Kevin Bacon’s days of being footloose and fancy-free are over. Fortunately, we’re not talking about the famous actor known for his roles in “Footloose,” “A Few Good Men,” and “Tremors.”
A pig in Pennsylvania who shares the celebrity’s name has had a group of fans chasing him (and following him online) for the last two weeks after the animal ran away from his Gettysburg home on Oct. 14.
Owner Chelsea Rumbaugh had only brought home Kevin Bacon the day before his daring escape in broad daylight.
“He rooted underneath a post and removed it from the ground and then went under that area of the fence,” she told Local 21 News.
Soon after the rescue pig escaped, Rumbaugh shared a poster around town and on social media, making him a page called Kevin’s Home Adventures.
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You would think it would be easy to find and bring a 200-pound pig back home where he belongs. You’d be wrong.
Kevin Bacon had no intention of going home any time soon. In fact, he led his owners, neighbors and strangers on a wild pig chase.
People reported sightings all over town as numerous search parties spread out across the community. Kevin Bacon would quickly appear in the brush and trees of people’s yards, including his own home. He would eat the food people would leave to lure him out for capture and then disappear into the woods.
Kevin Bacon showed the world he’s an intelligent pig. He even outsmarted various traps his owners set out.
“We got a net, he stepped around it,” Rumbaugh said. At the slightest crunch of a branch or a tree or leaves, he would book it.”
As the days went by, Kevin Bacon’s fame spread across social media and he got his own hashtag, #GettysburgKevin. His fans worried when he wasn’t seen for a day, but he always returned and was clearly staying close to his home grounds — but just out of reach.
Eventually, the pig’s story reached his namesake. The actor, who coincidentally also has a farm, shared the four-legged Kevin Bacon’s adventure on his Threads account with a plea.
“Bring Kevin Bacon Home!” the actor wrote on his Threads timeline while reposting an article about the runaway.
The battle to bring Kevin Bacon home was won by something hardly anyone can resist: a sticky bun. But this sweet treat had a little something extra: pet-safe Benadryl.
The piggie’s mom set out the treat for the runaway to eat during one of his regular stops around the house for a snack. It took a little time, but eventually, Kevin Bacon made his way home on Halloween morning.
“After two steps outside, I saw that he had wandered into the pen on his own,” Rumbaugh wrote on the search’s Facebook page. “I dropped what I was holding and sprinted to the pen, stepped in, and shut the door behind me.”
It took a minute or two for Kevin Bacon to get over his frustration of being penned in. But, he has settled in nicely back at home in his newly reinforced pen with his adopted piggie brothers and sisters.
Now that Kevin Bacon is home, his owners have made the new celebrity extra comfy and relaxed.
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Does this mean the pig who hogged the celebrity spotlight is done with the public?
Not likely, according to his mom. She assured fans on Kevin’s Facebook page that she’ll continue to showcase his adventures.
“I do think he has a life of stardom ahead of him,” Rumbaugh told People. “We have plans for our property to be an open-to-the-public farm and offer services for children and adults who struggle with PTSD, anxiety and depression, and Kevin is going to be here for all of that, too.”
As for her pigs’ less-than-six degrees of separation from celebrity Kevin Bacon, Rumbaugh has told multiple news outlets the actor/musician/farmer has an open invitation to visit anytime he’d like.
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