A hog residents had taken to calling Pete the pig, or Sunny, was captured Thursday in the Sun 'N' Lake neighborhood of Sebring after nearly a week of slipping past traps. Fruit and jam did not do it. Corn did.
According to WFLA, officials planned to move the hog to the Sun N Lake preserve or a local farm rather than kill it. Scott Dressel said dispatch received about half a dozen calls Wednesday about a hog running around Sun 'N' Lake.
A Week of Calls and Missed Traps
The sightings were in a residential part of Highlands County, rather than a remote lease. Residents contacted law enforcement more than once, and Highlands County Sheriff's Office dispatchers logged roughly six reports of encounters on Wednesday, Nov. 11.
Local agencies first used traps baited with fresh fruit and jam, but the hog largely avoided them. Before the capture, Jody Schum said, "He seems pretty smart. He seems maybe a little bit accustomed to people." Officials said the animal appeared mainly interested in finding food.
The unsuccessful baiting prolonged efforts to remove the hog from the neighborhood. Nothing in the reporting ties this particular animal to torn-up yards; the documented concern was a loose hog repeatedly seen in the area.
Corn, Then a Planned Move
Crews switched to corn on Thursday, Nov. 12, and caught the hog. The capture ended the effort to remove him from the residential streets after fruit and jam had failed to draw him into the traps.
The relocation was described as a plan, not a completed handoff. WFLA reported that the hog would not be killed and was expected to go to the Sun N Lake preserve or a local farm. Its account did not establish which destination was chosen or confirm that the move had happened by Friday.
Dressel also warned residents about the risks of approaching wild hogs. "The wild hogs can get very big. They're very fast. They're very smart. The males can have large tusks," he said. Authorities reminded residents that wild pigs can become dangerous when approached, threatened or cornered. A nickname does not make an encounter safe.
What the State Already Knows About Hogs
Pete's week in Sebring sits inside a much older Florida problem. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says wild hogs occur in all 67 counties. They are not native, though resident populations have been here for hundreds of years.
FWC's size range is not subtle: more than 150 pounds, and 5 to 6 feet long. They eat plants and animals and feed by rooting with broad snouts. That rooting can disturb soil and ground cover until a patch looks plowed. Those are species traits, not a damage report on this hog.
The legal menu is wide and specific. On its nuisance-wildlife FAQ, FWC says wild hogs may be trapped, shot or hunted year-round without fees, licenses or permits, so long as the landowner has given permission. A trapped animal may be released only on property where the landowner allows it. Transporting or holding a live wild hog requires the applicable permits. Poisoning is prohibited.
Rules for a Live Transfer
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says a trapped wild hog may not be released on public land; release is allowed only on private property with the landowner’s permission. The agency’s nuisance-wildlife FAQ cited above also says transporting or holding a live hog requires applicable permits. These rules apply to a proposed transfer but do not confirm Pete’s destination.
Sebring Hills Already Knew the Pattern
Sun 'N' Lake is not the only Highlands County subdivision that has had to negotiate with hogs. In Sebring Hills, resident Aimee Syradonis told the Highlands News-Sun that a trapper had caught 13 animals from a sounder of two dozen or more that had damaged her yard.
That report described a route, not a mystery: wild hogs from conservation lands to the west had wandered into the subdivision through a wooded corridor. Thirteen caught still left a double-digit remainder. Pete's case was one animal and a failed fruit course. Sebring Hills was a group, a corridor and a yard already torn up.
The Same Animal, Other Streets
Farther north, the pattern is familiar enough that neighbors have stopped treating a sighting as a one-off. On Sept. 21, ClickOrlando reported that residents saw two wild hogs near Boggy Creek Road and Lake Nona Boulevard, less than 10 minutes from home. Neighbors said wild hogs were not an uncommon sight in Lake Nona.
The same report looked back to 2025, when video showed a group moving through the Storey Park neighborhood and some residents said they had been chased. Different county, same basic collision: subdivision edges, animals that root for a living, and people who meet them on the way to the mailbox.
Pete is no longer on Sun 'N' Lake's streets, but the reported destination remained unsettled. Any live transfer would also have to follow Florida's rules for moving and releasing trapped hogs.
