A Florida town got a scary warning about one bad problem invading their neighborhood

Florida residents have to deal with a unique set of challenges living in the Sunshine State. 

One neighborhood got put on red alert about going outside. 

And a Florida town got a scary warning about one bad problem invading their neighborhood. 

Florida town has increased sightings of coyotes, bobcats, and wild hogs 

Florida has some of the biggest variety of wildlife out of any state. 

Residents of Port St. Lucie, Florida are increasingly finding wild animals roaming in their neighborhoods. 

Pictures of wild hogs, coyotes, and bobcats wandering around at night or in the early morning have been taken by residents. 

Wildlife trapper Jay Garrish told WPBF 25 News there were a variety of reasons for the uptick in wildlife sightings in Port. St. Lucie. 

“We have the development, obviously, we keep moving west, people keep moving down here, but we also have that it’s breeding season right now,” Garrish explained. 

St. Lucie County, where the city is located on the Atlantic coast, has seen its population more than double since 1990. 

Garrish said that animals will travel more during mating season. 

“Like a coyote that would typically travel only one or two miles a night, they’re actually traveling four or five miles a night and even during the day to try to find a maiden,” Garrish stated. “And then the feral hogs, they could actually breed three times a year, but their high point is this time of the year to breed as well.”

Wild hogs were drawn to oak trees in some of the residential neighborhoods as they scavenged for food.

“Most of these pictures of the feral hogs, they’re underneath oak trees, because the acorns, we had a good acorn drop this year, and the acorns are obviously under the oak trees, and that is one of the most staple foods this time of the year,” Garrish said. “I mean, that’s how they fatten up.”

Wild hogs are wreaking havoc on Florida 

Will hogs are an invasive species to Florida that cause massive damage to farmland and residential properties every year. 

“They caused thousands and thousands of dollars’ worth of damage just in St. Lucie County alone,” Garrish explained. 

He warned that no matter how cute a hog might look they are dangerous to people.

“It’s definitely something that you don’t want to go try and pet,” Garrish said. “I mean, it’s a pig, a cute little piggy, but they absolutely can be violent, if approached. Typically, they’re just going to run away but during breeding season, you want to keep your distance because they’re protecting their family.”

Dealing with the big pig invasion has kept the trapper busy. 

“I think in the last four years here in Tradition, I’ve trapped about 223 hogs,” Garrish recalled. 

Coyotes try to avoid humans but have been known to nab people’s pets. 

“When the coyotes are mating season, they don’t eat as much. They’re more worried about reproducing than they are eating,” Garrish noted. “We don’t get as many reports about the coyotes actually taking dogs and cats and things like that but immediately after, it’s nonstop.”

Florida residents must be mindful of the wide variety of wildlife that resides in the state.