The saga of the pet pig that got loose from his family in Gettysburg this month reached a happy resolution on Tuesday. He's home. That's all, folks.
For the past 17 days, Chelsea Rumbaugh and her neighbors had been trying to corral the 200-pound Juliana pig, named Kevin Bacon. It had broken out of the family's barn the morning after they adopted him on Oct. 13. They affectionately named him after the famed actor and had plans to keep him with three young piglets they already had on their property, which is surrounded by woods.
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Kevin had other ideas. He spent more than two weeks escaping and outsmarting the Rumbaugh family as they worked to gain his trust.
"We couldn't get close enough to touch him or grab a leg to try to get him. We had gotten three to five feet away, but any time he thought we got too close, he would just book it to the woods," Chelsea Rumbaugh said during a phone call Tuesday afternoon.
The family got help from neighbors with drones to follow Kevin's movements. They set traps for him. They lured him with food. The whole effort was documented on Rumbaugh's Facebook page, "Bring Kevin Bacon Home," which now has more than 2,000 followers. After PhillyVoice wrote a story about the pig last week, the actor Kevin Bacon joined the fan club and posted about it on Threads.
The stakeout for the pig continued until about noon Tuesday, when he was found inside a newly created pen that the Rumbaughs had built for him during his time on the run. They'd been trying to trap him inside and it finally worked.
"I had come outside with my husband to do a perimeter walk of our property to see if Kevin was hiding in the woods," Rumbaugh said. "No sooner than when we stepped outside, we saw that Kevin was in our new pen. I dropped what I was holding, ran over to the gate, stepped into the pen myself and shut the gate behind me."
Kevin quickly realized it was checkmate, by the looks of the photo Rumbaugh shared on Facebook.
"He was upset for about 60 seconds. He ran back and forth a few times rather quickly when he realized the door was closed," Rumbaugh said. "He's currently made a bed for himself in the dirt and he's sleeping."
The key to capturing Kevin may have a been a cinnamon bun that the Rumbaughs had laced with pet-branded Benadryl and left inside the pen as a lure. It was one of the many suggestions they got from Kevin's online fan club.
"I think (Kevin) sleepily wandered in and let his guard down, or just felt comfortable with us and knew there was food in there," Rumbaugh said. "We gave him less than the suggested amount of Benadryl per weight because we wanted to make sure that we were making a safe choice for him. I really do think it relaxed him and helped him feel more comfortable with where he was, coupled with so many positive interactions with myself and my neighbor. He just needed to take the edge off."
The pen is about six times bigger than the one Kevin had at his previous home, but the Rumbaughs aren't stopping there.
"We do have plans to make a much larger pasture and include some of the woods into that to make sure that he can still go out and maybe cut a little footloose sometimes," Rumbaugh said.
For the time being, Kevin will be on lockdown in his pen and monitored by cameras. The Rumbaughs don't plan to leave his side the rest of the day. When he has to be left alone, he can "talk and chat" with the three piglets in the barn who are only separated from the pen by a fence.
The family hopes to make Kevin the centerpiece of a larger mission that will serve the community.
"Our long-term goal is to have a farm that's open to the public and offer programs for children and adults who may be battling things like PTSD, depression and anxiety," Rumbaugh said. "Animals are so soothing and can be very healing. We're hoping to have an event as soon as something around the holidays."
The actor Kevin Bacon, a Philadelphia native who now lives on a farm in Connecticut with his wife, actress Kyra Sedgwick, is welcome to visit any time.
"Kevin Bacon human has an open invitation to come by and meet Kevin Bacon pig," Rumbaugh said. "I'd love to talk to him about what we plan to do for our community with our farm."
Rumbaugh said she's been blown away by the spotlight she's received this month.
"It is unimaginable the amount of media attention that my pig has gained in the past two weeks or so. I never wanted it or thought it would get to this point," Rumbaugh said. "I just wanted the local hunters to be on the lookout. I'm so grateful for the encouragement from the online community and their knowledge. It played a big role in keeping my mind straight while we were in this process."
The next step is going to be getting Kevin acclimated to his new life and the family that loves him.
"We've definitely worked every day to make sure that he knew we were safe people and that this was his home," Rumbaugh said.
For those who want to keep up with the journey, Rumbaugh said the Facebook page will live on — although it will likely get a name change as the story evolves.
"I plan to keep all of Kevin's fans updated on his antics," Rumbaugh said.
