I've written previously of the neighbor, he of the
1000 tulip bulbs. His approach to tulips is to water them and fence them, otherwise treat them as wild flowers. And they in turn oblige, with a spectacular show every spring.
One year, his electric fence failed. You can guess what ensued. Javelina ensued, digging up big holes in his garden. But 1000 tulip bulbs is far, far more than our small neighborhood pack could eat in a few sessions of gorging; thus we continue to enjoy spectacular displays in the spring.
Here is the replacement fence. No, it's not electric, and I guess it should be, as somehow or other, the little pigs have invaded the garden again and we have, here and there....
...scenes of destruction. I've scanned the little fence and see no signs of how the critters got into the garden. Now, one friend with a small, newly fenced yard complete to a raised planting bed, was raided the other day. She lost her new strawberry and blueberry plants to the critters, who burrowed under the fence. All of which has me quite puzzled. I've had strawberry plants for years and the porkers have never touched them!
Of course, this is the point at which I share some of the many pictures that friend Bob takes of the large pack that haunts his neighborhood. Above is Mom & piglet; below, a couple of males face off (this appears to be rutting season, to judge from a couple of Bob's pictures.)
One fellow blogger, Boonie, asked if there weren't something better guaranteed to protect one's garden from the depredations of the Arizona javelina. As far as I can tell, the electric fence is about it. Yes, you can buy pricey cougar or wild cat urine, but reports say that it is iffy and, besides, the rain or watering will wash it away.
I've written previously of the neighbor, he of the 1000 tulip bulbs. His approach to tulips is to water them and fence them, otherwise treat them as wild flowers. And they in turn oblige, with a spectacular show every spring.
One year, his electric fence failed. You can guess what ensued. Javelina ensued, digging up big holes in his garden. But 1000 tulip bulbs is far, far more than our small neighborhood pack could eat in a few sessions of gorging; thus we continue to enjoy spectacular displays in the spring.
Here is the replacement fence. No, it's not electric, and I guess it should be, as somehow or other, the little pigs have invaded the garden again and we have, here and there....
...scenes of destruction. I've scanned the little fence and see no signs of how the critters got into the garden. Now, one friend with a small, newly fenced yard complete to a raised planting bed, was raided the other day. She lost her new strawberry and blueberry plants to the critters, who burrowed under the fence. All of which has me quite puzzled. I've had strawberry plants for years and the porkers have never touched them!
Of course, this is the point at which I share some of the many pictures that friend Bob takes of the large pack that haunts his neighborhood. Above is Mom & piglet; below, a couple of males face off (this appears to be rutting season, to judge from a couple of Bob's pictures.)
One fellow blogger, Boonie, asked if there weren't something better guaranteed to protect one's garden from the depredations of the Arizona javelina. As far as I can tell, the electric fence is about it. Yes, you can buy pricey cougar or wild cat urine, but reports say that it is iffy and, besides, the rain or watering will wash it away.
I dearly love tulips, one of my favorite things about spring.
ReplyDeleteBut, the photos of the tulip-chomping javelinas make me think of just one thing.....
.... BACON! (evil grin)
That's what they get for eating those lovely tulips. LOL
~Anon in AV.
My neighbor once told me that any time you plant seeds, you put three seeds in every hole, one for you, one for the birds, and one for the bugs. Maybe with tulips you should plant one bulb for you, one bulb for the bugs, and 43 bulbs for the Javelina. :o)
ReplyDeleteNice tulips. We have wild boars in the area. I've seen them in various areas, usually after dark, but none have ventured into the neighborhood...yet.
ReplyDeleteOh, that little piglet is so cute! They can eat my tulips any time! :)
ReplyDeletePS: Lovely photos, as usual.
Do they run when they encounter someone? They look nicer than our boars.
ReplyDeleteanon av -- BACON is always a nice thought...
ReplyDeleteAZ -- when it comes to bulbs, the javelina are clever -- they almost always leave some behind for next year. Whether this is by design or not, who knows.
steve -- The javelina is a much smaller guy than the boar (36-66 pounds, compared to well over 100-200) & a pack will tend to mosey away if a people shows up, with one guard keeping an eye on things til the pack is well on its way. The one time to watch out is if you are determined to muck about with one of those cute little ones.
kate -- you are so right! Apparently those little guys are also quite playful...
I love tulips, & indeed, all bulbs. From what I gather, the Javelina do not eat Daffodils, as these are poisonous?
ReplyDeleteI did a little snigger though, to think someone would pay for animal unrine, to deter another animal??
I introduced your blog to a lot of friends, who had never heard of, or seen, Javalina before.
meggie -- you might be interested in the artists' view of javelina -- the Sedona javelinas.
ReplyDeleteThe flowers are lovely, of course, but those little piggie things--javelina?--are pretty cute, too.
ReplyDeleteI think I'll visit your artist's view link.
Which I just did. At first I was taken with the first set, I believe it was, where the bigger one had pueblos carved out in his side--how Southwesty could you get?--but then I saw the couple decked out in evening wear. What a smile that one produced!
ReplyDeletedeck -- the Sedona javelina are obviously a take-off of the Chicago cows. And the javelina aren't the only critters to get this treatment -- up in Talkeetna Alaska, they had a ASM (Artists' Standard Moose) which was made to be decorated.
ReplyDeleteThose scrapping males are kind of scary...
ReplyDeleteI can't help but wonder if they hopped that little fence. They look so clunky that we had doubts that they would be able to get up the stairs onto our porch. To our surprise, we watched them bypass the stairs and hop straight onto the porch from the side! They are much more agile than they look.
ReplyDeleteAnd to the blooger who asked if they are scared of people. The ones by us aren't. We can walk right up to them and take their picture. Well my husband can. I wouldn't!
Good to hear from you, Jodie -- I'm surprised about them hopping up on your porch, but then my javelina just go up and down my stairs, muck about on the roof at night & otherwise uproot assorted plants & bulbs. I'd say that basically, the critters are wusses who'd rather move on than fight something bigger than they, tho they obviously get used to people.
ReplyDelete