Range
The Chihuahuan and Sonoran Deserts
of southwestern Texas, through southern New Mexico, to southwestern Arizona,
and southward into Mexico.
Habitat
Brushy desert and semi-desert canyons,
cliffs and watering holes near cacti, chaparral, oak and mesquite.
Description
The Javelina, also known as the
Collared Peccary, Tayaussa or the Musk Hog, is the only wild, native, pig-like
animal found in the United States.
The adult male javelina is 46 to 60 inches in length and is usually 20 to 24 inches in height. The adult male weighs between 40 and 60 pounds.
The javelina is colored a grizzled black and gray with a dark dorsal stripe but is light around the shoulders. The fur is very coarse.
The young are reddish to yellow-brown in color. In adults there is a mane that extends down the crown of the head to the rump, which is most obvious when the javelina is excited.
Habits
Breeding occurs throughout the
year. Females usually give birth to two young after a gestation period
of 145 days. They den in hollow logs or hollows in the ground.
Javelina usually travel in a band from 6 to 12 although as many as 50 have been seen together. They are most active during early morning and evening when it is cooler.
Javelina tend to remain near permanent sources of water. Unlike coyotes and bobcats, javelina are unable to evaporate moisture through panting to prevent overheating. During the fierce heat of midday, javelina bed down in the shade and forage when it's cooler.
Javelina are members of the Tayassuidae Family; true pigs are members of the Suidae Family. Javelina have 3 toes on each hind foot (instead of 4) and the upper tusks (1.5 inches long) are pointed down, (rather than curled as with some other feral wild pigs). Javelina also have a powerful musk gland on the top of the rump. Their odor is always apparent, especially when they are excited. You may smell a javelina before you see it.