They look like hairy pigs, but aren’t. The Spanish, who were the first Europeans to settle in Southern Arizona, called them “javelina” meaning javelin or spear. When you see the skull of a collared peccary, you immediately know why. Those tusks are impressive.

This is why the Spanish called them “javelina” meaning javelin or spear.

Typically they weigh 35 to 45 pounds, but some males beef up to 60 pounds. The dominant male keeps virtually all of the mating privileges to himself (To quote Mel Brooks, “It’s good to be King.”).

Their natural range is from here in the Sonoran Desert all the way south to Argentina.

They will avoid a confrontation if possible, but will fight if cornered or their young are threatened. Acting in concert, which they often do, they can easily kill a domestic dog and cause great bodily harm to humanoids.

Mother & Child

One night we had 7 in our yard. I herded them out an open gate by producing mighty vocalizations and thumping a few on their rear with my 3-iron. One thing this experience taught me … javelina STINK! The other thing it taught me was to build a sturdier fence. [Actually, this was the best use of my 3-iron ever. On the golf course, it was never worth a damn.]

Javelina will eat almost anything, including the pads of our prickly pear cactus. Given the prickly pear’s 2-inch-long thorns, we have to admire their incredibly tough mouth and complex digestive system.

Prickly pear cactus at the end of our driveway recently eaten by javelina.

Also, if they can tip over a garbage can and knock the lid off, they will spread trash all over in the process of feeding on leftovers. As newcomers a decade ago, we learned this hard way before getting bungee cords to tie down the lids.

The peccaries’ main predator is us. Their sense of smell is very good, but not so much their eyesight. So at night they easily become road kill. Also they are legally hunted in Arizona in January & February.

However, our coyotes, bobcats, and mountain lions will also make a meal of them. I have spoken with a few javelina hunters who cooked and tried to eat one. The word is their meat is extremely tough, gamy, ill-smelling & rank.  Yuck!

Our Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum hosts a herd of these guys. While they there in a large enclosure, sometimes they are very difficult to find. Best you look under the bridges or anywhere where there is shade & water. That’s where they will be.

We here at SouthernArizonaGuide.com are working on enlarging our section on local critters for your enjoyment.  As of now we have coyotes, scorpions, coati, big horn sheep and several others. Now that I can walk / hike, I intend to explore some of our rich wildlife habitat, such as Ramsey Canyon, this spring and photograph whatever critters I come across.  You can follow our adventures by subscribing (FREE) which gets you our weekly newsletter in your email.

Last Thanksgiving (2012), several of our family members joined me for a guided Behind-The-Scenes Tour at the Desert Museum. This was truly a joyous learning experience. Each tour is limited to only ten people, so there’s plenty of opportunity to ask questions of the zookeeper guides. And because each tour permits us to get very close to the critters, they offer amazing photographic opportunities.

There are four tour options. We intend to go on each tour before the 2013 ends.

Hummingbird On Arm Of Photographer. Photo courtesy of Raven, one of our favorite local photographers.

Winged Wonders (Hummingbird Tour). This is an opportunity for a select few to learn about how the zookeepers care for these winged wonders. There may even be an opportunity to feed some of them.  They say that if we wear bright colors, the little fellers will be especially attracted to us. If you go, let us know if this worked for you.

Reptile, Amphibians, and Invertebrates Tour. This will be our opportunity to interact with some of the Sonoran Desert’s many snakes, lizards, frogs, and spiders, including tarantulas.

Zookeeper For A Day: On this tour we can spend a morning working with a zookeeper in the Mammalogy and Ornithology Department. Here we will assist with feeding and cleaning exhibits while learning natural history and husbandry of some of the Sonoran Desert’s indigenous species.

Walk On The Wild Side. This is the tour we went on last Thanksgiving. We went behind the scenes at Cat Canyon, Big Horn Sheep Mountain, and the Coati exhibit.

Our tour started at the otter pond where 10 of us met our zookeeper guide, Debra Benson. There used to be two otters here, but one died. And while Debra tried to entice the one remaining otter out of her den so we could feed it, she was unsuccessful.

Before we moved on to Big Horn Sheep Mountain, I wondered what happened to the animals here who are too sick or old to be exhibited. Debra explained that when the Desert Museum takes an animal, it’s a commitment for the remainder of the animal’s natural life. They actually have a retirement community on the Desert Museum property where old and disabled animals go to live out their lives in relaxed comfort. Kinda like the animal kingdom’s version of Social Security and Medicare.

I told this big male that if he would smile for my camera, I would give him a carrot. He got the carrot.

Next, we watched the big horn sheep leap down from their mountaintop so they could get a treat. They seemed to recognize Debra because as soon as we arrived the two females and one big male were suddenly alert to our presence. Debra gave us some carrots to throw into their exhibit area, and the sheep were almost immediately on ground level.

Grandson Colby asked Debra why the sheep don’t slip on the slick rock surface. After all, it is hard to imagine other hoofed mammals, such as a horse or donkey, being that surefooted. Debra explained that the bottoms of their hoofs are soft pads that actually grip the rock surface. I didn’t know that. Did you?

