- May 17, 2024
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For Dave Reisman, going out on his nightly walks with his dog Riley used to be something he looked forward to.
The was until Reisman was attacked on Nov. 8 by wild hogs mere feet from his front door. Now, the 89-year-old said he has taken to carrying a bat when he steps out his door.
“I don’t look forward to going out anymore,” Reisman said.
Reisman lives on Crosslink Court in The Crossings at Grand Haven, a gated community that is having a problem with wild hogs destroying lawns and, in Reisman’s case, attacking people. The pig problem has been growing for years, but according to residents like Bart Kaplan, who lives on Crosslink Court across from the Reismans, the community's homeowner's association and Grand Haven Community Development District have not done anything to help.
"We have been under an enormous amount of stress because of this," Kaplan said. "Where's your compassion for your neighbors?"
Kaplan said he has dealt with the pig problem before. Around two years ago, they tore up his lawn, he said, and the HOA threatened to fine him if he didn’t get it fixed. It cost him several thousands to fix it then, he said, and now he’s back in the same position.
Only this time, it isn’t just his yard. Residents up and down The Crossings have destroyed yards — front and back — where the hogs have turned up the dirt looking for food. The HOA hasn’t sent out any fine threats yet, Kaplan said, and residents are refusing to fix their yards until something is done about the pigs.
The pigs are entering The Crossings from the neighboring property, owned by the CDD. West Waterside Street resident Susan Quirk's property butts against the CDD property. She said she has lived there for years and never had a problem like this.
"The last three years it's been getting worse," she said. "They own the yards."
Kaplan said it took Reisman and other residents being attacked and encountering the pigs for the issue to gain attention from the HOA. The HOA and CDD hosted a joint meeting on Dec. 5 at 9 a.m., and many residents attended. So many, that they limited the time available for public comment to 20 minutes, and many residents didn't get to speak.
Kaplan said he told the board the pigs aren't just damaging property values and making it hard for people to sell their homes, it's a safety concern the HOA and CDD needs to take seriously. When Kaplan spoke to the board about how the issue is a safety concern — citing Reisman's encounter — he said he couldn't believe the CDD's response.
"[They] said safety and security is not what [the CDD's] function is," Kaplan said.
Neither the HOA or CDD could be reached for comment in time for publication.
""[They] said safety and security is not what [the CDD's] function is." — Bart Kaplan, resident in The Crossings at Grand Haven
The unresolved situation has really shaken Reisman and his wife, Lee, they said. Reisman said the day he was attacked, he was taking his dog Riley for a walk at 8:30 p.m., like always, but barely made it halfway down his walkway to the driveway when two wild hogs came around the corner.
“They charged at me,” Reisman said.
One pig grabbed his small dog Riley by the leg, Reisman said, and tried to yank the dog away. Reisman said he began hitting the pig over the head with the heavy flashlight he brings with him on walks, when the other pig knocked him over into a bush.
His wife, Lee, heard the commotion and ran outside.
“I opened the door, and there Dave was,” she said. “One of the pigs was standing right over him.”
She said she screamed and waved her arms, scaring the pigs off. Thankfully, neither Dave Reisman nor his dog Riley were severely injured, but the incident has shaken the couple up. Now, neither will leave the house for a walk without a bat and use the garage door to leave, hoping the noise will scare off any loitering pigs.
“I opened the door, and there Dave was — one of the pigs was standing right over him.” — Lee Reisman, a resident at The Crossings at Grand Haven
They were lucky, Lee Reisman said, that her husband didn't fall and break his hip during the attack.
The problem is two-fold. First, hogs populate at incredible rates, with one to two litters a year, at six to eight piglets a litter, according to the University of Florida. To maintain population size, it requires continued maintenance by trappers.
Kaplan said up until three years ago, the community had a man who worked full time trapping and killing the hogs, who would take the meat and sell it. But he since retired, Kaplan said, and the community hasn’t had someone out to consistently maintain the population.
Ideally, residents would like the CDD or HOA to place a fence around the edges of where the two properties meet. But that costs money, Kaplan said, which is the second issue. Both organizations told residents there isn't any funding to build a fence like that — Kaplan said that they just installed a new croquet court in the Grand Haven community just across Colbert Road, with pristine grass and fenced in to protect it from the wildlife.
At the last meeting, he said the HOA told residents they had set aside money for trappers in the next fiscal year's budget, but many residents are concerned it won't be a long term fix. Kaplan said that isn't a solution unless money is set aside every year.
"What we need here since we're overrun, is an immediate SWAT team of trappers," he said.
