Collared peccary

“ In size, however, there is a great difference between the two: the white-lipped peccary weighing 100 pounds, or nearly twice the weight of the collared species. The former, too, is proportionably stouter in build, and altogether a stronger and fiercer animal; for although fierceness is not a characteristic of their nature, like other animals of the hog family, when, roused, they exhibit a ferocity and fearlessness equalling that of the true carnivora. ”

“ When a herd of peccaries is not very large—consisting, perhaps, of only ten or twelve individuals—they are very fond of taking up their abode in the hollow trunk of some fallen tree. In this case they can be very easily destroyed, for one animal is always placed at the entrance to act as a sentinel; and if a hunter conceals himself in some convenient place close by, takes careful aim, and shoots the watching peccary dead upon the spot, the animal behind him will just push out his carcass and take his [211] place, to be himself shot in like manner. ”

“ When it can be obtained a deer, or a sloth, furnishes a variety for the cooking-pot; and then there is the peccary, so dreaded by the Indian. The peccary, [174] the wild pig of [129] the forest, lives in small herds, and the reason proffered by the Indians for their fear of the animal is that when one is wounded it sets up a loud cry, and the rest of the herd promptly come to its aid and join in attacking the aggressor. This story is universal among the tribes. The peccary has a deceptively harmless appearance. They have not all tusks, and in no case are the tusks very prominent ”

“ The professor had had a long talk with the Indian regarding the game in the vicinity, and Cubara had [254] told him where they were likely to find a number of peccaries, a wild animal common to many parts of Venezuela and one much sought after by the natives for food. The peccary is not unlike a wild hog in general appearance, and when full grown weighs from fifty to sixty pounds. They are very fierce when attacked and have short tusks which are as sharp as daggers. ”

“ Yes, those surely must have been the white-lipped peccaries; for the white-collared pigs do not travel in such big bands, and they are not so large or so dark, nor so likely to attack a man if they are let alone. Those with the white chest-band, though, are dangerous and bad.
For that matter, all peccaries are wicked fighters if they are aroused, and it is best to avoid them if you can. ”

“ Their mode of destroying these creatures is similar to that employed by the peccary (dicotyles) : that is, by pouncing down upon them with the four hoofs held close together, and thus crushing them to death. The hostility of the peccary to snakes is easily understood, as no sooner has it killed one than it makes a meal of it. With the deer, of course, such is not the case, as they are not carnivorous. Its enmity to the reptile race can be explained only by supposing that it possesses a knowledge of their dangerous qualities, and thinks they should therefore be got rid of. ”

“ Although we often afterwards met a few of the peccaries in our hunting excursions—and had the fortune to capture some of their young—they never from that time offered to attack us, but always endeavoured to escape. It is the nature of this animal to fight bravely with an enemy until conquered, when it will in future always run at his approach. In fact, there appeared to be but one herd of them in the valley ”

“ True, the Indian wild boar is himself a mighty beast, standing sometimes four feet high or more at the shoulder, and with tusks very much longer, even in proportion to his size, than are those of the peccary. Still, a herd of peccaries is worse than the largest single boar that ever stood, and all their tusks together are more effective still. ”

“ The peccari is very frequently met in the western mountains of America, and often in herds of a hundred head. It has a handsome, silver-grey, long-haired skin, an enormous head for its size with tremendous tusks, and is remarkable for its extraordinary courage. If disturbed, it will attack a man as soon as a horse or a tiger, and is very dangerous through its agility, strength, and tusks five inches long. I have known a hunter to be attacked by a herd, and forced to take shelter up a tree, where he remained the whole night till the herd retired. ”

“ Some childish memories, moreover, disclose to me at times that on more than one occasion I have come off without laurels from a contest with an indignant he-goat, and that I have even been in peril at the wings of an unusually aggressive gander. But of all the unpleasant acquaintances to make when one is feeling solitary and unprotected, I think a herd of irritated peccaries will carry off the palm. Let these sturdy little animals once conceive that their rights have been ever so little menaced, and they are tireless, implacable, and blindly fearless in their demand for vengeance. ”

“ THEN came men hurrying through the forest and told their chief they had sighted a herd of the white-lipped peccaries. At once he gave orders to a number of others, and they went into the bush with the hunters who had seen the pigs. He also called two more savages, and I saw they were the same ones who had found me hanging in torment; and after a word from him they went into the bush by themselves. ”

“ I have said that the peccaries, though small animals—they are not more than about three feet long—are both fierce and dangerous. They are dangerous because they go in herds, and when any animal—such as a puma or a jaguar—threatens them, they form in a semicircle with all their heads turned outwards towards their foe, making an unbroken row of little sharp, curved tusks for him to leap upon, if he is so rash as to attack them. ”

“ It is an instinct of animals like wolves and peccaries to devour the enemy they have overcome and slain: thus, when the jaguar captures a peccary out of a drove, and does not quickly escape with his prize into a tree, he is instantly attacked and slain and then consumed, even to the skin and boues. This is the wolf's and the peccary's instinct; and the devouring of one of their own companions is an inevitable consequence of the mistake made in the first place of attacking and killing it. In no other circumstances, not even when starving, do they prey on their own species. ”

“ The peccaries, or American swine, are now chiefly of Neotropical distribution, extending into the Sonoran region only as far as Arkansas; but this has been true only since the Pleistocene, for nearly the entire history of the family has been enacted in North America. In many points of structure the peccaries of the present day are more advanced and specialized than the far more varied and diversified true swine of the Old World, for it is a singular fact that such a long-lived and persistent stock as the peccaries should have given rise to so few variants and side-branches. ”

“ Peccaries are omnivorous, living on roots. fallen fruits, worms and carrion, and often inflict great devastation upon crops. Both types are so nearly allied that they will breed together freely in captivity. Unlike pigs, they never appear to produce more than two young ones at a birth
Remains of extinct peccaries referable to the modern genus occur in the caverns and superficial deposits of South America, but not in the earlier formations. ”

“ Almost the first thing the men did after the final retreat of the peccaries was to slash the skin on the top of the loins of the defunct enemy, and extract the gland that [Pg 226] creates the disgusting odor peculiar to these animals; for if not extracted soon after death, it taints the flesh to such an extent as to render it uneatable except by Indians, who do not object to any flavor, and eat all their animal food cooked on the same principle as a European cook prepares a woodcock. ”

“ Vero, St. Lucie County.—Apparently 2 species of peccaries have been found in the deposits along the drainage canal, near Vero, in the uppermost stratum (No. 3) . One, represented by a canine tooth, has not been determined (Hay, Rep. Florida Geol. Surv., vol. IX, p. 50) . It appeared to be too large to belong to Tagassu lenis.
The other remains belonged to a small peccary and have been referred to Tagassu lenis. In 1916 (Rep. Florida Geol. Surv., vol. VIII, p. 149) , Sellards reported the finding of 2 cheek-teeth and a tibia. One of the teeth was taken from the stratum called No. 2 ”

“ Then, in the darkness of the doorway I spied the sickly yellow face of the man who had nailed me to the tree and who now, no doubt, was putting some fresh deviltry into the heads of his followers. And for the first time since my comrades and I had smelled those peccaries in the bush, senhores, I laughed as I thought that even while that merciless band plotted more murder and torment, death was creeping silently around them, and the fate they planned for others soon would burst upon themselves. And the savages, understanding, grinned back at me a sharp-toothed grin of death and hate. ”

“ From his perch in the tree over El Amarillo the chief bellowed at the animals, and the first ones stopped, looking around them, while the rest of the herd came running in from the bush until more than forty of them were crowded under us.
The chief roared again, and answering calls came from the hunters he had sent out to drive the beasts here. We heard sounds of climbing, and knew they too were taking to the trees. And then the chief spoke to the man below him, at whom the pigs were staring wickedly.
“Here are peccaries. Show them you are king. Make them take out the thorns!” ”

“ So soon as the animal is enraged, these bristles stand out like the quills of a porcupine.
The movements of the peccaries are as quick and sharp as those of a squirrel. They ordinarily live in herds of fifteen, thirty, and even fifty. The strength of the head, neck, and shoulders is so great when they charge, that nothing can resist the impetuosity of their attacks. A remarkable peculiarity of this genus is the clumsy wart they have on their backs, whence a musty fluid evaporates when the animal is in a fury. ”

“ Being certain that the Piccinino must have left the valley long before the hour named in the inscription as that of the murder, Michel and the monk went no farther, but retraced their steps from that wild spot where the abbé's corpse would be at the mercy of the vulture for some hours to come, before anyone would interrupt his ghastly feast. As they turned away, they saw the ill-omened bird fly over their heads, returning with savage eagerness to his prey.
"That is the fate you deserved," said the monk, calmly; "to be eaten by dogs and vultures! ”

“ In tropical America collared peccaries are found in dense forests or in low jungles, but in northern Mexico and the southwestern United States they are equally at home among scattered thickets of cactus and other thorny plants on plains and in the foothills. They are strictly gregarious and live in bands of from a few individuals up to thirty or more, usually led by the oldest and most powerful boar. They are omnivorous, feeding on everything edible, from roots, fruits, nuts, and other vegetable products to reptiles and any other available animals. ”

“ The peccaries hold the intermediate grade between the domestic pig and the wild boar. Although this animal does not exceed two feet in height, and is not more than three feet long from the end of the snout to the beginning of the tail, it is indubitably one of the most dangerous animals in North America. The animal's jaw is provided with tusks rather like those of the boar, but straight and sharp, their length varying between four and six inches. In the shape of the body it resembles a pig, but the bristles scattered over its warty hide are in colored strips ”

“ The breadth of the river, and the rapidity of the current, seem to be but trifling obstacles to them; and are overcome easily, since the peccaries are excellent swimmers. They continue their onward march through the open grounds ”

“ But the crusade against pets was not more successful than the crusade against fashions. The feminine fondness for something small and alive to pet was not easily eradicated and it seems that visitors were sometimes obliged to indulge it. The wording of Peckham’s decree leaves an opening for the retention of one humble and very self-effacing little dog, not prone to unseemly yelps and capers before the stony eye of my lord the Archbishop on his rounds ”

“ The increasing occupation of our Southwest has already resulted in the extermination of peccaries from most of their former range within our border, and unless active steps are taken to protect the survivors their days will be few in the land. They are such unique and harmless animals that it is hoped interest in their behalf may be awakened in time to retain them as a part of our wild life. ”

“ Just afore I put the hankerchief in Pa’s pocket, I noticed a pack of cards on the stand, that Pa used to play hi lo-jack with Ma evenings when he was so sick he couldn’t go down town, before he got ’ligion, and I wrapped the hankercher around the pack of cards and put them in his pocket. I don’t know what made me do it, and Pa don’t, either, I guess, ’cause he told Ma this morning I was possessed of a devil. I never owned no devil, but I had a pair of pet goats onct, and they played hell all around, Pa said. That’s what the devil does, ain’t it? ”