Hi there! I’m Merrybelle, a Texas wild hog. I want to talk about a word people use for us hogs: “invasive.” It’s a big word that sounds kind of mean, doesn’t it? I think we need nicer words.
You see, us hogs didn’t pick to be here. We just are here, and we’ve been here for a very long time. People brought us here a long time ago. Now, we’re just living and doing hog things, like looking for food and taking care of our families.
Some folks like those white-tailed deer a lot. They think deer are pretty and nice. But when they see us, they don’t think we are nice. That makes me a little sad because we don’t jump in front of cars like deer do. We just munch on grass and dig in the dirt. It’s how we find our food.
Yes, we do make a mess sometimes. Our feet mix up the dirt, but we’re not trying to be troublemakers. We’re just trying to live, just like deer and birds and people.
So maybe we could use a friendlier word, like “non-native.” That just means we’re not from here originally, but we’re still part of everything now. We deserve to be treated nicely, just like the deer.
Let’s try to be friends with everyone, even us hogs. We’re all living together, so it’s nice to be kind. Thank you for listening to me!
Love,
Merrybelle