Ben Wheeler Fall Feral Hog Festival & World Championship Wild Hog Cook Off

From Ben Wheeler Fall Feral Hog Festival & World Championship Wild Hog Cook Off Website:

The feral hog theme of Ben Wheeler's weekend festival is meant to poke fun at the continually, ever expanding, state-wide-population of wild hogs. Brooks Gremmels, co-founder of Ben Wheeler Arts & Historic District Foundation, has said since the beginning of the Festival in 2008 that, "We're just making lemonade out of lemons."

Feral (wild) hogs are a large problem in Van Zandt County and much of Texas, and North America. Additionally, the omnivores -- they eat plants and other animals -- are a multi-million-dollar problem because they can disrupt both livestock and farming operations by damaging facilities and fences, and trampling and eating crops. They also are popular table fare and, in some areas, compete with the white-tailed deer as an animal to hunt.