JACKSONVILLE, Fla — Homeowners in one Jacksonville neighborhood have been seeing horrible yard damage in recent days.
The reason is wild hogs.
“First a small area in a 10-foot section which belongs to the preserve and then a small part of our back yard and then yesterday night our total back yard," said Wolfgang Von Dressler, a homeowner impacted by the wild hog backyard damage.
Von Dressler lives in the Sweetwater neighborhood just east of I-295 and Baymeadows Road.
He thinks the new construction in the area may be pushing wildlife into his backyard.
“While I'm not against progress there should’ve been some guidelines in protecting the wildlife better," said Von Dressler.
Another resident, Anne Hyman says she understands they live near a nature preserve area, but it seems there have been more wild hogs than usual.
“I saw one just passing my backyard. My dog was barking and he was just on his merry way," said Hyman.
Hyman says with all the damage done to their backyards the repairs can become costly.
“But the problem is you have it repaired, is it going to happen again? So we want to see nature but we’re going to have to [be closed in like a cage,] " said Hyman.
The spokesperson for FWC, Karen Parker says wild hogs are in all 67 counties in the state.
Parker says if you have problems with wild hogs in your yard, you could try and use sturdy fencing to fix the issue.
“They’re digging up and rooting because what they’re doing because of their omnivores. They are looking for food and they are using their snouts to get under the ground, landscaping, or plants and they cause problems," said Parker.
Parker says if you have further questions about what kind of fencing to use you can contact the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.