Javelina

Ok - so the text from this email didn't get sent. Annoying thing about gorillacam iphone apps - apparently doesn't send text with the photo. 

So... Here's what was meant to accompany this post:

On my run last week I nearly, literally, almost ran right into this pack of javelina. Javalina are a peccary, a New World type of pig. If i have my 6th grade science correct, Javis are related to pigs in the same way llamas are related to camel - via a very distant, pre-continental break, ancestor. But they have snouts, snorffle a lot, and, clearly , love trash day. They also have very bad eyesight ( a creature after my own heart) and spook easily. If you are paying attention you can smell them as they have a pretty pungent musk gland.

These guys live in the Arroyo and love to invade gardens, lawns, potted plants, and trash cans. For the most part, they're an "urban-wild" animal, not unlike raccoons, but they are native to the area.