The article, in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says it’s war. More than two million feral swine in Texas are causing half a billion dollars of damage, uprooting everything from crops to tombstones in cemeteries. The latest weapon: the “pork chopper,” helicopter hunting trips recently approved by the state legislature.

An hour on the chopper costs $475, and the firm that runs the trips requires hunters to take $350 hunting safety course. Most hunters book a five or six hour flight, the article says.

About 15,000 feral swine were killed through the program last year. The numbers have declined through each of the three years of the program. For the rest of the details, read the article here.

Photo: Steve Hillebrand, courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service