WATERVILLE -- The Colby College campus has had a new visitor at large recently, and he isn't paying tuition.

The uninvited guest is a medium-sized, charcoal-gray pig, presumed to be male, that has been on the loose on campus for more than a week.

"It's currently a free-range pig. I spotted it a couple of days ago, grazing on grass on the girls' softball field, when I drove past on my bicycle. It's about the size of an English Springer Spaniel," said Colby director of communications Steve Collins on Wednesday.

It is believed to be a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig, he said.

A dwarf or miniature swine breed, pot-bellied pigs have grown popular as pets. When fully mature, potbellies weigh from 70 to 150 pounds and average 3 feet long by 15 inches high, according to staff research.

The pig was last under human control when Colby students, who were not identified, had taken the pet pig to a campus cookout, where it slipped its leash, Collins said. The students were not planning to kill the pig at the cookout.

"No one has had any luck trying to approach it and catch it by hand. Mostly, it's been in the woods and fields behind the (campus) field house. Somebody said there was plenty of stuff out there for it to eat," he said.

Pigs are omnivores and can eat both plants and animals, according to staff research. Natural scavengers, they have been known to eat almost any kind of food -- including insects, worms, grubs, tree bark, leaves, grasses, roots, fruits, flowers, garbage and rotting carcasses.

According to Collins, some of Colby's grounds crew had collaborated with the animal control officer in Waterville, to set up traps on campus, in an attempt catch the free-roaming hog.

Waterville police Sgt. Joseph Shepherd said the pig has been on the loose at Colby for more than a week.

"Our animal control officer, Galen Estes, has not been able to find it," he said.

Colby's assistant grounds supervisor Peter McDonald confirmed that attempts to catch the elusive pig by Wednesday had failed.

"We tried to catch it a couple of ways, like physically chasing after him and using a net to throw over him. That didn't work. He is very friendly, but as soon as you think about moving, he shoots right away. We actually had him eating out of our hands."

McDonald and his pig posse have set up two, large live animal traps on campus, hoping to lure the pig with bread and other food scraps from the dining hall.

"We hope he trips the gate and gets caught. He probably weighs about 50 pounds. I've been checking the traps a couple of times a day," he said.

So far, no Colby student has come forward to say they own the pig, he noted.

By late Wednesday afternoon, grounds crew almost caught the pig, but it jumped into the pond and swam away, said Anthony J. Tuell, supervisor of mechanical and electrical services at Colby.

If it hangs around campus long enough, might this free-spirited relative of "Wilbur" (of "Charlotte's Web" fame) become Colby's new mascot?

"We're happy with the mule at this time," Collins said.

Lynn Ascrizzi -- 861-9245

lascrizzi@centralmaine.com