When I saw an article that from said great white sharks will not enter the Gulf of Mexico pop up in my Google alerts, I couldn’t help but giggle. I am after all the creator of the Gulf Great Whites blog, so it definitely grabbed my attention.
Even though I hadn’t yet read the story, I knew this was another opportunity to use this platform to educate people that great white sharks are indeed present in Gulf waters. And it’s just another example of how few people, even those in media realize this.
And please subscribe to the Gulf Great White Sharks blog while you’re there.
Huge Response To Grizzly Episode. Don’t Miss it!
In this special episode of Dark Outdoors®, we bring you an uncut, hour-long firsthand account from Ben Verheul, a man who faced one of nature’s apex predators—and lived to tell the tale. Deep in the Wyoming backcountry, Verheul found himself in a life-or-death struggle with a grizzly bear, one he shockingly realized he had encountered before.
I am getting lots of great feedback on this truly fascinating, scary and inspiring episode.
Wild Wishes® is our flagship program that grants wildlife encounters to hurting children -ranging from critical illness to parental loss and life in fhe foster system. And we need your help!
We currently have the largest number of kids ever in cue to come through the program. But we need your help to make their wishes come true. Can you make a tax-deductible donation? Link below.
Thanks to everyone who contributed to phase 1 of our Kingdom Zoo Wildlife Center Redo. It went great.
But now we need help with accomplishing these wishes which include an amazing, personalized gift package for each special kid.
Can you help us? We’re in a time when we really need it to accomplish our mission.
In this special episode of Dark Outdoors®, we bring you an uncut, hour-long firsthand account from Ben Verheul, a man who faced one of nature’s apex predators—and lived to tell the tale. Deep in the Wyoming backcountry, Verheul found himself in a life-or-death struggle with a grizzly bear, one he shockingly realized he had encountered before.
From the eerie premonition of danger to the brutal reality of the attack, Verheul recounts every chilling detail of his survival. What went through his mind in those critical moments? How did he fight back? And what does his experience teach us about the raw unpredictability of the wild?
If bear stories captivate you, this one will leave you speechless. Tune in to Dark Outdoors® for this gripping true survival tale, proudly sponsored by Texas Fish & Game, bringing you their Missing in the Wild reports in every episode.
Would you like to be part of a shark documentary? I am producing a very special one involving great white sharks that will be released this June. To help cover final production costs, I am opening up an opportunity to get you, your business or someone you love’s name listed in the credits.
This will be seen by hundreds of thousands of people and help us spread the word of shark conservation.
Spaces are limited. A minimum $50 donation for each name will get a credit listing until we run out of space.
Dark Outdoors® is now a weekly program! We just kicked off our weekly episodes with a wild man.
I interview author R.C. Bramhall author of Haunted War Tales: True Military Encounters with the Bizarre, Paranormal and Unexplained about the terrifying wildlife encounters faced by military around the world.
You subscribing helps me to grow my audience which helps my family. Being an independent media worker who runs a ministry for hurting children without a salary is tough. It’s by God’s grace and people like you following my work that I can keep doing the things I do.
Great White Shark Documentary
Would you like to be part of a shark documentary? I am producing a very special one involving great white sharks that will be released this June. To help cover final production costs, I am opening up an opportunity to get you, your business or someone you love’s name listed in the credits.
This will be seen by hundreds of thousands of people and help us spread the word of shark conservation.
Spaces are limited. A minimum $50 donation for each name will get a credit listing until we run out of space.
Hogzilla. That is the name bestowed upon a huge hog killed in 2004 by Chris Griffin on Ken Holyoak’s hunting preserve. As the story goes, the feral hog was 12 feet long and weighed 1,000 pounds.
This sensational story circulated on the Internet and become a media sensation with about half of the interested parties screaming “hoax” and the others amazed that a “wild” boar would get so big.
As my book Hog Wild, this story became such a sensation the National Geographic Society filmed an investigative documentary about it and exhumed the body. Their verdict was the hog actually weighed 800 pounds and was between 7.5 and 8 feet long, which is still humongous by wild hog standards. However, they also found through DNA testing the animal was a hybrid of wild and domestic hogs, most likely a Hampshire.
