Javelinas–peccaries, not wild pigs–are quite common in Southern Arizona. In Tucson many live in the dry washes that thread through the City. They are seemingly comfortable living in our urban world. In fact, there is even one famous image of a javelina racing along Congress Street in downtown. And it was faster than its short legs would lead you to believe.
In the neighborhood washes, surrounded by dense stands of creosote bushes and Palo Verdes trees, they raise their cute little javelinas. But, heaven help you, if you get anywhere near the babies, the mother javelina will attack you. And she has sharp, long vicious teeth and is very dangerous.
I first learned about them shortly after I moved here when the local media warned everyone not to leave their Halloween pumpkins out overnight because the javelinas would make a feast of them on your front steps. Then, next day, they’d come back expecting more. Recurring visits from a javelina family are not a good thing.
Anyway, despite the fact that these peccaries are not the most attractive or friendly creatures I decided to adopt them as mascots for my website. Also, the fact that Barrel Cacti, Gila Monsters, Blue Belly lizards and other attractive creatures had already been taken by other blogs and websites, left me with javelinas or bats. (And Mission Garden has a lock on bats since they built that bat house.) So I picked javelinas and have given them all some glam treatment with considerable help from Adobe’s Firefly. IRL javelinas have dark brown-almost-black hair, long snouts, hoofed feet, and legs that seem too delicate for their bodies.
For your entertaining pleasure the cast of javelina characters will be changing every few days. Come back and meet more of these whimsical and eccentric Tucson creatures!
On Presidents’ Day, 2025, Javelina Strong honors U.S. Presidents from Number One, George Washington, through the Number 44, Barack Obama and 46, Joseph Biden. Each has done his best for our country and I thank them. (As usual, Adobe’s Firefly put the wrong kind of feet on Javelina Strong. He has hooves.)
Javelina Wild‘s ancestors have roamed the wide-open space of Arizona for centuries. Then, on February 14, 1912, Arizona became a State in the United States of America. Researching statehood I was shocked to learn that the southern half of the state was part of the Confederacy during the Civil War. The dividing line was the 34th parallel, which runs east to west, just north of Phoenix. After the Civil War, Congress divided the then-New Mexico Territory with a line running north and south, which is the Arizona/New Mexico border today. Javelinas have ignored it all. Happy Birthday Arizona!
Javelina Valentina wishes you all the love in the world on this Valentine’s Day, 2025. A fierce young lady, she may live with her Mother in the dry washes and riverbeds in Tucson, but she still is kind-hearted and wishes you “Happiness forever from the borderlands near Mexico”.
Say hello to Javelina Blooms. Inspired by famous Mexican artist Frida Kahlo she wears flowers in her hair as she stands near the border looking across the desert lands into Mexico. She is definitely a local Arizonan with brown eyes as big as Linda Ronstadt’s.
Here is Javelina Bold who embodies the Old West cowboy culture of Arizona with his beat-up, rolled-brim Western hat and darned-fancy boots. Like a good rough-n-tumble, working cowboy he is up at dawn as the sun rises from behind the steep mountains casting light across the desert lands.
It starts with Javelina Pretty, a cowgirl from the not-so-old West in her reddish-pink rodeo hat and pink socks. While real javelinas are dark brown, hairy, hoofed creatures, Javelina Pretty has become a platinum blonde with toenails suitable for pedicares and days at the spa. She is, clearly, a new resident of Tucson. Why “clearly”? She’s a bit too glam to really be a local.
