SAN ANTONIO — If you listen closely in the quiet eastern backwoods of Martin Luther King Park you can hear them snorting and grunting.
Pigs.
Lots of pigs.
A recent social media post on the NextDoor app blew up with comments when a picture was posted of feral hogs gathering in the evening twilight in a greenway alley adjoining the park.
Neighbors who live nearby on Upland Road said the unwelcome new neighbors recently started leaving the woodlands near Salado Creek and have taken to rooting around their fence lines and trying to move into their backyards.
Acqunetta Drummer said she's often afraid to go outside in her Eastwood Village neighborhood.
"My fears are that they'll be hurting somebody. They'll hurt my son, out in the backyard playing! I don't even let my dog out in the backyard any more because of these hogs."
Drummer said she believes children playing in the Wheatley Heights Sports Complex and the nearby Martin Luther King Park will soon be at risk.
"I think it is getting worse! At first I would see them every so often but now it's like every night I'm seeing these hogs. They're getting really close," Drummer said, adding "It's scary! You know? It's not just one or two of them, it's like 20 of them!"
Drummer said she tried calling the city's 311 help line, but says she has seen no improvement.
The San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department provided the following statement on the matter:
"If residents see a feral hog at a park or trail, they can report it by calling 311. The City has a contract with a vendor to trap and remove feral hogs. If park or trail users encounter a feral hog, they are urged to keep their distance. There is no City ordinance prohibiting the feeding of wildlife in San Antonio; however, feeding wildlife is discouraged."
Some neighbors on Upland believe they're seeing an increase in hog sightings because someone who lives nearby is feeding them. One man who lives on the greenbelt admitted that he likes watching and feeding birds, but when he scatters food on the ground, most of it is eaten by the four-footed intruders.
Wildlife researchers have said wild pigs are one of the worst invasive species world-wide because they can cause billions of dollars in damage to crops with their burrowing activity when they are foraging for food.
Here are additional resources on feral hogs: