SAN ANTONIO – People in a Southeast Side neighborhood are getting the word out about a group of wild hogs that are roaming the streets.
Neighbors said the hogs have been showing up day and night in the Peach Grove neighborhood off South W.W. White Road.
Mary Roach recently posted a video on the Nextdoor app showing the animals rummaging in the front yard of a home.
“I don’t come out of the house. My husband’s the one that’s gotten really close to filming them,” said Roach. “There were four of them on Tuesday and the neighbors around the corner chased them.”
Roach and two of her neighbors, Gloria Rodriguez and Mary Aguilar, have lived in the neighborhood for more than 30 years and have never seen feral hogs there. They believe recent development and construction in the area have driven the wild hogs out of their natural habitat.
“Our concern is we are seniors, we have two neighbors over here that use walkers,” said Rodriguez.
“I’m sure these animals can become aggressive if they’re provoked. That’s my worry about it,” said Aguilar. “It’s very quiet. The community here is very peaceful. To see something like this, it’s a little scary.”
“Pecan Valley Elementary and Jubilee are right here and the children come home walking,” said Roach.
David Spechter, a wildlife biologist with Wildernex Wildlife Control, said people who encounter a feral hog should keep their distance and not corner them.
“Their tendency is to want to run away from you, but you don’t want to have that chance that they’re going to want to defend their piglet,” said Spechter.
He said it’s rare a feral hog will attack, but if they do, get to higher ground like the roof of your car.
“They’re going to do like a lunge forward and then they’re going to back off and run,” said Spechter.
He added they are looking for food and water sources but can cause major damage to a person’s yard in the process.
“It doesn’t take long for them to uproot sprinkler systems, all your brand new beautiful sod you just put down,” said Spechter. “It just looks like someone just took a 4x4 truck and just started just rotting around. You can have a couple of hogs come through and completely demolish your yard.”
For now, these neighbors are keeping an eye out for one another and avoiding the animals. Roach said one of the hogs is about 350 pounds and around 3 feet tall.
“We’re just trying to stay inside, especially when it gets to dusk because they come out,” said Rodriguez.
“We’re retirees. We’ve been here for 38 years and this has never happened,” Roach said.