SAN ANTONIO – Joggers along a trail off Grissom Road have not only been getting in their dose of exercise, they have also been getting a dose of adorable with visits from a potbelly pig.
Her name is "Buttercup" and she's been living along Cathedral Rock Trail.
But for the safety of the pig and the public, Animal Care Services officers captured her on Tuesday, which was no small feat, given her considerable size.
"We've tried multiple times to get the pig," said Shannon Simms, ACS chief field operations officer. "It's a Vietnamese potbelly pig, about 160 to 180 pounds. She's proven a little elusive to try and actually capture because of the fact that she is so large."
After several attempts to rope Buttercup and trap her failed, Simms said they decided to lure her with doughnuts.
"We were able to get her into a floor-less cage about a half-mile down the trail and just kind of slowly walk her up the trail," said Simms. "She walked herself. We just had the enclosure around her."
Buttercup had been living at Cathedral Rock Trail in recent months, becoming a sort of mascot for walkers and joggers.
"Several people have been feeding it apple, corns, peanuts and sweet potatoes," Darrell Tarver said.
Tarver said he has seen Buttercup on the trail since November.
"She loves the baked sweet potatoes," he said.
Tarver put up a sign Tuesday to let everyone know that their beloved pig had been rescued.
"She's as friendly as could be," Tarver said. "(You) start talking to her and she would start walking toward you and you see her, tail just flickering back and forth. She wouldn't survive by herself because it's isolated. There's a group of wild pigs about 500 yards out that way."
Although Buttercup was resting easy in her enclosure at ACS by Tuesday afternoon, the next step for her is to find a forever home.
"Our live release staff, they are reaching out to some of the rescues that we have and we're going to try and find her a forever home where she has a little bit more acreage to roam around; kind of live high on the hog," Simms said.