EVERETT — Bill Quistorf was driving to the gym late Saturday morning when something unusual caught his eye on an empty, grassy lot.

“At first I thought, is this a pig?” the north Everett resident said. “I said, ‘No, it’s a boar.’”

Only 3 feet long or so, it appeared to be someone’s pet. It bore little resemblance to the giant wild hogs that wreak havoc through the southeastern United States.

Wherever it came from, there it was at Fourth Street and Alverson Boulevard in cozy north Everett.

“It was just munching away on the grass,” Quistorf said.

He called Everett police. They called animal control.

The curious creature had left the area by the time Quistorf returned from his workout around noon.

The boar posed no obvious threat, so animal control did not immediately respond, said Kathleen Baxter, a spokeswoman for the city. They planned to check the area as time allowed.

“They were aware of it and they wrote it up as a leash-law violation or an at-large stray,” Baxter said.

Pigs are not allowed in Everett, as per city code.

Earlier this fall, two pigs were found south of 41st Street and Rucker Avenue and brought to the shelter, Baxter said.

“Nobody claimed them and they were eventually adopted out,” she said.

Feral swine have been spotted in southwestern Washington, but the invasive species is less common here than in most other states, according to the Washington Invasive Species Council. They’re widespread in California, Idaho and Oregon.

Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465; nhaglund@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @NWhaglund.