READ THIS--what happened to Louie

[barbaranoela]

I never seen L. have a WHITE face--

Well he went for his walk--yesterday---and as he strolled along he notice some kids throwing stones at something--
He looked around the corner and there was a HAVALINA snorting around the city street!!(this wild boar is what rambles thru the deserts)

Well he stopped in his tracks--wondering where he could run if this thing charged when a man came outta his house with a SHOTGUN ready to fire if this wild boar charged!!!
He told Louie sometimes they do wander into town!!!YIKES!!!

So --Louie very slowly turned around and walked as fast as he could back to the apartment!!

No more walking he said--

Scared the *poop* outta him--(being nice about the language)

Who says we dont have Xciting things happen to us!!!
Hope every one is doing better--

Till later--we are going shopping--

luve Barbara

[hazel]

Well, I grew up in Chicago so can't claim any expertise in wild boars, but it seems to me that throwing stones at it would be likely to antagonize it. Perhaps it would be better just to let it walk where it would?

[tex]

Hi Mrs. Culombo,

You can tell Mr. L. that he should relax, and resume his walks. The odds of a javeline, (or a group of javelina), actually intentionally charging a human, are extremely slim. Many people have wandered into a group of them, while they were foraging in the brush, and discovered that they will scatter like quail, when spooked. Not only will they run in all directions, (a survival instinct), but they have even been known to run between the legs of someone standing in the way. Occasionally, they will bump against someone's leg, while trying to escape, in such a situation, and so naturally, the bumpee assumes that the animal was charging, and trying to attack, when actually, the poor little critter was just trying to get the hell out of there, as fast as his little legs would allow him, and he probably didn't even see the person standing there.

Their eyesight is extremely poor - no better than Mr. Magoo's, for sure. If you are downwind of them, and move slowly, and freeze anytime one of them looks directly at you, you can sneak right into the middle of them, very easily, even when you are in plain sight of them, the whole time. I have done that myself, many times. If they get a whiff of you, though, they are gone, because they have a very keen sense of smell. Also, the reverse of that works - you can locate javelina in the brush, by smell, long before you can actually see them. They have a musk gland on their rump, just forward of the tail, and stragglers are able to remain aware of the herd's location, while foraging, by "homing in" on that scent.

The kids were probably used to "playing with" javalina.

Luve,
Galahad