Collared Peccary (Tayassu tajacu) - Dobson Central Photography

Notes

We've had a family of javelina's living in our neighborhood for quite some time now. It seems this winter, they're residing under a large mesquite tree on our property. We have a semi love/hate relationship with them. They're neat to watch when they're in your yard eating all the bird seed up (as seen in this photo), yet we hate waking up at six in the morning only to find our our trash cans have been tipped over and our trash is all over the street. Having to pick up trash at the crack of dawn before the garbage truck comes is not the best way to start your day off.

The day this photo was taken, I was out amidst 12 javelina's, including 2 babies. While the babies are fairly cute, the adults at some point in their lives are beaten with an ugly stick. In addition to being called a collared peccary and javelina, they also share another name. Musk Hogs. Anyone that has been near a javelina can tell you how bad they smell of urine and musk. It's not near as bad a skunk smell, however, it can be quite nasty when they come by in a large pack. Regardless of the trash incidents and their musky smell, I still enjoy watching them visit my yard.

Notes

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