SARASOTA COUNTY — There’s no disputing the fact that feral hogs are a destructive force in the state, their rooting for food the cause of destruction to land and sensitive habitats. Wild hogs can be trapped and removed, but the wily ones that can’t be snared need to be taken down by other methods — namely, hunted.

A pilot feral hog hunt proposed by the Southwest Florida Water Management District, commonly known as Swiftmud, for the Deer Prairie Creek Preserve near North Port to reduce its feral hog population recently hit a snag when the Sarasota County Commission deferred a decision for at least 30 days and asked for more research on alternatives to a hunt.