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Wade Seago one day heard his dog let out more than usual in front of the house. When he came out without an 820-pound creature.
Seago lives in Alabama and is used to being surrounded by wild animals. His schnauzer, Cruiser, usually barks at deer or raccoons that run around the neighborhood.
When Cruiser started to be easy, he didn’t notice much. He was alarmed when his daughter started screaming.
“I jumped up to see what was going on,” Seago told AL.com. “I looked out the back window and saw nothing, so I ran to the front of the house where my daughter was looking out the window. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”
About 5 yards from his front porch stood the feral hog with tusk-like teeth approximately 6 inches long. Worried the hog might attack Cruiser or his family, Seago ran inside to grab his .38 caliber revolver.
“By the time I got in a position to shoot, the hog was about 12 yards away,” he said. “Cruiser was out of my line to the hog so I fired.”
It took three shots before the hog finally fell. The next day, he took the animal to Brooks Peanut Company to weigh it on a drive-thru scale. He was shocked to see it weighed a massive 820 pounds.
Seago runs a taxidermy business and often hunts deer recreationally. Although he’s seen wild hogs around the area, he’s never seen one that size.
Feral hogs are commonly found in Alabama and are considered an invasive species. The animals breed quickly and have few natural predators, so they graze on indigenous plants and destroy the natural habitat. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, hogs cause $800 million in agricultural damage each year.
“It’s so humid down here it had to hang all night. I wouldn’t trust the meat,” he said.
As a way to keep the ever-growing hog population under control, Alabama law allows hunters to kill as many hogs as they like on private property.
Seago had no regrets about his decision to shoot the hog, which he thought could have posed a threat to the safety of his family.
“I didn’t think twice about taking down this hog,” he said. “I’d do it again tomorrow.”
