Pig Steals Campers’ Beer, Gets Drunk & Starts a Fight With a Cow

Some folks get extra cheerful when they’ve had a few too many pints of lager, and some folks get a little cranky or downright depressed. Still others lose all sense of propriety and good manners, and get sloppy and silly with anyone in their midst.

But who knew that pigs – yup, that’s right, pigs – could be among the ranks of those who get ill-mannered and mean spirited when they’ve had a few?

That’s exactly what happened in Australia in 2013, when a pig, a wild pig that is, got into the sauce, got drunk and started a fight with a barnyard buddy – a cow.

It all started when some careless campers left out their supply of hooch – 18 cans of beer, to be precise – and the errant pig decided to help himself to the sudsy stash.

The campers at Port Hedland, near the DeGrey River, were tucked away in their tents for the night when, the next thing they knew, the feral porker was snout-deep into their beer.

“Swino” Following his rampage he decided to swim out into the middle of a river before collapsing drunk under a tree and falling asleep. Credit Merida

It soon started exhibiting bad manners and loutish behaviour, including picking on a nearby cow. After slurping down the liquid gold, this little piggy went to the garbage bins and began rooting around for a late night snack.

When he was finally finished boozing it up, eating, and generally causing pandemonium at the campsite, he took a dip in the river and then passed out for a post-gorge snooze under a nearby tree.

One stunned camper told ABC News, “It was in the middle of the night, and it was these people opposite us (who) heard this crunching of the can, and they got their torch out and shone it on the pig and there he was, crunching away at their cans.”

Furthermore, the witness to these porcine shenanigans said, “Then he went and raided their rubbish…then there were some other people camped right on the edge of the river, and they saw him running around their vehicle being chased by a cow. Apparently, the pig showed up several nights in a row, causing chaos and helping himself to anything he could find to “pig out” on.

“It was coming…for a couple of days, but we didn’t see it this morning or last night,” said the witness, who gave only her first name, Merida, to the TV station.

But while the beast was showing up, it was very entertaining, the camper said. “It was going around and around, and then it went into the river and swam across to the middle… the people that were camped on the river went across and crept up on it, and it was hiding, and sleeping under a big log right on the edge of the water.”

Unfortunately, the pig, whom Australians had nicknamed “Swino,” came to an inglorious end not long after his drunken outburst at the campground. A roadwork employee confirmed for the website Gawker that he had been found dead, the victim of a collision with a vehicle.

He was found not far from the campsite at which he had created such havoc. The worker, Fionna Findley, was sure it was “Swino” because of the unusual markings he had on his ears.

It’s an all too common fate for wild pigs in Australia, who are considered an invasive species and are not usually welcome, their amusing antics notwithstanding.

According to an article in the Guardian, “feral pigs are considered an invasive pest in many parts of Australia, owing to the diseases they carry, which can infect livestock. They also damage crops and compete with natural species for food.”

Poor “Swino” may not be mourned by officials in Australia, but his drunken rampages will live forever online. All the little guy wanted was a cold brew and a wee snack, but when the pig tried drunkenly to cross the road, the cars were just too much for him.