Essays
Moseying: Exploring the Natural World
When you meet a javelina look for interesting behavior
July 23, 2008
“Javelinas stink, they are noisy, and they are as bad as raccoons stealing food from a camp,” opined a fellow that goes camping every chance he gets. “Some people are deathly scared of them, but they have never charged me,” he continued. “They are almost blind, you know, if you are more than fifteen feet away they squint at you trying to figure out what you are.” Richard Galle has lead float trips down the Rio Grande for almost thirty years and taken folks in the Permian Basin Outing Club camping, rappelling, caving, backpacking, and bike riding for almost as long.
Chris Cherry, a retired Midland Police officer, has been a volunteer at the Sibley Nature Center for the last couple of years. He has trained police officers in the art of tracking, and his observational skills are reflected in the many photographs he has taken for the photoessays on our website. Last Saturday he headed for Afghanistan to train police officers there, but before he left, he dropped by and donated a book about javelinas by Lyle Sowls. It is the most comprehensive text available. This essay is in honor of Chris and his commitment to serving his country and is in appreciation for all that he has done for Sibley.
We have javelinas in Midland County along Monahans Draw south of the Interstate. With the recent influx of feral hogs they may disappear. The javelinas appeared along the draw in the 1980s, emigrating north from the Trans-Pecos. One of their major foods are prickly pear, and the dense prickly pear thickets on FM1788 twenty miles south of Midland International Airport probably played a major role in their dispersal to Monahans Draw. Their presence might be part of the explanation of why mountain lions have been seen with some regularity along the draw, although the lions probably feed off of the deer found there, too.
Javelinas are dainty eaters. They do not devour their food rapidly as hogs do. When eating prickly pear, the peccaries skillfully peels the skin off of one side of the pad and then eats the soft juicy pulp in the center. When they root in the ground for plant tubers they only excavate around the plant. Even if there is no leaves above the tuber, the javelinas can smell them. Javelinas are crepuscular for the most part – eating at daybreak and sundown and resting the rest of the time. Some nocturnal activity does occur, especially with a full moon. Although many people believe they eat rattlesnakes, when researchers have tethered a buzztail where javelina drank water at a spring, the javelina ran when the buzzing started, and returned to the opposite side of the waterhole.
Most herds of javelina number between 5 and 15, although bigger groups are sometimes seen, as are lone individuals who are somehow disabled and unable to keep up. Each herd utilizes a home range rarely larger than a square mile. Herd territories overlap when plentiful food and cover is available, but the herds from neighboring territories rarely meet. Peccaries have scent glands that with which they frequently mark wood or rocks. They often nose the scent gland of the other members of the herd. Javelinas often rub against one another and rub noses, too. They often nuzzle each other as if content in their companionship, and spend time grooming each other. When sleeping, they press against each other.
One female is usually the most dominant animal, but dominance is not an important issue. Very little time is spent squabbling. When herd members squabble, they first perform “teeth-chattering,” clicking their teeth rapidly. Their ears were flattened against the head. Sometimes they snarl and open their mouth and show their teeth. If the confrontation escalates, they butt, striking each other with their heads, then turn with open mouth and sometimes cut their opponent. Their hair is bristled, standing on end. In captivity aggression can escalate among animals unfamiliar with each other. They lock their jaws and circle around and around until one is thrown to the ground. The thrown animal then retreats, but this behavior has never been witnessed in wild animals.
Several researchers have watched wild javelinas play. They play chase, pay chase in a circle, leap, paw other animals, and dash about. Young javelinas play much more often than adults (up to 13 percent of their time, as opposed to only 1 percent of the adults time). Javelinas have a number of vocalizations. When a herd is dispersed and a threat is perceived a very doglike “bark” is given. As the herd reforms they grunt until all have rejoined. Young animals complain by loudly exhaling if the mother has wandered away. Short repetitive sounds (sort of like a purr) are used between a mother and her young to keep them close together. Javelina will squeal as a sign of submission during aggression or play. They also growl if too many are too close together when feeding. A loud woof is issued when the herd is surprised and takes flight.
Up to 20 percent of waking time is used for scent marking. They often rub low limbs and rocks in their territory. When a herd is panicked at the edge of its territory, the scent marking increases, until a plume of odor surrounds a herd. They can squirt a stream of liquid scent several inches. The liquid is amber when it comes from the gland, but it immediately turns jet black. Commonly used scent posts are conspicuously brown. The females have significantly more gland activity.
People have occasionally kept young javelinas as pets. These pets usually focus on only one person, and often end up being aggressive to other people. If the pet javelina is ignored, it will usually become aggressive to its “owner.” Eventually some one gets bitten. I have met a half-dozen ranchowners that have told about a pet javelina, and each story ended with injury to a human and the demise of the javelina.
It is unlikely that the Monahans Draw javelinas will wander towards town, for they prefer to not be near humans.