Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is filming the next season of the show Amazing America with the most recent episode taking place in Texas. It involved a hunt for feral hogs, with Palin bagging a rather large one. Of course, this was pretty much the end of civilization as we know it.

While taping her reality show in Texas, Sarah Palin proudly announced her killing of a feral hog and happily posed with the dead animal.

She ended up posting the picture online, and it was ultimately met with both praise and criticism…

Upon killing the animal, Palin took to Facebook to do some boasting about the creature she just slaughtered.

“Everything’s bigger in Texas!” the reality star and former politician wrote alongside a photo of her and the dead hog.

Speaking as someone who has slaughtered more than a few of God’s creatures in his time and discovered a variety of techniques for making them delicious, I understand that there are people who are opposed to hunting. I’ve heard the complaints. Why do you have to shoot Bambi? Well, it’s because Bambi is pretty delicious, but that’s a story for another day.

Palin was hunting feral hogs. So for the critics out there who largely consider themselves to be the party of science, might you consider taking the word of the Smithsonian?

Wild hogs are among the most destructive invasive species in the United States today. Two million to six million of the animals are wreaking havoc in at least 39 states and four Canadian provinces; half are in Texas, where they do some $400 million in damages annually. They tear up recreational areas, occasionally even terrorizing tourists in state and national parks, and squeeze out other wildlife.

Texas allows hunters to kill wild hogs year-round without limits or capture them alive to take to slaughterhouses to be processed and sold to restaurants as exotic meat. Thousands more are shot from helicopters. The goal is not eradication, which few believe possible, but control.

While I’ve not done it personally, I’ve heard plenty of accounts which say that feral hogs are difficult to cook in a way that produces the bacon, chops and BBQ that you’re used to, but it can be done. Some programs allow hunters to donate them to feed the homeless. That’s really not the point here, though. Even if you are opposed to hunting in general, feral hogs are a menace. Once they got out into the wild and bred with native boar, they quickly became one of the most successful species in North America. They breed prodigiously and have few natural predators. They tear up the landscape and can be incredibly aggressive.

Sarah Palin will unfortunately not be able to make a dent in the hog population in Texas even if she stayed for the entire year with an unlimited supply of ammo. Spare us the sanctimonious sighs and comments about the cruelty of slaughtering God’s creatures. She’s doing everyone a very small favor and somebody will probably get a meal out of the deal.