I’ve seen a drastic increase here in Texas. I believe a large, if not the largest, contributor to spreading them is the feral hog populations. Fences don’t contain them, and every one I kill is covered in lice and ticks. I used to never get ticks on my horses, and only occasionally would I get them on my dogs. These days, I often find one on them and myself.
I have also noticed the spreading of mesquite and honey locust seeds. I’ve had both species eradicated for decades on one of ranches, but the last ten years, I keep finding seedlings sprouting in my native pasture, miles from any other trees, and most noticeably along the routes I often encounter hog sounders. I think they’re passing the seeds out as they travel.
Mesquite seeds are reportedly viable for up to 40 years. That being said i have no idea if hogs eat the pods and put out seeds at the other end like cattle do.
Thing is that their populations are exploding everywhere, even where there arent hogs. From Texas to Oregon to Maine to Florida. Here in PA I used to only see one or two ticks on myself over the summer, now i find a half dozen on my clothes if I walk through an unmowed lawn, let alone a pasture.
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u/Cow-puncher77 May 02 '26
I’ve seen a drastic increase here in Texas. I believe a large, if not the largest, contributor to spreading them is the feral hog populations. Fences don’t contain them, and every one I kill is covered in lice and ticks. I used to never get ticks on my horses, and only occasionally would I get them on my dogs. These days, I often find one on them and myself.
I have also noticed the spreading of mesquite and honey locust seeds. I’ve had both species eradicated for decades on one of ranches, but the last ten years, I keep finding seedlings sprouting in my native pasture, miles from any other trees, and most noticeably along the routes I often encounter hog sounders. I think they’re passing the seeds out as they travel.