Wild boars attack suburban lawns

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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Wild boars are invading the suburban community of Bay Winds in western Palm Beach County, Fla., and homeowners are looking for solutions.

The boars are digging up lawns looking for grubs, insects, roots, bulbs or anything else they found edible, said Jake Kroll, a biologist for the Florida fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Residents speculate the dry conditions in south Florida this year have sent the hogs away from their normal marshland habitat to lawns that have been soaked by sprinklers, the Palm Beach Post reported Monday.

Kroll said the hogs are no threat to humans. They will run way from people unless they are cornered.

It's illegal for residents to shoot them, but many of them have been setting traps -- so far with no success.

The hogs were introduced in this country by Hernando de Soto in 1539. Florida's wild hog population is second only to Texas.