Wild pigs ravage neighborhood

A huge herd of wild pigs was rampaging through a normally calm Cottonwood neighborhood last week, tearing out landscaping and leaving a swath of other damage in its wake.

"This time of year, before the acorns fall, those pigs are looking for any kind of chow they can get," said Brian Boyd, a warden for the state Department of Fish and Game. "Those hogs are looking for food."

The hog herd - estimated at as many as 100 head by some residents - dug through lawns at five to six houses in the Country Hills Estates near Bowman Road just south of the Shasta-Tehama county line. Boyd said they are digging for ground worms, grass roots and other buried treats.

Boyd issued permits for neighbors to kill the pigs and set up two traps in the subdivision over the weekend of Sept. 12, he said. Bait in the traps was a mixture of sweet corn cobs, oats, barley and a little beer. By Sept. 16, he hadn't caught a single wild pig.

Hunters, trappers and watchful neighbors eventually dispersed the herd, a state game warden said.

"I just don't think that the pigs will settle into any kind of routine," said Brian Boyd, state Department of Fish and Game warden.

Hogs are animals of habit, Boyd said, often returning to places where they've found food before to see whether any more is available. But with all the attention drawn to Country Hills, Boyd said the herd likely has broken up.

He said increased hunting on nearby ranches also could help get the herd in check.

The swine turned over the lawn in front of the home shared by Linda Murawski, 62, and her mother, Dorothy LaQuaglia, 83.

"Not even a herd of cattle could do that much damage," Murawski said.

Along with turning the lawn into a muddy mess on Sept. 9, the hogs knocked over and broke half of the six statues that represent Murawski and her five siblings along a fountain.

Murawski said she and her mother have lived in the subdivision for about eight years and had never had pig problems before.

Launi Bunnell, 50, said her family's lawn was saved from significant damage by her alert cocker spaniel, Peebles.

Hearing or smelling the swine, the year-old dog started barking late Friday, Sept. 11. Bunnell said she and her husband, Blake, found hogs on both their front and back lawns - digging as deep as a foot into the dirt.

"They just rampaged," Bunnell said.

She said 20 to 30 pigs were in her front yard and about as many in the back. They were spooked off by the barks of the family's dogs and gunshots fired by her husband, who killed one of the pigs.

Like Murawski, she said it's the first time in 7 1/2 years she has lived in the subdivision that she has had pigs destroy her yard.

"They are just looking for food," she said.