Often when I am leading a photo tour it is usually for a specific bird or mammal or perhaps a couple of species. For example, recently I was leading a tour to central New Mexico, and the highlighted species for this trip was large flocks of Snow Geese and Sandhill Cranes. Both of these birds spend the winter in this region in large numbers so it’s a good destination to capture images of these birds. But for me, it isn’t the iconic or most abundant species that often catches my attention. No, for me it is usually the species that isn’t common or well know.

So, one morning while trying to find something interesting to photograph, I noticed some movement ahead of us on the right side of a one lane gravel road. I could see movement and it appeared to be more than just a single critter moving in a single file. Because I know the wildlife in this area, the only possibility of several larger mammals moving in a single file would have to be Javelinas (Dicotyles tajacu). (pronounced ha-vuh-lee-nuh). It is a Spanish word, so you pronounce the “J” as “Ha”.

Don’t feel bad if you don’t recognize the name of this animal. Javelinas are also called Collared Peccaries. These mammals are pig-like ungulates, which means they are animals with hooves and look superficially like pigs. They use only the middle two digits on each foot to walk. The other toes are absent. They are NOT related to farmyard pigs, even though everyone who sees a Javelina automatically assumes they are related. Javelina are New World animals that are found only in Central and South America and in parts of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.

Full grown adult Javelinas are three to four feet in length and weigh between 50-90 pounds. So right there you can see the Javelina is much smaller than the traditional farmyard pig which comes in at 500 or 600 pounds. Unlike farmyard pigs which have large floppy ears, Javelinas have small round ears. The tails of pigs are long and have a tassel of hair. The tails of Javelinas are very small and hard to see. And the Javelinas are covered in a thick coat of fur unlike pigs.

Their stomachs are also different from pigs. It is not a ruminant, but instead has three chambered stomachs and has a foregut for fermentation. So, I won’t bore you to death, let’s just say that pigs are hindgut fermenters and assure you they are very different.

The Javelina are social animals that live in small herds of six to 10. A group of Javelina are called a squadron. They are omnivores and will eat insects, seeds, fruit, roots, grasses and they especially like Prickly Pear cacti. They are also known to eat small mammals or scavenge other dead animals.

When I spotted the Javelina in front of us, I had to get my group close enough for some pictures without scaring them and pushing them away. Fortunately, they were facing away from my group as we approached, and they weren’t looking behind, so we quickly moved up without the Javelina noticing. Three or four of them crossed the dirt road and quickly disappeared into the thick brush. We thought, dang, they didn’t stop long enough for anyone to capture a few images.

I indicated to my group that we should just wait in silence to see what would happen. A few minutes later one of the adult Javelinas popped out of the thick brush on the other side of the road and paused, looking straight at us. We all raised our cameras, and we were able to capture some amazing images of this very unique animal.

The moment didn’t last more than a minute or so and suddenly the Javelinas were gone. Now came the fun part. Explaining to my group of photographers what they just saw and helping educate them about the differences between the amazing Javelina and the farmyard pig. Until next time…

Stan Tekiela is an author / naturalist and wildlife photographer who travels the U.S. to study and capture images of wildlife. He can be followed at www.Instagram.com, www.Facebook.com and www.Twitter.com. He can be contacted via his web page at www.NatureSmart.com.