Hunter Chris Perdomo sent me these photos of a 658-pound hog that is the biggest we have seen in a long time. Perdomo who has hunted everywhere from Texas to Spain said the boar did not go down easy.
“The first shot I took and hit him all he did was look like a mosquito bit him, and then I hit him again and he fully turned around then the third shot was the kill shot.”
Perdomo’s hog obviously didn’t miss many meals (Courtesy Photo)
This got me to thinking about the largest hogs I have seen on open range. One was a huge sow crossing a dry creek bed in Burnet County between Austin and Llano. My father and I were headed toward our deer lease in Menard and spotted the animal just off Highway 71. We turned around to get a better look and spied the huge pig about 100 yards out climbing the creek banks then disappearing into the brush. We both agreed the hog was in the neighborhood of 500 pounds.
The monster hog dwarfed the others taken on the same hunt.
Another gigantic hog I saw was many years later on my old deer lease in Newton County down a high line where I had been finding absolutely huge hog tracks. While scouting one day I glassed an acquaintance’s deer feeder on the edge of the high line and saw a bunch of small hogs, which were probably in the 50-pound range that at that range looked like ants. Then came what looked like a jeep only it was a hog. The little ones scattered and this behemoth began feeding which allowed me to watch him for a few minutes. Again, I would say the hog was somewhere in the 500-pound range, which among truly wild hogs is a giant.
But those hogs don’t match up to “Hogzilla” do they?
“Monster Pig” did though. That is the name the media gave to an alleged 1,051-pound hog killed by 11-year-old Jamison Stone at Lost Creek Plantation near Anniston, Alabama. He killed the hog with a .50 caliber handgun shooting the animal eight times causing a Hogzilla-like media sensation.
As noted in the highly detailed chapter on giant hogs in “Hog Wild” how long this hog was wild had come into question, but hogs can get that big.
What’s the biggest feral hog you have seen? Do you have photos you could share with us?
We would love to hear your stories in the comments below and share photos and videos of giant hogs not only here in America but around the world.
Chester Moore
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The Houston Fishing Show at the George R. Brown Convention Center will host a special seminar by Chester Moore, Editor-In-Chief of Texas Fish & Game , Higher Calling Wildlife® founder and founder of the Gulf Great White Sharks project. Moore’s seminar, titled “The Return of the Great White and Other Giant Sharks in Texas Waters,” is set to shed light on fascinating developments in shark populations along the Texas coastline.
It will take place 1:45 p.m. Saturday Feb. 15.
Moore will discuss an increase in sightings and activity of great white sharks and other large species in the Gulf of Mexico. He plans to discuss key findings, including tracking data from tagged sharks, such as “LeeBeth,” a large great white tagged by the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy that showed up at South Padre Island in 2024.
These insights provide an in-depth look at why these apex predators are making a resurgence in local waters and what it means for the Gulf’s ecosystem.
The seminar will also explore other large sharks on the Texas coast including tigers, great hammerheads and makos.
The seminar is scheduled as part of the Houston Fishing Show’s lineup of educational events. For anyone interested in learning more about sharks in Texas waters, this is a must-attend session.
All attendees will get a special Gulf Great White Sharks decal and an invite to a special great white shark documentary debut.
“Can you ID this caught on a trail came in Polk County, TX this morning?”
I received that text yesterday along with the following photo.
This is a melanistic -black coyote.
Black (melanistic) coyotes, distinguished by their striking black coats, are a rare and captivating occurrence within coyote populations, particularly in the eastern half of the coyote’s range.
This unique coloration results from a genetic mutation that increases the production of eumelanin, the pigment responsible for black and brown pigments in mammals.
Back in 2021, I wrote of a black coyotes after my friend Todd Jurasek captured a video of one in Southeastern Oklahoma. I wrote the following.
With recent evidence showing red wolf DNA in coyote-like canids on the Texas Coast, it would be interesting to have a DNA sample from this black one.
The red wolf which was native from Texas/Oklahoma to the eastern seaboard had a subspecies called the “black wolf”.(Canis niger). Niger means black in Latin.
In fact, “black wolf” was a term commonly used throughout the South for what is now known as the red wolf due to the presence of black individuals.
This is a red wolf from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service captive breeding program. It’s a little confusing whether Canis niger was considered a subspecies or was actually the name of the red wolf. Either way the link is undeniable.
