Tallow trees in rural areas are most likely to spread, but even urban tallows can proliferate elsewhere, thanks to birds. It likes to root up and destroy native plants, crops and agricultural equipment. It also can carry disease that can spread to humans and wildlife. A pack of feral hogs has been reported running down and killing a white-tailed deer fawn. The hogs reproduce rapidly and can range over five miles in just 24 hours.
Cats prey on ground-nesting birds, songbirds in trees and small mammals.
Dogs run down deer and livestock, and can be a worry when it comes to small children. Free-ranging pets and guard animals should be spayed or neutered. But once they invade native prairie areas, these introduced species outcompete and dominate native plant communities. Offenders include coastal bermuda, St. Augustine, KR bluestem, Angleton bluestem and tall fescue. Homeowners and ranchers in rural areas should consider planting with native grass mixtures, such as little bluestem or Eastern gama grass.