Our next stop was in the underground area where anyone can go to see the beaver and otter in their respective dens. But then, Debra opened a door I had never noticed before that led into an underground chamber.

After she closed the door behind us, she showed us some of the tools of her trade. Most interesting to me was all the toys zookeepers use to keep the caged animals mentally active and emotionally engaged. That made me feel better about keeping wild animals confined to a relatively small area.

We followed Debra deeper into this underground room. Here we approached what looked like a maximum security prison with heavy-gauge wire and steel bars. Debra pulled some levers and a heavy metal door opened.  One of the female big horn sheep was on the other side to greet us.

Debra gave Colby and some of the others some vegetation to feed to the sheep. It wasn’t long before the big guy showed up and wanted his share. They all knew the routine.

At the next stop we visited the coati exhibit area. We have been here many times over the years, but almost never spot the coati, whom the Desert Museum assures us are always there. At the sight of Debra, two coati came out from behind the bushes. She threw them a couple of fishes while she shared some interesting information about this native species.

For one thing, coati will eat almost anything. For another, unlike their cousin, the raccoon, coati are not nocturnal. They spend their days foraging for food, such as berries, nuts, lizards, bugs, rodents, and bird eggs. They are highly gregarious and communicate using verbal signals.

I asked Debra what the difference is between a coati and a coatimundi. She explained that all coati are coati, but a coatimundi is a solitary adult male. There you have it.

From the front of the exhibit, we went literally behind the scenes and entered a secret door that led to the coati backstage. Several coati greeted us and seemed to be expecting something interesting to happen.

A coati at the Desert Museum. They have two kinds of coati that are only slightly different in appearance. Zookeeper Debra explained the differences.

Debra took a bottle of men’s cologne and dabbed some on a tissue. She then slipped the scented tissue through the wire cage. Immediately, one of the coati grabbed it and began rubbing the scent on his tail.

I asked Debra if coati were particularly attracted to men’s cologne. She told us that they exhibit this same behavior no matter what the scent is. As we turned our attention back to the group of coati behind the screen, the one with the scented tissue was now carrying it around on his back showing off to the other inmates. We all had a good laugh.

I wish I had known in advance because, while this was happening, I and my camera were totally out of position. You’ll have to go to see for yourselves.

From the coati backstage we made our way to Cat Canyon, one of our family’s favor exhibits. The first thing Debra did was go into the exhibition area of the porcupine named Nettles. She did her best to coax Nettles out of its den so we could watch her feed the prickly critter, but Nettles was having none of it. We moved on to another underground chamber adjacent to the bobcat exhibit.

Here Debra had some interesting things to say about bobcat training. You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, so you’ll just have to go on this tour and see for yourselves. However, there was nothing surprising about the bobcats’ reaction to Debra putting a dead mouse through the thick wire cage.

There was a great deal more to this tour, but I’m not going to spoil it for you. For more info about the four tours, go to the Desert Museum’s website. The price of each tour, in addition to the cost of admission, is $35 per person. However, if you go to our SouthernArizonaGuide.com, you can get a $5 discount. Just click on the Desert Museum display ad.

Let us know about your experience behind the scenes at the Desert Museum.

Kentucky Camp Headquarters Building Restored

More than a hundred years ago, Kentucky Camp was the headquarters for the Santa Rita Water & Mining Company, which was formed to extract placer deposits from the Greaterville Mining District in the foothills of the Santa Rita Mountains 9 miles NW of Sonoita.

Gold, in the form of placer, was discovered here in 1874. Placer is a mixture of gold, sand, and gravel. Separating out the gold required water. But in the Greaterville Mining District, there was no permanent surface water, and the arroyos were usually dry.

Early on, miners here had to haul their pay dirt in sacks to the few running streams in the area, or haul bladders of water to their claims on the backs of pack animals.

At first, this laborious effort was worthwhile, but by 1886 the easy pickings played out and most of the miners moved on.

A Bright Idea
In 1902, along came James Stetson, a California mining engineer who had an idea to solve the water problem. He believed it would be possible to collect seasonal runoff into a nearby reservoir, creating a permanent water source, and thus making placer mining once again profitable.

Stetson sold the idea to investors and together they formed the Santa Rita Water & Mining Company. The mining operation took place in Boston Gulch and the company built facilities in neighboring Kentucky Gulch.

From 1902, the company had their headquarters and employee residences in what became known as Kentucky Camp. By mid-1904, the company had begun hydraulic mining and success seemed assured.

One Fateful Day
However, as so often happened in these early mining ventures, fate intervened. On May 20, 1905, Mr. Stetson was in Tucson for a Board of Directors meeting. He had taken a third-floor room in the new and very prestigious Santa Rita Hotel, located at Broadway & Scott.

Around 3 o’clock that afternoon, a maid working on the 2^nd floor directly below Mr. Stetson’s room heard a thud on the windowsill of the room she was cleaning. She went to investigate. As she leaned out her window, she saw Mr. Stetson’s dead body on the concrete sidewalk below.

