Why Is Everyone Talking About 30-50 Feral Hogs?
Welcome to Galaxy Brain, a column that unpacks all things extremely online.
If you’ve logged in to Twitter today, you may have noticed that your feed is overrun with talk of hogs—30-50 feral hogs, to be specific, that run into your yard within 3-5 minutes while your small kids play.
For those confused about the abundance of hog talk, it all started when musician and friend of GQ Jason Isbell reacted to this past weekend’s tragic mass shootings with a tweet that read: “If you’re on here arguing the definition of ‘assault weapon’ today you are part of the problem. You know what an assault weapon is, and you know you don’t need one.” While the responses ranged from those supporting his stance to those arguing against stricter gun laws, one in particular stood out above all others. “Legit question for rural Americans,” it began. “How do I kill the 30-50 feral hogs that run into my yard within 3-5 mins while my small kids play?”
Every additional word added to this sentence takes the reader on a journey that gets exponentially more bizarre. (GQ reached out to McNabb for comment and will update this post when we hear back.) The prospect of 30-50 feral pigs is enough to stop someone in their tracks. But 30-50 feral pigs congregating in somebody’s backyard? What exactly are they doing there? Also, that’s kind of an inconvenient numerical range—planning a party for 30 is way different from trying to entertain 50. Could more of the pigs RSVP? Wait, okay, and they’re going to be there in a matter of just three to five minutes? And are you really suggesting you shoot your assault rifles at the pigs while your small kids, but not your large adult children, are running amongst them?
The absurdity of the question, coupled with the realization that these were the sorts of baldfaced arguments sincerely being used to block laws that prevent gun violence, made it perfect fodder to take off as a meme. A gleefully silly, deliriously dumb meme that spread much like...30-50 feral hogs in a yard:
After laughing like an idiot at all of these for three to five hours, I could not shake the idea that swarms of feral hogs were invading yards throughout America. So I reached out to the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission to learn more about the hogs themselves. Keith Stephens, a spokesperson for the commission, kindly answered my questions via email. For starters, groups of feral hogs are known as sounders, though it’s unlikely that sounders are comprised of 30-50 hogs. “I guess it's possible, but that's very large,” Stephens said. “The typical size we see is usually less than 20.”
They do carry a risk, to be sure. “Mostly they destroy residential yards, agricultural crops, native habitat and ecosystems,” he explained. “They've also been known to destroy cultural and historical sites such as cemeteries. They can carry diseases such as swine brucellosis and pseudorabies.”
And as for what to do if you’re set upon by 30-50 feral hogs? “If you're in Arkansas, the best way to handle this is to contact the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services or the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.”
It gets weirder the more you think about it.
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Originally Appeared on GQ
