Wild hogs present athletic groups and district operations with new challenges when they rut and dig holes in regularly used areas. This is an ongoing problem, that keeps runners and soccer players on their toes, but efforts are being made between Cy Fair ISD and the Bridgeland HOA to remedy the issue.

“We have a loop that we run around, you run around the baseball field, and you go to the football field and soccer field, and  then you do it again,” freshman cross country runner Sarah Costigan said. “On the grass it’s all just like ditches, and there’s just dirt piles and you cannot even run in it, because when we’re running it’s all dark so you’re running and you’re falling in the holes and it’s difficult, it’s hard. It’s not a fun time.”

According to Cypress Fairbanks Assistant Director of Maintenance Scott Ledoux, the hogs tend to be more active after rains and on new campuses that were previously farm land or pastures.

Hogs are making it very difficult for cross country runners running their morning route and soccer players using the practice field to be successful and completely safe.

“[The hogs] cause the game to be slower and more sloppy,” sophomore soccer player Casey Jones said. “You’re scared to run off the fields wherever the hogs have been because you can roll your ankles and whenever you’re playing soccer it just messes with the ball movement and everything you’re doing and where you’re having to run.”

Efforts are being made to keep hogs out of areas whenever possible, but it is not feasible to say that more damage won’t occur. So until the problem is fixed, soccer teams will continue to use fields that have holes and ditches along the sidelines.

“There are a few prominent holes that stand out, and we always avoid them but sometimes there’s more holes the next day,” Costigan said, “and then you’re like, ‘Oh.’”