It sounds like a spicy green you put in your salad. But in reality collared peccary is better known as javelina. It’s as foreign to these parts as spicy greens. Down South, you know, Phoenix / Tucson area is a more suitable home for the herbivore desert swine that subsists on desert fauna like mesquite beans, prickly pear, and desert greens.

The collared peccary is so called for their light colored collar around their neckline.

These small ‘pigs’ are relatively small in stature – only 2′ tall by 3-4′ long, generally 35 – 55 lbs. We encountered a small family of three – presumably the mother, father, and baby. They were very affectionate with one another and rubbed their scent on their skin to identify with one another.

The javelina are myopic and have poor eye sight, but rely heavily on their sense of smell and hearing. They spar with one another in a playful manner, as if to teach skills for the wild with predators such as coyotes, bobcat, and mountain lion lurking.

They were quick to vanish at the sound of danger, but slow to notice me watching with my camera.

They were more interested in the patch of lush green grass they enjoyed in an otherwise field of fallen dry pine needles in the thick forest they found themselves in.

Despite their unusual sighting, we were happy to see them and capture some fun shots of the peculiar beasts.