Arizona has a cute but smelly inhabitant: the Javelina, or Collared Peccary. Though it looks a bit like a pig, it is not from the same family. It belongs instead to the Tayassuidae family, or New World pigs.
They sport long, bristly hair , with spiky ruffs around their necks and sometimes on top of their heads. But don’t be fooled by their cute looks, they have long, sharp canines and can be aggressive if they feel threatened. It is likely, however, that their smell will keep you away!
Feel free to admire and pet the colourful javelinas dotted around Sedona. Here is a sample:
Cute, aren’t they?
This is a response to Frizztext’s Tagged J challenge, ABC Wednesday and Alphabe Thursday.
Travel with Intent 
I’ve encountered a few of these while hiking. They are very aggressive and they do smell pretty bad.
Our son shot one while bow hunting and had it made into jerky. I just could not bring myself to try it. I swear it still smelled bad!
Thanks for a neat link for the letter J.
This brought back some memories for sure.
A+
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How cool to find someone who has met one! I’ve seen a wild boar once, in Barcelona of all places, but not a javelina.
On Wed, Aug 6, 2014 at 8:33 PM, Travel with Intent wrote:
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I have never heard of these animals! I love the 60’s Flower Power ones! It is fun to see how this idea of different designed animals has taken off all round the world – we had Elephants in Melbourne not that long ago!
Wren x
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Oh, I love the elephants, and the cows. Those large temporary parades bring fun, life and art to a city, and highlight aspects of the city that you may not have thought about. I’ve blogged about a few of them!
On Sun, Jul 27, 2014 at 12:57 AM, Travel with Intent wrote:
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Never heard of these piggies before. My fave is the flowered pair. Very cute, clever, and artistic. I’d like one in my garden.
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That’s a nice idea.
Sent from my iPhone
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Well those statues are one way to get attention. Love the flowered pigs.
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They are lovely all over Sedona, I’d be thrilled to have one of those statues thought I am sure they are pretty pricy (everything in Sedona is!)I might go check them out next time I am in Prescott.
I really do like Javalina as long as they are not tormenting my mother-in-law’s pack of Chihuahuas, no scratch that, I actually LIKE that they disturb the Chis! I would not challenge one myself on the long walk to the gate in the dark however and the little monster dogs are indoors by evening so the wildlife can root around at will.
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How quirky
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This is so unique and they look so cute. 🙂
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These are so adorable! I saw some javelinas when visiting Arizona and then saw a take-off of the Three Little Pigs using javelinas instead. I bought the book and used it to teach about the desert habitat and animals found there.
Leslie
abcw team
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They look like our common pigs! Thanks for sharing these photos!
Wil, ABCW Team
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Ha! I’ve only heard of these animals twice and it’s been twice in the same week. My sister was in Arizona for Spring training games and these were mentioned. Too funny…
http://happywonderer.wordpress.com/2014/03/18/junco/
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These are great statues/art work!
Having lived in AZ, I can tell you, javelina smell like skunks.
~Lindy
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I’m amused by your pink pair of javelinas … – indeed very modern pigs!
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