Republished Story: July 2017 Incident
In rural Samson, Alabama, Wade Seago was accustomed to the sounds of wildlife near his home. However, when his dog, Cruiser, began barking incessantly one night, Seago didn’t anticipate encountering an 820-pound hog on his front lawn.
Cruiser, a schnauzer, often barked at deer or raccoons, so Seago initially paid little attention to the noise. That changed when his daughter started screaming.
“I jumped up to see what was going on,” Seago recounted to 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.”
Standing about 5 yards from the porch was a massive feral hog, sporting tusk-like teeth around 6 inches long. Fearing for the safety of his dog and family, Seago rushed inside to retrieve his .38 caliber revolver.
Photo credit: Boris Kasimov/Flickr, Wade Seago/Facebook (2)
“By the time I got into position to shoot, the hog was about 12 yards away,” Seago 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, Seago took the animal to Brooks Peanut Company, where he weighed it on a drive-thru scale. He was shocked to see it weighed a massive 820 pounds.
Seago, who runs a taxidermy business and hunts deer recreationally, was familiar with wild hogs in the area but had never encountered one of this size.
Feral hogs are common in Alabama and are considered an invasive species. They breed quickly and have few natural predators, leading them to graze on indigenous plants and destroy natural habitats. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, these hogs cause $800 million in agricultural damage each year.
Photo credit: Boris Kasimov/Flickr, Wade Seago/Facebook (2)
Seago told The Associated Press he will stuff the hog and display its head and shoulders at his taxidermy shop. The rest of the animal was discarded as he didn’t think it was safe to eat.
“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 permits 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.”
Sources: AL.com, AP via The Washington Post
