A drunken feral pig has run amok at a Pilbara rest area, stealing campers’ beers and ransacking rubbish bins.
It is believed the animal has drunk up to 18 cans of beer at the DeGrey River rest area, east of Port Hedland, in recent days.
While noisy roads, partying teenagers, or loose-limbed gum trees are common concerns for grey nomads pulling up for the night at a remote rest area, over-indulging porkers are rarely identified as potential nuisances.
However, the incident is no laughing matter.
“We just want to remind everyone when you do pull over, make sure your food and alcohol is securely stored because there are a lot of animals out there that are keen for a free feed,” Fionna Findley from the Main Roads Department told the ABC.
The pig’s night of shame involved multiple campsite beer raids, rubbish bin ransacking and general rowdy behaviour. It seems ultimately a vigilante cow may have been responsible for bringing the mayhem to an end.
One camper named Merida told the ABC what happened.
“It was in the middle of the night and it was these people camping opposite us and they heard this crunching of the can and they got their torch out and shone it on the pig and there he was scrunching away at their cans,” she said. “Then he went and raided their rubbish that they had sort of covered over with a bin as well.”
The pig then trotted over to another group camped right on the river.
“They saw him running around their vehicle being chased by a cow,” said Merida. “It was going around and around and then it went into the river and swam across to the middle of the river.”
The search is continuing for the drunken thief, which is believed to have ‘crunched’ 18 cans of beer.
“It was last seen near the river itself, under a tree,” Ms Findley from Main Roads said. “I think it’s nursing its head today.”
Have you had a close encounter with feral pigs? What’s the most unusual campsite ‘intruder’ you’ve had to deal with. Comment below.
in the days of long ago we had a feral pig charge through our camp one night, no damage to us or camp but that incident was one of the reasons i stopped using swags/ sleeping bags.
recently was car camped at Yelgun rest area and was woken early one morning by a little blue wren pecking at my rear view mirror- he must have thought his reflection was an intruder. very cute but noisy!