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Sunday, September 28, 1997

Trappers finding market for wild boar meat

By MARK BABINECK / Associated Press

CROWELL, Texas -- Snorting and rooting, the sow prowls the Texas outback searching for a snack. She's not what you'd call picky, but the scent of soured wheat nearby attracts her like a swine magnet.

Smart as she is, supposedly more so than a dog, she ignores the wire cage holding the pungent morsels. As the hog prepares to dine, her back nudges a fragile clasp holding open a door, which slams shut behind her.

In a few days, the mud-caked Texas hog might be accompanied by a salad, Shittake mushrooms and a glass of wine, thanks to trapper Max Gerhardt.

"You can go to a crop or a field and find them, especially in the wintertime, though they are getting more scarce," said Gerhardt, who traps and sells hogs from this region between Lubbock and Wichita Falls for a South Texas processor.

A Highway Department inspector by day, Gerhardt calls his porcine pursuit "fun profit." After a full day on the state's roadways, his winter hog rounds might keep him out until 11 p.m.

Southwest Wild Game, based in Devine, pays him from 15 cents to 55 cents per pound, depending on size. Those rare hogs weighing more than 250 pounds draw the highest prices, making them much more prized than those under 100 pounds.

The company, which only processes game animals, has found a niche with hogs as the agricultural pests multiply and spread virtually statewide. Severe drought blunted their growth here and elsewhere, but a year of heavy rain should change that.

"There weren't any hogs in '88," said Eckhardt of the rolling plains where Gerhardt finds plenty nowadays. "Buddies I went to school with in the Brownfield and Tahoka areas (south of Lubbock) say they can't let their kids ride bikes at dark anymore the way hogs are coming into the country."

Hunting traditionally has been the common eradication method. But since boar meat is slowly catching on for many restaurants, particularly on the coasts, the market for live animals is stout.

Eckhardt, who once worked for the San Antonio Zoo, deals with 30 buyers like Gerhardt, mostly in East and South Texas. The animals are processed alongside deer, antelope, wild sheep and other exotics, then shipped away.

Demand sometimes outstrips supply, according to one Houston restaurant manager.

"Most of the time we run out of them," said Essie Azar, who runs the Basil's, which generally keeps some kind of gamey dish on the menu.

Wild boar, served there with rice and mixed vegetables, seems to be more similar to veal than domestic pork, Azar said.

They make rather elegant entrees for such aggressive and dirty beasts.

"I've been put up a tree sometimes," said Gerhardt, who also hunts them. "You've got to watch out."