Javelina

I know I've been neglecting Blog land lately, both writing and reading. I'm looking forward to finding time to catch up on everything that's been happening in your lives while I've been distracted. Life's been happening in the form of a visiting Grandson that's resulted in a house full of family. I seem to be expending a lot of time cooking, and unfortunately, eating. It's been fun, but now things will probably settle down for awhile.

I'm still going through photos, and found these of Eeyore and a young Javelina. I've mentioned these critters that are not pigs but Peccary, so much with no accompanying pictures I thought it would be fun to post them.

There were two half grown youngsters that started hanging out in the side yard, bedding down for the day under the low branches of a big old Arizona Cypress tree and rising at dusk to prowl about doing whatever Javelina do at night. This shows one emerging from the shrubbery It's not a very good picture, but shows the kind of sighting we normally have of these mostly shy creatures.

Eventually, something happened to one of the little fellows on a midnight ramble and one was left. They'd become used to me working about my garden fairly close to their lair, so it was only natural that the lonely little fellow turned to E. for companionship.

He's not quite fully grown, but most of the Javelina we see aren't much larger.

Well yes, I must admit there were some treats involved.

We went on vacation and returned to find him gone. I hope he moved on to find a mate, but we'll never know exactly what happened to him. Maybe he found another benefactor.

In Which solb Has the Javelina Blues

Some days it is a bit difficult to maintain an optimistic attitude. This morning I went out to water only to find that those pesky Peccary had munched their way through my little garden. Again. And they did more damage than usual. My purple cone flower-gone. My budded out about to bloom Johnson''s Geranium-severely cropped, and horror of horrors, several bites were taken from my treasured Franz Schubert Phlox. A large branch was bitten off, and presumably consumed, from my early Girl tomato. It took a big,-really big-possibly the Goliath of all the javelinas to rear up, and plant his fat, cloven hoof in a half-whiskey barrel to desecrate that tomato plant. Apparently, to a peccary, deadly nightshade is a delicacy.

I'm just as disgusted as this guy looks, and I know just how he feels!

You're going along as usual, happily getting on with the daily routine when something annoying happens! For this horned lizard, it was Eeyore spotting him in the meadow and bringing him up to visit me. We pondered on taking him to a remote spot where he'd be safer from cats and other domestic predators, but in the end decided he's survived on, or in the neighborhood of, the one acre wood since he was approximately the size of a dime so E. released him back into the meadow.
It seems that the horned lizards living in hot desert areas lay eggs in the sand. The sand remains warm enough to incubate the eggs in the lower climes, but the horned lizard in cooler climes gives live birth. I know our local horny toads (I know-I know, a misnomer as they are not toads, but when someone says horny toad to one of us local-yokels we know what they're talking about) give live birth and that they really can spray blood from the corners of their eyes when under extreme duress.
I found an article on horned lizards here. I think our local genus is Phrynosoma,hernandesi

Happily his problem's solved. He's hunting ants in Eeyore's tiny meadow, a lovely tangle of domestic and wild flowers. Here, little Roo standing in the meadow makes me think of an illustration for a Laura Ingalls Wilder book.
A bit faded, but still, I do love this picture.

As for my problem....... who knows what the 'morrow will bring...........