BABCOCK RANCH, Fla. (WINK) — A Babcock Ranch homeowner says the wild hogs that tore through his backyard are gone, but the damage they left behind is still there.
Now, the question is who should pay to fix it.
Earlier this week, WINK News Reporter Haley Jacobs showed the damage left behind after wild hogs ripped through backyards in the Tuckers Cove community.
A contracted trapper removed 22 hogs from the neighborhood, but for Glen and Stephanie Wulff, the problem did not end there.
The couple closed on their Tuckers Cove home in February after years of looking for the right place to retire in Southwest Florida. Glen said he and his wife had been searching for a home in the Fort Myers area for nearly 20 years before finding Babcock Ranch.
“We’ve been looking at houses for almost 20 years now over here in the Fort Myers area, and we never heard of Babcock Ranch until last August,” Glen Wulff said.
The home checked nearly every box.
“She had a list she made up before we even came out here, and everything on her list matches,” Wulff said. “She got her pool, she got a yard, she got the preserve. We have nobody in front of us.”
Photos from just a few weeks ago show the Wulffs’ backyard with green grass behind their brand-new home. But now, that same yard is covered with torn-up grass, patches of dirt and damage Glen says was left behind after wild hogs came through the area.
“We had no idea about hogs,” Wulff said. “Because if I knew about that, and I knew they were going to eat up my lawn, I don’t think I would have built over here.”
This week, a contracted trapper removed 22 hogs from the Tuckers Cove community. But Wulff says the battle is not over because he is now trying to figure out who is responsible for fixing the damage.
Wulff says his homeowners' association told him he is responsible for covering the cost.
“HOA fees per quarter are about 1200 a quarter for a master, and the Tucker’s Cove Association,” Wulff said.
When WINK News Reporter Haley Jacobs asked if that fee covers lawn care, Wulff said that is one of the reasons he chose the community.
“That’s why I came here,” Wulff said. “I won’t have to touch the lawn.”
Wulff shared with Jacobs the landscape and irrigation information for Tucker's Cove. The information says lawn care services include weed control, fertilization and pest treatment of lawns.
Babcock Ranch’s Environmental Conservation Manager and Wildlife Biologist Christina Kontos told WINK News earlier this week that feral hogs root through the ground looking for food.
“They actually root into the ground up to, like, a meter deep or so, and they root for grubs and insects and things,” Kontos said.
That is part of why Wulff believes he should not have to foot the bill.
He has not received an estimate for the repairs yet, but he believes the cost could add up quickly.
“They are supposed to treat for pest,” Wulff said. “So I’m hoping you guys can help us out with this situation.”
Wulff also pointed to what he says is a clear divide between the yards that were damaged and the neighboring properties that were not touched. Three yards were hit hard, while homes next door were left untouched.
Jacobs emailed the Tuckers Cove Community Association manager on Friday, asking whether wild hog damage is considered the homeowner’s responsibility and whether there is any repair process or assistance available for residents.
After not hearing back, she called on Saturday.
So far, WINK News has not received a response.
For Wulff, what was supposed to be a retirement dream home has now turned into a fight to get his backyard back.