Why Mr. Stetson fell out of his hotel window was never determined. Was he pushed? Was he drunk? We will never know.

The remaining partners tried to keep the mining operation going, but gave up in 1906. By 1912, Kentucky Camp was abandoned.

For information about the restored buildings & overnight stays at Kentucky Camp, click HERE to go to SouthernArizonaGuide.com.

I had heard rumors that thousands of bats live under the North Campbell Street bridge (just south of River) and that they take flight at sundown in the summer. This urban legend seemed more plausible when I found out that docents from the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum are there every Thursday evening to share their knowledge of these nocturnal creatures.

So, last night being Thursday, I went to check it out. Here are a few photos I took of the event.

Folks started to arrive early to see the flight of the bats from under the N. Campbell St. bridge. Three docents from the Desert Museum were there.

Just before sundown, a few scout bats flew out from under the bridge. Then, right as the sun disappeared over the horizon, thousands took flight.

For Sale: Androctonus Bicolor

Ken “The Bug Guy” MacNeil is a bugologist who has opened his mid-town Tucson pet store with an inventory of over 10,000 bugs.

Spiders of course. And scorpions, tarantulas, millipedes, and dozens of other crawling species.

Having a bug for a pet has several advantages over the usual dog or cat.

• Less maintenance.
• Less cost.
• More interesting

For example, you can acquire this purebred Androctonus bicolor – Sub/Adult for only $45.00

Ken’s  store also sells a variety of reptiles and amphibians.

Watch Ken “The Bug Guy” video.

Then go to Ken’s website to order your pet bug today.

3115 N 1st Ave 
Tucson, AZ 85719
Sun Noon to 7pm 
Closed Monday
Tues – Sat 11am to 7pm

A hummingbird at the Desert Museum Rests On A Person's Arm

Last week, we had friends visiting from Virginia. As we always do with friends and family here for the first time, we recommended they go to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. It’s such a great place get an orientation to the geology, plants, and critters of our Sonoran Desert.

When they returned, they said that they had spent quite a bit of time in the hummingbird enclosure. To our delight, they took this video with their mobile device.

Tucson To Slaughter Ranch; Douglas to Portal; Portal Over Mountains to Chiricahua National Monument; Willcox to Safford; Safford To Duncan; Clifton to Morenci; Back to Safford via Black Hills Counry Byway.

As I posted several days ago, Ms. Karen & I were headed for a three-day weekend in Southeastern Arizona. Now we’re back and have a couple hundred photos, some of which I will share here. Others you can view on our Southern Arizona Guide website in a few days. Here’s is the route we traveled. All told, a little less than 700 miles.

This is a wonderful place for children and adults. Tons of hiking, picnicking, camping, fishing, bird and critter watching. And lots of Native American and Pioneer history.

A Lakeside Picnic Area At The Slaughter Ranch Museum

Slaughter Ranch Museum
The Slaughter Ranch right on the International Border is spectacular. A fine museum dedicated to pioneer rancher and Cochise County Sheriff John Slaughter. A beautiful place to have a picnic along side the lake.  We conducted an on-camera interview with Bob The Caretaker. You can view it in a few weeks on our website. I’m going to add this to our Best Picnic Areas section.

Ornate Lobby of Historic Gadsden Hotel. Douglas, AZ

Gadsden Hotel, Douglas
This was once a grand hotel, now shabby after decades of hard times. Douglas is a portrait of an impoverished American city.

Very sparse human population out here between towns. We saw a lot of poverty, a lot of churches, a lot of prisons. We also saw a lot of wildlife and beautiful scenery … and met some terrific people.

Portal, AZ. The Portal Store, Cafe', & Lodge is located on the eastern slope of the Chiricahua Mountains.

Portal, AZ
The first night we stayed at the Portal Lodge. Simple, clean, inexpensive. They have a store, cafe’, and lodge. I think it’s the only place within 10 miles to get supplies and an OK meal.

Taking the back road from Portal over the top of the Chiricahua Mountains to the Monument, we also saw the devastation caused by last June’s (2011) Horseshoe 2 Wildfire which burned almost a quarter million acres of remote forest.

Make sure you have plenty of gas. Gasoline is very scare around here.

Road from Portal, AZ heading west over the mountains to Chiricahua National Monument on the other side.

Saturday morning we left Portal Lodge and headed up the east side of the Chiricahuas. Our destination was the Chiricahua National Monument on the other side. The pavement eventually gave way to a well-maintained dirt road that took us over the mountain top.

This was one of the most spectacular scenic drives we have ever experienced.

Tomorrow or the next day I will post more photos of our tour of Cochise, Graham, and Greenlee Counties almost to the Arizona-New Mexico border.

Owl Swoops Over Delighted Spectators At The Arizona Sonora Desert Museum

The raptor free flight program at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum will end for the season Sunday April 15th. We have family visiting from Virginia next week and will definitely take them all to see this delightful and educational program.

You will find 5 short Desert Museum videos at my Southern Arizona Guide website. One has a docent with a male Harris’s Hawk explaining the unique characteristics of this very successful predator.

This video and photo was taken by Neighbor Mike last week.