Back in 2017, Wade Seago in Alabama had a late-night encounter that people still can’t stop talking about — and once you see the photos, you’ll understand why.
Started screaming
It all started when his schnauzer, Cruiser, began barking like crazy outside their rural home in Samson, Alabama. Living on a 100-acre property teeming with wildlife — like deer and raccoons — Wade was used to the occasional animal setting Cruiser off, so at first, he didn’t think much of it.
But then his daughter started screaming.
”I jumped up to see what was going on,” Wade 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.”
Standing just five yards from their front porch was a massive feral hog, with tusks about six inches long.
Wade knew he had to act fast.
Grabbed his revolver
Worried that the hog could attack his dog — or worse, his family — he ran inside and grabbed 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.”
“I didn’t really have time to think about it,” Mr Seago told the BBC. “I was confronted by an animal threatening my dog that looked like something out of a horror film.”
It took three shots to bring the beast down.
The next day, Wade took the hog to Brooks Peanut Company to weigh it. The number on the scale? A jaw-dropping 820 pounds.
Though Wade runs a taxidermy business and hunts recreationally, he had never seen anything like it.
“I didn’t think twice about taking down this hog,” he said. “I’d do it again tomorrow.”
And considering Alabama’s well-known feral hog problem, it’s not surprising.
$800 million in agricultural damage
The invasive species causes an estimated $800 million in agricultural damage every year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They multiply quickly, have few predators, and destroy everything from crops to native plant life.
Wade decided to preserve the hog’s head and shoulders for display in his shop. As for the meat?
“It’s so humid down here it had to hang all night. I wouldn’t trust the meat,” he said.
Under Alabama law, landowners are allowed to shoot as many hogs as necessary to control the population, and because of the threat they pose to indigenous wildlife. And after the encounter, Wade says he has zero regrets.
Now, years later, the image of Wade smiling next to that massive hog — one photo showing it hanging from a tree — is still making the rounds online. And once you’ve seen it, you won’t forget it either.
Would you have done what Wade did?
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