HANOVER, Va. --I’d been hearing about this feral pig roaming off Route 33 in western Hanover County. Police and animal control dispatchers had been getting an earful from folks squealing on the black roamer.

Facebook friend Tom Merica saw it and encouraged me to get on the case, recalling my previous stories about the legendary Black Dog.

“Now western Hanover has a black pig running loose,” he wrote, giving me some very good coordinates.

And sure enough, there roved the pig, in a wintered cornfield about a mile east of Stanley’s Store and Route 623.

So I grabbed my camera and started filming the now almost-famous feral hog-lite celebrity.

Folks started stopping to see the porcine parade.

I’m thinking: this is no feral pig, unless it’s a mighty young one.

It looked like someone’s pen leaked this carefree critter that then hoofed it on the down the road.

Among those who stopped; young Hanover County hunter Joey Gendron. “It’s just a pig that got out of somebody’s pen,” he said.

He should know. He’s hunted all over this area and has seen every kind of critter. Just the other night, he killed a 40-pound coyote. He said hogs running wild around these parts are jail-breaking domestics.

We kicked the tires on the idea of running the pig down, since neighbor Michael Mason said his wife had seen the little feller running down the middle of Route 33, a busy road that could support a roadkill café.

So we decided on a classic pincer move - me running around the front as Joey swooped in from the side.

The confused pig sounded ferocious, and frightened, until Joey scooped him up, walked across the crackling cornfield and eased him into the bed of his pickup truck. The little pig just settled right down like he knew exactly where he was.

Some phoning from onlookers brought nearby resident Tanya Cauthen, who runs a butcher shop (Belmont Butchery) but has been looking for a cute pig to keep her chickens and goats company.

“This will be a pet,” she promised. If the owner turns up, she said, she’ll have the little black pig ready, rested, watered and fed.

I called Hanover Animal Control and wound up talking to a state game warden, sending him pictures and phone numbers.

And so ended the mysterious reign of the mighty feral pig of Hanover, who wound up being a few pounds short of terrifying.

I got this text from Tanya just before our story aired:

“I got the pig settled in nicely. Gave it an apple as an extra treat. I’ll send a photo in the morning.”

Well done.

Just make sure you have the fence latched securely. This pig has a history, I’ll bet.