers.