"A Plague of Pigs in Texas"

"About 50 miles east of Waco, Texas, a 70-acre field is cratered with holes up to five feet wide and three feet deep. The roots below a huge oak tree shading a creek have been dug out and exposed. Grass has been trampled into paths. Where the grass has been stripped, saplings crowd out the pecan trees that provide food for deer, opossums and other wildlife. A farmer wanting to cut his hay could barely run a tractor through here. There’s no mistaking what has happened—this field has gone to the hogs."

John Morthland reports for Smithsonian magazine with photographs by Wyatt McSpadden in the January 2011 issue.

Source: Smithsonian, 01/12/2011