The Covert Attack...

Last night, as we slept peacefully in our bed, our property was under attack. Windows were closed in favor of an air-conditioned room, so we heard nothing of the destruction that was being wrought nearly outside our bedroom window.

Today was the day Handsome decided to mow the lawn on our property, and as usual, he started by walking through the grass picking up and pitching pine cones. (You wouldn't believe the noise they make if the mower gets 'em!) He had walked the back yard and noted the little divots caused by our resident armadillos - who by themselves can be quite "impressive" on a yard - but he was speechless when he got around to the front.

Slowly and nonchalantly, he came back to the lanai and asked me to take a little walk with him. I never turn down an offer like that! I jumped out of my chair, slipped on my flip-flops and caught up to him. Together we walked to the front of the house and what I saw made my jaw drop!

Sprawled out in front of me was an excavation unlike anything I'd seen since we broke ground to build the pool. To give you a reference to the amount of yard that had been torn up here, think in terms of a mid-size guest room! And, man, they dig deep. If we'd wanted to till that area for a garden, it would have been a major task - but not for these marauders! They (and I'm thinking there was more than one - or a single descendant of the infamous "Hogzilla") had the dirt turned over and rooted up in no time flat. I might add at this point, that their excavation was on top of our mound system! Choose the most expensive (and important) place to dig in our yard, why don't you?!

Further inspection yielded proof of our suspicions...we'd been
attacked by HOGS! We didn't need forensic experts to match up foot..er, hoof...prints. We could tell all on our own.

It's not like their existence in our area was unknown to us. We've seen hogs on the back line of our property and along the roadways in our neighborhood before, but until last night they'd stayed out of our yard.

When we lived up North, we had annual Hog Roasts every Labor Day weekend. Seems that word got out, and now they're having their revenge in the South. We'd better figure out something quickly or there might be a Civil War reenactment on the horizon. Hogs...Can you even believe it?

(Well today, maybe not so much!)

Edited on Wednesday, May 27, 2009: I have added a Flickr photo album (Titled: The Great Hog Invasion of 2009) with updated images of the activities of the one lone hog damaging our yard. Soon the trapper will be coming to take care of the pig. I'm all for "All Creatures Great and Small" and loving wildlife, but I don't care if you're my sister or one of God's creatures...You start wrecking my stuff and there are going to be consequences!