By Angela Thompson
A plucky pig with the swimming skills of a "torpedo" has launched an amphibious raid on a suburb south of Wollongong, attacking two dogs and ramming a fence before returning to the water to make its escape.
The surprisingly athletic hog swam an estimated 800 metres across Lake Illawarra before making landfall at Oak Flats in Shellharbour last Saturday, surprising several residents whose homes back onto the bay.
Samantha Douglas with her damaged fence after the attack. Credit: Sylvia Liber
Oak Flats resident Kathleen Cane saw the black and brown pig emerge from the water about 8am, then break into a sprint, apparently unfatigued by its journey.
"I couldn't believe how fast those little legs could run," she said.
The pig then headed east to trade angry noises with two Staffordshire Terriers secured behind a fence in the backyard of a nearby property.
The dogs' owner, Richard Davis, struggled to restrain them and keep out the agitated swine, which he estimated was a metre long and weighed 100 kilograms.
"It was very aggressive, moving its paw and scraping the concrete, like a bull does before it charges," Mr Davis said.
"It was snorting and making grunting noises.
"He started ramming the gate and was really giving it a go."
Mr Davis used a nearby spirit level to try to deter the creature, but it took the tool in its mouth, spat it out, and "shoulder charged" the gate, breaking part of the fence free from its concrete moorings.
Mr Davis eventually managed to get the dogs, owned by his daughter Samantha Douglas, inside the house.
He returned to the gate with his camera, hopeful of a photo, but saw only a retreating set of ears crossing the lake.
"It was a good swimmer - like a torpedo," Mr Davis said.
"I didn't think pigs could swim. All you saw was a head, like a lump of wood going across the water, with a really big wake behind it.
"It actually did a U-ey at one point and I thought, 'oh no, it's coming back'. But it did a full 360-degree circle and kept on going."
Ms Douglas said she was grateful her father had been home.
"Otherwise I think the dogs would have gotten out or the pig would have gotten in," she said.
Park Crescent resident Liz Lowe also witnessed the visit. She thought it looked "like it had been scared".
The snorting visitor's display was a first for fascinated residents, but with biosecurity authorities also taking an interest, the creature's days may be numbered.
Feral pigs have historically been transported illegally from regions west of the escarpment into the Illawarra by pig hunters wanting to bring the sport closer to home.
Biosecurity officer Michael Knez, of the Local Land Service South East, said the pigs were hunted with a bow and arrow and pig dogs - "hence the aggressive behaviour towards the dogs".
"I would suggest [the visiting pig] has been pressured by dogs in the past," he said.
"There could have been hunters chasing it [last Saturday] and this may have forced it in the water."
The pigs are considered a hazard in suburbia because of their aggressive behaviour.
They were also disease-carriers and a threat to biosecurity, Mr Knez said.
"The biggest issue arising from this is it may affect livestock and farming in the region," he said.