Meeting the Neighbors

It's been over a month since I went on a walk, what with all the vomiting and then the head cold from hell. But today I decided I just had to get back into the groove. And I was richly rewarded by having my first personal encounter with some of our local wildlife.

I've heard from a number of people that there are javelina in our neighborhood, and even though I often walk at dusk or dawn, prime wildlife times, I had never seen any of the stinky fellows. Just shy of 9am this morning I got to see 4 javelina maybe 50 feet from me as they left the shelter of the mesquite, picked their way across a rocky wash area, and then disappeared into a run-off tunnel that goes under some of the roads in our neighborhood. It was so cool!

Don't panic - I didn't put myself (or my dog) into any danger. We were standing on top of the rise built over the run-off tunnels so while we were close to the animals, they couldn't get to us. Javelina aren't known to be terribly aggressive, but they will charge if they feel threatened, especially if there are babies in the group.

My biggest concern was for my dog trying to get to them, but she sniffed the air, gave them a good look, and then lost interest. She was much more interesting in the lizards. There weren't any of those around the last time we went on a walk, and she almost lost her mind chasing them. I almost lost my arm as she jerked me around.

We're in the lovely space between spring and summer here. Some of the saguaros and prickly pears have started to bloom. It's still bone dry and downright cold at night. And apparently the wildlife is enjoying it as much as I am.