Hunter Kills Pig with Crossbow in San Ramon Suburb

BY JANE McINNIS

A 200-pound pig was shot down with a crossbow Friday morning after digging up a lush backyard of a San Ramon neighborhood, KTVU reports.

The Lyndhurst Place neighborhood homeowners association in San Ramon hired a professional hunter after obtaining a depredation permit from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The hunter was able to kill one of the three pigs in the yard.

In order for a pig to be legally hunted in a residential neighborhood, a homeowner has to contact the Department of Fish and Wildlife to get a permit for means of depredation.

The animal needs to be shot on homeowner's the property, an official from the Department of Fish and Wildlife said.

"The relationship between California residents and wild pigs could be described as 'love/hate.' That is, hunters love them while everyone else seems to hate them," said an article on the state's Department of Fish and Game website.

[RELATED: Wild pigs Rummaged Track Field at Tassajara Elementary.]

Wild pigs in California are actually a hybrid between a wild boar and feral pig.

The hogs aren't only after insects and grubs embedded in lush yards. They also eat roots, fungus and other landscape features, according to the department website.

[RELATED: What's up with the wild pigs of San Ramon?]

The KTVU report explains that dry weather has caused the wild pigs to enter suburban neighborhoods looking for damp grasses.