The answer is
JAVELINA (COLLARED PECCARY), the wild pig of the
southwest.
The photos show that the animal is a small hoofed
animal, such as a baby deer, baby antelope, baby bighorn sheep,
javelina or armadillo. This was a tough quiz, as the rain had made
the prints unclear, and it takes some thinking to figure out which
is the most likely animal to have exhibited the tracks & behavior
seen.
So here’s how you figure it out. The tracks have two toes, which
tends to rule out armadillo (while armadillos can leave 2-toed
prints, they more commonly show 3 toes, like a bird). Additionally,
the location was Arizona, which rules out armadillo with more
certainty. The mystery animal travels in groups, and all prints were
the same size – this would tend to rule out babies of deer /
antelope / sheep, which would be expected to travel with the adults
who would leave larger tracks. The winter season is also
inconsistent with the time of year that these animals would be
having babies, and the digging behavior is also inconsistent with
them.
Southern Arizona is prime habitat for javelinas. Javelinas have
hoofed feet that are rather small for their bodies, consistent with
the prints seen. They travel in groups, so that fits. Although the
prickly pear cactus in the photo was not fed upon, it is one of the
javelina's favorite foods – they devour it needles and all with
their scissor-like teeth (they are one tough critter!). They also
eat a variety of other foods, including rodents, worms & roots by
digging. This is an example of how when the tracking conditions
aren’t pristine you sometimes need to gather every clue possible to
decipher the story.
I am thankful for the earth, river, sky & rain that helped to
tell the story of this fascinating animal, and hope you enjoyed it
as well.
Wishing you all some good Dirt Time until next month’s tracker
quiz.
Brian
