A few days ago I'm sure you remember me mentioning mountain biking at River Legacy Park and coming upon a guy who, among a lot of other things, told me that he'd seen a herd, or whatever their grouping name is, of Wild Boars.I knew there were Wild Boars at the Fort Worth Nature Preserve. I've been biking at River Legacy for years. I've seen plenty of Bobcats, Armadillos, Squirrels and Snakes. But no Wild Boars.
So, today, my very first time back at River Legacy, I'm at the first new section, where I avoid the "Steep Climbs" option and opt out for the "Bypass." I was hearing noises rustling the ground cover, like a lot of really big squirrels. You often hear squirrels.
I stopped pedaling and what do I see? A big group of Wild Boars. They were on the move. I think they heard me coming. I was not quick enough to get a picture, so I Googled for "Texas Wild Boars" and found the picture you see above. I saw no baby boars in the group I saw today, but they looked just like the ones in the picture.
They did not look cute like the Pigs I've seen on a farm. These look sort of like ugly no-neck monsters that moved funny. They reminded me of someone I used to know.
I was curious about the Wild Boars so I Googled for info. Apparently Wild Boars wander all over Texas. While farmers see them as crop damaging Pigs, others see them as all natural free ranging pork. The Texas Wild Boars are thought to be a hybrid mix of Russian Red Boars and Domestic Pigs. Supposedly chefs all over the country are seeking out Wild Boar due to lean, natural, exotic meats being popular with foodies.
Texas Wild Boars are caught and shot all over the state. Some say that the unique environment of Texas brings a unique taste to the pork with the meat being fuller flavored with a sweet nutty taste.
Who knows what garbage those Wild Boars might be eating in Texas, is what I thought. Who knows what causes the "exotic" flavor.
And now on to the Texas "Boor" part of today. So, after seeing the Wild Boars I pedalled on. A couple miles later someone was coming up fast behind me. I let him by. It was the guy I'd never seen before last week, who had told me about the Wild Boars I'd never seen before.
As he passed by he started talking to me and kept talking as I pedalled behind him. I slowed down to let him drone on into the distance. About a quarter mile later he was stopped on the trail, admiring a bit of trail work, which is where I'd seen him the first time. At that time he'd told me all about 2 trail vandals. On and on he went. Today he started in telling me the same stuff, as he very slowly pedalled ahead of me. Unlike the first encounter I provided no feedback. Finally he must have realized I was not listening to him or he realized this was the guy he'd told the same stuff to, a couple days prior.
The trail guy popped a wheelie and sped off at a high speed. When I came to the trailhead I saw he was busy yapping away at some fresh listener. So, that's my tale of Texas Boars and Boors for the day.
My father used to have a get-away place down in south Texas, and the place was full of the wild hogs. They do some damage to crops and will tear up a fence to get through to the other side. But they do make great eating. There is even a small town down there that has a Wild Hog Carnival every summer.
ReplyDeleteI live in south texas and we had a group of piglets show up a hunter killed there mother. I gave them some corn they soon started to trust me and they came on time every day for that corn. they soon acted like domestic pigs. I could pet them rubb them . they liked to be scratch on there back. we ate the males . The females will run off the males so there is no inbreeding. I have seen them let other pigs out of traps. the sal pushed the door open untill they were all out. I had a wild piglet giving to me and she grew up and had wild piglets the wild boars would come and get into her pen and breed her. once she buried her piglet it died and she unburied it as I walked up to her pen and rolled it over to me . It was like I could see the sadness in her eyes.
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