Pig's Dig!

Ya'll I never knew about the power of the pig until the last 2 weeks! The pig here used to be in his own pen, but the owners thought it would be good for him to free range before the winter. We set him free (yay) and he's been making friend's with dogs, eating tons of apples, and making himself a happy home in the orchard. All was cool for a few months until the apples ran out and the pig began doing what pig's apparently love to do... dig holes with their nose!
At first it seemed kind of minor, industrious and he was creating neat winding paths. Then it turned into a HUGE massive disaster area, each day he was making headway another couple feet - at a rate so fast one could easily see how the entire orchard would be turned to mud and be sliding down towards the houses if given about a month. This would be ecologically terrible too since all the wildflowers and native grubs were being killed - which makes it hard on all the other critters like bugs, birds, squirrels and rabbits.
I was told by a local guy that pigs were used by people historically to dig things, like potatoes and also to clear out a field... probably for plowing. They are dang good at it too!
But not Mr. Pig who lives here. We got some yucky food and apples, and herded him back to his pen - he went right into the gate for the food and it was shut. The earth might need a little time to heal from all that digging! Sorry pig!
XoXo