Some Melbourne residents are being frightened by wild hogs tearing up their properties, making some people fearful to come outside.

  • Wild hogs tearing up property in Melbourne neighborhood
  • Trapper: They'll never fully control hogs but do what they can
  • Wild hogs cause $1 billion in agricultural damage in US

“I went out back and noticed all these holes," said Dave Clayton, who just moved to the new north Melbourne neighborhood of Pineda Springs last year.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Clayton and his neighbors realized they had an issue on their hands.

"My son-in-law gave me a game camera, and I was able to pick them up on a couple of occasions," he said.

On the camera, Clayton captured wild hogs near his backyard, tearing up the grass on the neighboring property.

Word quickly spread, and it turns out, some of his neighbors were having the same issue.

Robert Rodriguez, who said his wife was afraid to go on walks at night, was dealing with a ripped-up lawn himself.

"Now the hogs have found my yard," Rodriguez said.

"They are having a lot more babies right now," said AAA Wildlife Trapper James Dean, who was called in to catch the wild hogs.

Dean said he's trapped more than a dozen in the area so far, two of them topping 400 pounds each.

"These pigs were introduced here in the 1800s by the Spaniards as a food source," Dean said. "They multiplied into the millions. We will never get them under control, but we do the best that we can."

As for Clayton, the Rhode Island native loves being in Florida and is learning to coexist with the animals.

"For me, it's a new thing. Welcome to Florida,” he laughed.

Wild hogs cause an estimated $1 billion in agriculture damage in the United States each year.