My brother and I were out in in SW Texas between Ruidoso Texas and Marpha on our bicycles on a ranch road. We saw a family of javelina's trotting by.
We decided that the best thing to do is just keep quiet until they were out of sight. How ornery are those things with humans?
Wes
ut of sight. =A0How
No more ornery than any other species. They will panic and go like hell in all directions if spooked.
This leads to the magnificent tales of daring do by the Frank Buck set.
Next time you see them, make a loud noise. IF they hear it and IF they pay attention, they will disperse in all directions. This leads to the stories of the infamous "attacks". These pigs, like any wild animal, don't like to be cornered or threatened.
But they have notoriously poor eyesight, fair hearing, but a keen sense of smell. But if panicked, and running like hell in all directions it can appear that one is "coming right for you" if it is panicking/coming in your direction. No doubt they will give you a nasty reminder that they are wild animals if you block their way, but they certainly aren't any kind of predators.
And granted too, if you see a large group of screaming pigs flying in all directions it can be unnerving. These animals are perfectly capable of defending themselves. And since they are butt nasty ugly and can grow some pretty large chompers, they can look pretty mean and scary. But their first defense is flight.
To be clear, I am not talking about those big Russian boars (not uncommon to be 200+ pounds) and their variants that live in the East Texas Piney Woods. I am talking about your garden variety javelina, which a giant boar would probably be about 90 - 100 lbs undressed.
They are shot around here without reservation as they reproduce easily, and have voracious appetites. They can tear up a fresh field to the point of needing a replant in absolutely no time, and will tear up anything to get at food. Sometimes it seems they root and tear up land because it's fun. No farmer or rancher around here wants them around for any reason.
I completely believe Swing's recollection of his youth. If I had my dog out hunting and we ran across the javelinas, I would hide the dog immediately. Dogs mistake their smaller size and running away as easy game. But when cornered... watch out! I'd bet on the pig every time.
Robert
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