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Congratulations to Sam who was the first person to correctly surmise the identity of this month’s mystery animal. The Javelina or Collared Peccary (Pecari tajacu) is native to the Americas, from the southwestern U.S. all the way down to Argentina. Though it looks an awful lot like a pig or wild boar at first glance, the Javelina is more closely related to the deer family than pigs (pigs evolved in the Old World).

Though primarily nocturnal in the hot summer months Javelinas take full advantage of daylight during the cooler weather. Which is probably why we had our first close encounter with a small family group (females and young stick together throughout the year) here on our property earlier this week. Tucson has a substantial population of Javelina that share our urban area—Sam also made the acquaintance of his neighborhood Javelinas earlier this week (see his photo on Flickr).

Our small group of four (the fourth one stayed hidden for protection probably because it has a pronounced limp) wandered quite peacefully through our yard for a half hour. Which allowed us plenty of time to observe their behavior—like when the two adult females rubbed each others backs, releasing a pungent odor from their scent glands. And obviously, they even hung around long enough for me snap some photos, some of which turned out better than others.

Thanks everyone for participating! See you in the New Year for a fresh set of challenges.