Javelina havoc

Things are beginning to stir, from the magenta flowers on the hedgehog cactus, to the riotous nightlife that wakes me up with alarming regularity. Two nights ago I heard a crash. Thinking it was my cat I came from the bedroom into my office to check, but when I heard the sound again I realized it was coming from outside. Looking out the bathroom window I spied two javelinas very close to the house. One was taking a drink from my waterlily pot and the other was just standing motionless in the moonlight as though taking a moonbath. I wondered what might be going through his mind and then thought, probably not much...

While I continued to watch, the moonbathing javelina began walking very slowly along the driveway in the direction of the sound which had begun again--this time there was no mistaking the clink of glass and cans, the noise of something rummaging through the the strewn contents of the  trashcan, which I realized was overturned. How those tiny hooves could knock over the fifty gallon behemoth is beyond me! I never saw the others, although I assume there were at least two more. I went back to bed, trying to ignore the din that would reveal an utter mess in the morning.

And sure enough--the devastation was scattered across the gravel, several plastic bags caught in the mesquite trees a few yards away. The prickly pears, which had just begun putting on new paddles, had been chewed and some were uprooted. In the back where we had been starting a compost pile it looked as though they had taken a dust bath, wallowing like pigs, although I know they are not pigs, they are peccaries, part of the family Tayassuidae or New World Pigs...they may also be related to Hippopotami.

What we're hoping for is what you see here on the right. Baby piggies coming to our house--yes, yes, I know...not wise to feed the wildlife, but how could you resist? And in my defense I'm not feeding them--they only come because there are sometimes vegetable peelings under the mesquite bush in the back.