Arizona has Javelina. If you have not encountered them yet, you probably will. They often run in a herd of 6-12 individuals, comprised, usually with a dominant bull male, females, and 1-3 juveniles. You will see them crossing the road, in parking lots, in your yard, lounging under your trees, or even surprising you when you get home inside your tipped over trash can.
Javelina are not pigs. In fact, they are collared peccary which have migrated north from Central America and are found south all the way to southern areas in South America. There are a couple of species and, based on your location in the Tucson area, you may see males weighing in at 40-50lbs, while in southern Arizona-say around Sierra Vista, you will see much smaller Javelina with a bull male weighing in at only 20-25lbs. (Seeing a herd of Javelina in Sierra Vista may make you think you are seeing them in miniature.)
In any event, Javelina are not to be approached or challenged! They have 4 tusks-2 on either side of their mouth which can really tear up a pet or you. Last year, two women in Maricopa County were knocked over and their legs chewed up and, this year, two people have already been attacked in the Tucson area.
Their most common enemy is a coyote. People who walk their dogs may encounter a single Javelina or even a herd on their walk. Javelina’s eyesight is poor but, their sense of smell is acute. If they smell a dog in proximity to where they are feeding or passing through, they may stop and challenge or even come after the dog as a defense against their getting attacked by what they think is a coyote. The best option, if you see Javelina, with or without your dog, is to get out of the area.
1st Response Wildlife is one of just a few wildlife companies licensed by the Arizona Game and Fish Department to humanely trap and relocate Javelina. Trapping is usually not the first choice for wildlife companies. Investigation as to why Javelina are frequenting an area, in someone’s yard, or making a specific area a place where they bed down is required. Sometimes people in a neighborhood, an RV park, or, who have property that is adjacent to a wash, are actually feeding them. This both encourages the Javelina to remain in that area and, raises the possibility that someone or someone’s pets will get hurt.
A call to 1st Response Wildlife will result in a discussion with a business or homeowner as to the location, frequency, and level of danger, destruction, or nuisance perceived to be the result of Javelina. A couple of easy fixes are often the best solution:
- Finding out who is feeding them and asking them to stop
- Chasing them out of a back yard and then having a handyman install a fence/wall, or installing a gate to the property to keep them from getting in.
- Waiting to put out the garbage until just a few hours before pickup-instead of leaving it out overnight
- Choosing an alternate path or time of day to walk a dog.
Only after a determination of whether there is a real need to trap and relocate the Javelina in question, will actions be taken to capture them. There are various methods of doing this, ranging from hand snaring a single animal from a confined space, to setting up a formal baiting program and full sized Javelina trap. In cases where there is a large herd, AZGFD wants to get involved to dart and collar the herd so that after they are moved to another location, they can be tracked. Each case is different and always involves and follows the guidance of the AZGFD. The AZGFD has several locations around the state where they direct wildlife service companies to release Javelina that have proven to be dangerous and/or a nuisance. Some of these are within 30-40 miles of Tucson and some are several hours drive up into remote areas.
1st Response Wildlife has been involved in the program to capture and release Javelina and the pictures and videos to follow highlight Javelina from several different perspectives:
- Entering a trap
- Working with a single Javelina that was hand snared in the open
- The responses (2) of a Javelina in a transport kennel-not too happy and clicking its tusks
- Taking care to keep a Javelina hydrated and cool as well as providing a calming environment for transport
- Setting a transported Javelina in a new environment where it will no longer be a nuisance
- Watching a Javelina released from its transport kennel
Javelina often feed at night. Using a trail camera, you can see two videos show them entering a trap
This picture shows a single Javelina that was hand snared in the middle of Tucson that was causing an dangerous situation in a parking lot where workers were concerned about safely getting to their cars. The video that follows shows that he is not happy and, if you listen closely, in the first video, just after he was snared, he clacks his tusks. In the second video, he has been held for two days while he was being observed to ensure he was healthy, fed and watered, and now he is on his way to being relocated. Still not happy.
In the transport kennel on the way to be released but still reminding, with the tusks clacking, that he can be dangerous
A general view of the type of environment where the Javelina will be released showing a variety of vegetation and cover.
If you have Javelina in and around your property that are causing a problem, challenging your pets, or are considered dangerous, please give AZGFD a call to discuss your level of concern, or give 1st Response Wildlife a call. Not every Javelina call results, as described above, in capture and relocation. It is important to have your situation reviewed and a plan of action mapped out.
Trapping and relocating Javelina can be an expensive proposition, particularly if there is more than one Javelina. Set up a Javelina trap and baiting takes time and, if a Javelina’s range takes them away from the area of concern for a while (a week to three weeks or more), expectations of a quick fix can be disappointed.
Bottom line, if you have a Javelina problem or any other wildlife issues, please consider giving 1st Response Wildlife a call to discuss.
Thanks for considering 1st Response Wildlife
Josh's Cell (24/7 Hours): 520-260-9517
Josh Waling is a humane Licensed Animal Trapper who catches and releases wildlife, removing animals including bobcats (lince), Javelina, coyotes, snakes, rattlesnakes (serpiente de cascabel), raccoons (mapache), pack rats, gila monsters (monstruos de gila), rabbits (canejo), owls, bats, hawks, ducks, opossums, squirrels (ardilla), peacocks, coatimundi (gato solo), skunks (mofeta), ringtails, exotics, and domestic cats and dogs. He delivers service that is professional and fast and he is available 24/7. Give him a call the next time you hear unusual noises in the attic or crawl spaces in your home or if you see wildlife eating your vegetation, creating nests, and raising their young too close to your pets or children or have an exotic sighting in your neighborhood. 520-260-9517 Thanks!
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