I have a copy of the 1946-47 Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Biennial Report that goes into detail about wolves in the Bayou State.
Under the headline “Predator Control” the following information is given.
“The Legislature of 1946 increased hunting license fees to $2.00. Twenty five percent of these funds (the increase) were dedicated to predator control.”
Interestingly, the article shows the above photo of a predator control officer with a dead “black wolf”.
The red wolf was declared extinct in the wild in 1980 due to hybridization with coyotes.
In a 2024 article over at deerassociation.com the author notes the first discovery of black coyotes.
During the 1950s, Arthur Halloran of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) was the first to document the appearance of black coyotes in Oklahoma as coyotes replaced the extirpated red wolf.
The article goes on to say that Philip S. Gipson, then with the University of Nebraska, was the first person to investigate melanism in eastern coyotes during the mid-1970s, when they were first making inroads into Arkansas.
Gipson reported that nearly 8% of coyotes in Arkansas were melanistic, with most black coyotes occurring in the northern areas of the state. Because many of the black canids could not be differentiated from typical coyotes, Gipson attributed some of the occurrence of melanism to hybridization with red wolves in Oklahoma and Texas.
It seems my theory from a years ago about black coyotes having a red wolf link way down the line may hold some water. At least it seems the extirpation of red wolves paved the way for melanistic coyotes.
Fascinatingly, in a study you can read here, researchers say that behaviorally, melanistic coyotes exhibit notable differences from their lighter counterparts. Research has shown that black coyotes have larger home ranges, averaging 10.5 square miles compared to 6.7 square miles for standard coyotes. They also demonstrate a stronger preference for areas with substantial canopy cover and shadows.
I saw a black coyote about two miles from my home with (oddly enough) Todd Jurasek who captured the aforementioned black coyote video in Oklahoma.
I had heard about it being spotted near a refinery and we saw it one night on the side of the road near that refinery.
A few weeks later, I was giving a wildlife seminar and a man who lived about 1/2 mile from this spot walked up with a picture of what was no doubt that same animal dead. He had shot it in his backyard (which is perfectly legal by the way.)
Subscribe to this blog to get these kinds of updates.
Here’s the truly interesting part.
This all happened within about three miles of a location where some of the last “pure” red wolves were captured from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s captive breeding program in 1979-80 timeframe.
I started my career writing my first published column about red-wolf like animals in the area back in the 1990s.
It seems the presence of red wolves at least in the past and black coyotes is one we can no longer igmore. It’s a fascinating look into the removal of the red wolf and show’s that nature is very resilient.
Seeing a black coyote is a real treat and I am glad I got to see this Texas specimen taken by trail camera.
Have you ever seen a black coyote? Do you have photos? I would love to see them. Email chester@chestermoore.com.
Chester Moore
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Whether you love to hunt them or simply despite their existence, there is no question these animals are intelligent, voracious and have survival ability unlike any other large animal.
Feral hogs come in many colors from the standard black to red and blonde.
Over the last couple of years I have been reaching out to hunters trying to see if anyone has killed a true albino hog. While we can’t verify that is one was an albino, it is the whitest hog we have seen.
“This is probably not albino but pretty white. It was killed by my son Karson Lester in Lavaca County in 2019. It was his first rifle kill,” Ken Lester.
Is This An Albino Hog?
I have have recently photographed some white feral hogs in Southeast Texas and had some photos of large white boars and sows sent in to this blog and through my work at Texas Fish & Game over the years.
I am currently looking for any photos (or video) from game cameras or you posing with the carcass of an albino feral hog-if they exist in the wild.
The first person to submit a firsthand photo of a genuine pink-eyed albino hog will receive a signed copy of my book Hog Wild.
There are probably some albinos out there and we would like to see them.
We would also like to see any photos of white hogs (whether albino or not) and those with the blonde color phase.
The first Louisiana black bear hunting season in more than 35 years successfully concluded Sunday (Dec. 22) and included a 696-pound adult male bear harvested by Louisiana military veteran and Purple Heart recipient, Deron Santiny, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) announced. The bear was the largest harvested in Louisiana during the season and the biggest observed in recent department history.
