7:30 pm. Javelina time. The family of four that roam our area have been seen in our front planter often enough around this time to put higher bets on the possibility of seeing them…
but they are wild so…all bets are off.
The fence is flimsy, temporary and meant to stop a seventeen year old dog from falling down the hill when he wobbly lifts a leg to pee. The area is just off the back porch and runs the length of the house. It was never meant to hold, corral or deter an angry and confused Javelina.
The dogs need to go outside to pee so I open the sliding glass door. This will again answer the ongoing question of why we don’t have a doggie door.
I have let my guard down and not looked outside to see if we were alone before opening the door nor have I turned on the back-porch light. Tucker, small and insane, immediately charges to the left along with Cotton close behind. The Javelina are out there and the dogs know it. Though they have been all over our property at one time or another, this back area is not the usual Javelina route.
Tuckers spiney backed, over the top barking, answered by grunting snorting confusion sends both Tucker and Cotton running straight back into the house. These spoiled little dogs are NO match for a Javelina of any size. Pretty sure one of the good-sized Jack rabbits around here could kick both their ass.
So now we have a startled Javelina who has charged our “fence” and is way too close for comfort. From safely behind our sliding glass door we watch as this confused and adrenaline filled animal realizes he is trapped inside our back fenced area and without a second thought he makes a run directly at the fence and breaks free.
This is our new normal.
Now this video I took just a few days ago but I put it towards the top for you who don’t read all the way down.
When I moved to Gold Canyon I became obsessed with the wildlife around us. Born and raised desert you would think I would be unfazed. As a child in Baker all I ever saw were lizards and sidewinder tracks. In Hesperia CA or even Mesa AZ, I don’t recall ever seeing any critters. But Gold Canyon is different. I am surrounded by nature. I am in the middle of it. The Superstition Mountain is overwhelmingly beautiful. The desert is alive. It’s that constant nagging, that fear that I’m going to miss something, that leaves me spending more time than not staring out the windows.
Within the first week of moving here the Javelinas made their presence known. Happily munching on cactus in our front planter, a family of three good sized Javelina were mere feet from our window. It was both terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. They uprooted a cactus and seemed completely unconcerned as I tapped on the window asking them to get out of my planter. Momma Javelina rolled her eyes at me I swear.
Now I spend most days keeping an eye out for them. The wash below our house seems to be a regular spot of theirs. Our house is on a hill. I can safely stare out the kitchen window and watch as the Javelina wander their way across the open desert.
Just a few days ago I was outside watching the now family of four. I squint and stare and feel the excitement as I see Momma Javelina scoot her little nugget along with Jr and, by his size and coloring, Poppa Javelina. He’s impressive.
I’m proud to know they are doing well against all the dangers they face daily. The wash behind us is coyote territory no question. I see at minimum one coyote regularly and have seen as many as six at one time making their way over to meet up with a howling seventh. That wash is not safe to casually walk through. I have never seen the Javelinas over there.
Another recent night around 7:30 pm my “bark first ask questions later” dog Tucker takes off outside losing his mind at the fence. We look out the window to see FIVE Javelina in our front yard only mere feet from our living room window and even closer to Tucker. One Javelina is staring Tucker down. They have TWO babies not one. Poppa Javelina is huge and ready to defend but it’s Jr. that’s in the staring contest.
We grab Tucker and go inside so everything will settle down and we can watch what the Javelina will do. Jr. is still staring at nothing. Javelina have poor eyesight. Combined with not being the brightest animal it was going to take a while before Jr. would be convinced Tucker was not behind the fence anymore. Frozen like a statue, he stood there in the dark staring.
We shut off all the inside lights so we could get a better view of outside. Though prickly pear, a Javelina favorite, grows all over our property, this planter has nothing growing in it. We have nothing that we know of attracting them to walk all the way up here. As I said, we live up on a hill between two washes, this would make for a decent trek with little pay off.
Now a momma of any sort is usually not the beast to upset. This Momma Java has two babies to protect in a land swarming with coyotes. You think she’s edgy? Damn right she is. Poppa Java is big and bristly. I can see why the ‘yotes have left them alone. He is more than double their size and this Poppa is on alert. One look at him and I’m sure the coyotes are like “uh… let’s go chase a rabbit…”
Saturday. 7 ish in the morning the dogs go out back to pee. Immediately theres a problem. The dogs charge to the left side of the yard. The Javelina family is wandering on up at a different time…morning. We never see them up here in the morning! I usually don’t see them until the late afternoon or evening. The dogs startle them enough to send them running off.
Now… grabbing for an iPad to take a shot of any of this is ridiculous but I do it anyways. For you. You’re welcome. I get nothing.
It’s been really cold for us lately so we have been building fires in the fireplace at night. My husband and the dogs start to head out side and over to the garage to grab more wood when the dogs realize the Javelina family is out there in the dark with them. Tucker has no sense and Cotton has even less so my heart goes into my chest when I hear the panic in my husband’s voice as he’s telling the dogs to get into the house. Miraculously, two dogs that normally only sort of pay attention when they are called both come running back to the house.
I step outside and can still hear the grunting and snorting but cannot see them.
The most recent encounter I was able to safely catch on video. Thats the one up top.
The other morning the Javelina family were making their way across the bottom of our property to head over to the wash. I figured if I moved slowly and stayed far enough back maybe I could get a picture or two. As I reached the side of the garage the big male changed his course and now was taking a path that could lead directly to me. I quietly eased behind the car thinking if he spots me and charges I’m climbing up on the hood! He notices me but just freezes and stares. I videoed it for a few but realized he literally doesn’t move so what is the point? Hoping to change his path I shuffle a bit and that’s enough to send him trotting down the lower trail and over with the family.
Not too many days later my husband is in the living room and yells to me to come. Uh, the Javelina family is in our front planter! It’s still light out! There are three of them. Obviously mom, dad and child. I grab my phone and snap pictures. I’m not blogging at this point and have no idea how much trouble I would later have trying to get these blurry but close pictures on to my site. It’s just cool and scary and exciting. These are not animals you walk up to safely and snap photos of. This house and property sit in line with a natural wash. It is their home. My planter will never get to have flowers. The Javelina uprooted a whole cactus, flowers wouldn’t make it a day.
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