Arizona Javelina

AZ Leisure ^ | Staff Writers

[SunkenCiv]

Though some people may call them "cute", Javelinas are arguably rather ugly animals and possess a rather unpleasant odor which is why some people refer to them as "musk hogs". They aren't wild pigs but are actually members of the "peccary" family that originated in South America. They have become accustomed to being in close proximity to humans and will generally ignore people. If you try and approach them. they will simply leave the area, but if provoked and threatened they've been known to defend themselves with their long, sharp tusks.

The colorization of the Javelina is peppered black, gray and brown hair with a faint white collar around the shoulders. When full grown they weigh between 35 to 60 pounds with males being slightly larger than females. Javelina become sexually mature at about 10 months of age and are capable of breeding at anytime of the year and can have two litters with a year. Newborn Javelina weigh about one pound and attain colorization at three months...

Their average live span in the wild is about 7.5 years although they've been known to live as long as 25 years in captivity. Javelina roam in herds of to 20 to protect themselves from predators that include mountain lions, bobcats and coyotes.

Javelina are most active at night and exist on a diet of flowers, berries, prickly pear cactus and plant life. Thet have a keen sense of smell but have very poor eyesight. Their odor comes from a scent gland on their backs and other members of the herd will rub each others scent gland to identify Javelina from different herds.

[SunkenCiv]

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• AZ: Unprovoked Javelina Attack; use of Improvised Weapon Saves Woman [05/17/2016]
• Wild Pig Hunting goes Wrong [03/02/2016]
• Close Encounter With Javelina Leads to Lesson on Wildlife [03/17/2015]
• Long Live The Pig! [05/29/2013]
• Big Pig-Like Beast Discovered[Brazil][Peccary] [11/03/2007]
• A dozen javelinas attack woman walking dogs [12/08/2006]
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[SunkenCiv]

[packagingguy]

I think they are distant relatives of deer, not old world pigs.

https://www.desertmuseum.org/kids/facts/print.php?animal=Javelina

[Blueflag]

But are they good eating?

[Bob434]

“They” claim they are. But I suppose that if they are like wild hogs ya gotta cook thoroughly to avoid trichenosis which is still in the wild hogs, but mostly,eradicated in domestic. (”They” claim that you can cook domestic pork to 145 or so now- not sure I wanna though)

[AZJeep]

Yes, if you make sure, you remove the musk gland!

[Tucsonican]

You’ve got to be careful dressing them but they make good sausage. Not enough juice for the squeeze as far as I’m concerned but definitely edible.

[Blueflag]

165 minimum for me.

The hogs we shoot (Georgia) end up as hams, sausage grind and BBQs, all higher temp cooks.

[AZJeep]

Javelina is actually an invasive specie.
Except, they they were not introduced by people, they just invited themselves here from South America.
Kind of illegal aliens.

[hinckley buzzard]

Pretty good barbecue, if fixed right.

[Blueflag]

Here in GA, we generally only butcher the feral hogs that are ~250 pounds or less. In fact 200# or less are preferred. Better flavor *AND* two people can move the carcass.

We honestly leave the bigger carcasses for nature to recycle, which happens quickly, Even the bones are gone.

[Bob434]

Me too- some habits are just hard to break.

I did sous vide cooking for awhile, and with that, food safety is a product of “time+temperature”, meaning that if you really wanted to, you could cook chicken to say 125, but it would have to be kept at 125 for say 30 minutes (soemthing you can do with sous vide coo,ing), and then it’s safe (not sure why someone would want to eat chicken that raw, but to each their own I guess)

I never could bring myself to try even 145 degree chicken.

[Red Badger]

If they taste like pork then ....................

[Dr. Sivana]

My wife saw a javalina behind the Motel 6 in Tempe, AZ (very urban area) when she was taking her small dog out to relieve herself. Fortunately, the dog didn’t know enough to be afraid.

[Red Badger]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVw_MRMsRsM

[wildcard_redneck]

Javalinas are smaller than pigs but they are no joke. They have big sharp tusks that can tear you up real fast and, if they're cornered, they will attack. People in Phoenix have had their dogs mauled quite frequently and my own dog was one of them. I was in the city park with my dog off the leash (my fault) to get a bit of exercise and she tore into a grove of Mesquite chasing after javelinas and the javelinas gave her a good lesson by tearing a 4 inch would on her side and just missing her jugular vein

[FreedomPoster]

I imagine you’d have a wake of turkey vultures in no time.

[OKSooner]

Nope. Cook pork and fowl "all the way done", just like mom did. I once ordered some pork tenderloin at at place... it came out vivid pink in the middle, I would have called it medium if it had been beef.

No thanks... Cook it all the way through to 170 please, at least...

[mistfree]

When is open season and what’s the bag limit?

[Beowulf9]

I live on the dividing line between Phoenix and Scottsdale. Total city here. Completely developed land with housing developements every inch but just 2 miles straight up from me is Camelback Mountain and up there the yards are bigger, spaced apart. Naturally there is an area around the mountain that is all wild and has wildlife.

So my husband coming home from work sees coming down the street away from the Camelback mountain area on the built up side of the road, in single file a mother Javelina and trailing behind her in a row 4 little baby javalinas.

Was very cute he said, but surprised to see them down here among the homes. They evidently were heading to somebody’s lawn and the sprinkler system, flowers, grass, is my guess. It’s not desert south of the mountain.