A band of hungry hogs has gone wild in a Florida county, wreaking havoc on homes and threatening to ruin Halloween for all those trick-or-treaters out and about on Friday.
Feral hogs have recently been running amok throughout neighborhoods in Brevard County, on the Atlantic coast near Orlando. Outside of their native Eurasia habitat, these pigs are known as one of the most destructive invasive species on the planet, according to National Geographic. This is evidenced by the fact that in this Florida county hungry hogs have already torn up about 17 yards in search of food and defecated on sidewalks, authorities said.
Law enforcement has hired licensed tracker James Dean, 52, to hunt down these hogs so that children trying to celebrate Halloween with candy and fun aren't met with a piggy surprise. Dean told ABC News that so far he's nabbed 11 hogs, and is still in search for more.
"There's really no telling how many hogs are out there," Dean said. "But there's a lot more than those 11 that are damaging yards." It can cost as much as $1,000 to repair the damage these diggers cause, he noted.
Feral hogs are actually quite common in Florida, and given that they're breeding like crazy, the problem may only get worse.
"They multiply like rabbits," Dean added. "It's just totally impossible to keep them under control."
Wild pigs don't normally attack humans, but will if they feel at all threatened or are provoked. No attacks have been reported so far, according to Dean, but with lots of kids walking around on Halloween this Friday, he urges people to be careful and walk the other way should they run into one of these hogs - especially when they boast 3-5-inch tusks.
Dean normally uses a tasty concoction to lure the pigs into cages - to be kept alive or killed based on his discretion - but with the upcoming holiday he plans to use a pack of dogs to chase the rest back into the woods where they belong.
"That's one of the reasons why I want to bring in the dogs," Dean said. "So the kids can have their Halloween."