One of my frequent visitors to my home, are my friends the collared peccaries, who are referred to as Javelinas. While pig like, they are not, nor are they ferral hog or wild boar. While true pigs originated in the Eastern Hemisphere, the collared peccary is native to the Western Hemisphere and ranges from Argentina to the southern and western parts of the United States. The peccary, is by genus an even toed Ungulate and if we go way back is a distant relative of the hippo.
Peccaries in many ways are like having wild pigs in the desert, they travel in herds of 10-20 and are very interesting. Their main source of food is the prickly pear cactus and the roots of other plants, plus grubs. As a group they mark their territory by way of their sweat glands.
I see the javelinas are still around. You got a nice picture of them. You must have been pretty close to them.
ReplyDeleteI tried the recipe for tabouli and it was a big hit with the kids. And it was pretty easy to put together, too. Thanks.
Jim