My dictionary defines feral as "having escaped from domestication and become wild". Seems like that ought to imply that feral applies to an individual animal that's gone native, so to speak. Yet, we frequently hear the term directed at herds of horses that may have been free since shortly after the Spaniards introduced them to the New World. How long does it have to be before you are no longer feral? Of course, it might be partly political—it's much more politically correct to talk of controlling feral animal numbers than those of wild creatures.
The Chihuahuan Desert has its share of formerly domesticated,
free-living creatures. Prominent are wild horses and burros—or is it feral horses and
burros? Regardless, they're out there, along with pigs that have never seen a sty.
Many towns have bands of dogs that I can accept as feral, but what about cats? Most
university campuses in Texas, including in El Paso, have so-called feral cats. My
question is, how can an animal that has really never agreed that its been domesticated
possibly go feral?
Contributor: Arthur H. Harris, Laboratory for Environmental Biology, Centennial Museum, University of Texas at El Paso.
Desert Diary is a joint production of the Centennial Museum and KTEP National Public Radio at the University of Texas at El Paso.