“I could not be prouder of the efforts of Secretary Sheahan and the entire LDWF team for making this black bear season a reality for the first time in over 35 years. Congratulations to each of the hunters who successfully harvested bears, especially to Louisiana military veteran Deron Santiny. Deron harvested the potential largest bear in state history, coming in at 696 pounds,” said Governor Jeff Landry. “Louisiana is finally back on the map for bear hunting, and we are only going to grow from here!”
What a giant black bear!
A total of 10 bears – eight males and two females – were harvested in the special season, which was administered by LDWF, and ran from Dec. 7-22. The season, in which 11 hunting permits were distributed, included Bear Management Area 4, made up of Tensas, Madison, East Carroll and West Carroll parishes and portions of Richland, Franklin, and Catahoula parishes. Of the 10 bears, one 490 pound male bear and one 383 pound male bear were harvested in North Madison parish near where Teddy Roosevelt camped in his successful Louisiana bear hunt in 1907.
“We are so excited about the success of this historic black bear season and proud of the many efforts of our department, hunters, private landowners, and partners to bring back this treasured Louisiana species,” said LDWF Secretary Madison Sheahan. “Providing hunters in our state a chance at harvesting a bear for the first time this century is a big win for conservation, and to see our hunters have such great success with a military veteran harvesting a potential record-breaking bear is indicative of many prosperous black bear seasons to come.”
Santiny’s bear was taken in Tensas Parish and is believed to be in its late teens to early 20s. LDWF Large Carnivore Program Manager John Hanks said it is the largest bear he has seen in Louisiana, topping a 608-pound bear that was killed in a vehicle accident. Louisiana adult male black bears generally grow to between 450-550 pounds. The bear will be measured after the 60-day waiting period for Boone and Crockett scoring.
Santiny was the recipient of a hunting permit from the Healing Road Foundation. The foundation was able to raffle a harvest permit for the 2024 season designated for a Louisiana military veteran.
The Healing Road Foundation is a veteran-founded and managed organization dedicated to providing life-changing outdoor experiences to wounded veterans, survivors and their children to help reconnect families and lead them on a path to rehabilitation and healing. Through partnering with the Healing Road Foundation, LDWF is able to give back to those who have served our country and advance black bear management efforts to provide more hunting opportunities to sportsmen of Louisiana.
All black bear lottery fees and license revenue will be reinvested directly into the Louisiana Black Bear Program. These funds will assist LDWF biologists in continuing to conduct bear management operations such as annual live trapping and radio-collaring of bears, winter den checks to monitor reproductive rates, and non-invasive hair sampling to monitor range expansion.
The Louisiana black bear is one of the state’s most recent conservation success stories. The animal was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1992. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of many stakeholders to monitor black bear population numbers, restore habitat and protect the bear for the long term, it was removed from the list in 2016.
As Texas braces for another Arctic blast, that will possibly put up to five inches of snow along the Interstate 10 corridor in Southeast Texas, it’s important to recognize the catastrophic toll that past freezes have taken on the state’s wildlife.
During the 2021 freeze, the devastation was staggering: millions of fish perished, including massive numbers of spotted seatrout along the Texas coast.
The popular species that is hugely important to the sportfishing industry, suffered widespread mortality as frigid temperatures plummeted water temperatures below their survival threshold.
One of the many giant trout that died in the 2021 freee.
A Historic Reminder: Lessons from the 2021 Freeze
The February 2021 freeze demonstrated the fragility of Texas’s diverse wildlife when exposed to prolonged, extreme cold. Over 3.8 million fish, spanning 60 species, were lost along the coast. Among them, speckled trout-aka spotted seatrout—the most popular sportfish on the Gulf Coast.
Tarpon were also impacted as many juveniles were found floating in places like Port O’Connor and Rockport.
Axis deer were hit hard on some ranches in 2021. TPWD Photo Ryan Schmitt
Other Wildlife at Risk
Exotic species such as nilgai antelope, blackbuck, and axis deer—common on Texas ranches—were particularly vulnerable due to their low tolerance for temperatures like those being forecasted. Large numbers perished in South Texas, leaving a serious impact on local ecosystems.
I’m hoping this isn’t going to be as bad as 2021. The Texas Coast in particular doesn’t need another hit like that.
Chester Moore
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