Saturday, June 13, 2009

New critters

That's new as in newborn. These cute little guys were photographed by friend Bob -- and they couldn't have been more than a couple of days old at best. Note that they both have the light colored "collar" that is the reason the other name for javelina is collared peccary.

I thought that the double birth was unusual. Not so says Arizona Game and Fish: after a 145-day gestation period, most births occur in June, July, and August. This peak corresponds with the maximum rainfall period. