Javelina Stinkers

Photo by Lisa White

Photo by Kelley Harris

Packs of javelina are fairly common in Scottsdale.   They look like pigs because of the snout, but instead are "Collared Peccaries."  They are called javelinas for their razor-sharp tusks, or spear in Spanish.  Those tusks can kill dogs, as they aim to gore them right in the chest, severing their major artery.  They are sometimes called skunk pigs because of their musk gland that emits a strong odor when they are excited.  It smells a bit like a teenage boy's athletic shoe, or a boys' locker room (not that I hang out there often!)  I have seen them near our yard at Halloween, when they are in trick-or-treat heaven eating up all of the pumpkins, so pleasing to peccaries.  The second photo is a baby headed to a rescue shelter.  Unlike coyotes, Javelina become habituated to people, and love handouts and garbage.  However, they can be quite dangerous and a nuisance, not to mention stinky.