COCOA, Fla. — A Cocoa woman woke up to a torn-up yard Tuesday, and it's not the first time her grass has fallen victim. Now she will have to come out of pocket again, to repair the “wild” damage done to her property.

  • Wild hogs destroying several Cocoa yards
  • Resident says a group of 10 destroyed much of her front yard
  • Homeowners have to hire trappers to handle these situations
  • More Brevard County coverage

Lois Russell has meticulously cared for her home and yard for 50 years. But Monday night she stayed up late, on watch, after her neighbor's yard down the street was torn up.

"I stayed up until 2:30, and they hadn't come, so it was safe to go to bed," she said. "And I woke up at 7:30, and they had been here."

A group of wild hogs, at least 10, had destroyed much of her front yard.

Home security cameras caught the critters in action, as they tore up the grass with their tusks, on the hunt for soft roots and grubs to eat.

It's not the first time Russell's property has been ripped up. Just last year, wild hogs began their onslaught in her backyard.

"(They) progressively got closer until they got right up on my house," Russell recalled. "And they can be aggressive and quite dangerous."

Resident Lois Russell says a group of wild hogs destroyed the front yard of her Cocoa home. (Greg Pallone/Spectrum News 13)

New sod and putting up a back fence set her back nearly $5,000. Now the animals have moved to the front yard, causing more problems. Several other yards in her neighborhood have also fallen victim.

A trapper has set up a trap in the nearby wood line, hoping to corral them.

Homeowners have to hire trappers to handle these situations. Neither Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission nor the city of Cocoa is responsible.