The brave man, later identified as Wade, told local news outlets that he heard his little daughter screaming outside. The dad then quickly went outside and the last thing he expected was to find a ‘massive creature’ on his front lawn. The father also said that his house is surrounded by wildlife and his dog usually barks at deer or raccoons that run around the neighborhood. So, when his dog began barking, he didn’t think much of it. At least until his daughter started screaming. “I jumped up to see what was going on,” he reportedly said. “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 820-pound hog with tusk-like teeth approximately 6 inches long (SEE PHOTO). Worried the hog may attack Cruiser or his family, Wade 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 weigh it on a drive-thru scale. He was shocked to see it weighed a massive 820 pounds.
Wage reportedly 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.
Wade also said 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, the state law permits hunters to kill as many hogs as they like on private property. Wade 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.”