The clear, cool and dry weather is adding to a long-running pig problem in the South Bay.
The people who live in the hilltop communities in Morgan Hill said they are definitely frustrated with the damage and mental stress caused by the wild pigs. As the problems and the size of the packs, keep growing.
The new images of the wild pigs were seen roaming through the ‘holiday lake estates’ community in the hills of Morgan Hill and Santa Clara County.
The homeowners said the pigs began rolling in after Anderson Reservoir was drained for earthquake retrofitting, using the dry lake as a pathway.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
The pigs have uprooted huge chunks of people’s yards as well as the open meadow used for emergency evacuations and now, members of the neighborhood association said their numbers have nearly tripled since last year.
“Every evening, we’ve been hearing and seeing these large boars and families of pigs come out. Some are up to 500 pounds,” said Holiday Lake resident Harris Hall.
Now, after a lot of debate, and delays, it appears the current proposal calls for hiring hunters to solve the issue. But there are numerous state and local laws regulating how it can be done.
For example, the pigs must be caught and caged before they can be shot.
Plus, the local homeowner association’s own bylaws prevent any gunfire in certain areas and would require a 75% homeowner vote to change it.
But board members may have a way to solve that issue too.
“We have 84 lots on the Holiday Lake Estates that are on Lake Anderson. So, if we shot a gun on those properties and kill and cage them on those properties. There’s no danger of a pass through shot harming somebody else or hitting somebody else’s home or a person,” said Holiday Lake resident Sean Mulligan.
Many residents are against shooting the pigs.
The homeowners will vote on this new proposed solution next month. But even after that, the group will face a maze of overlapping agencies to get permission to go on certain property areas and to actually kill the pigs.
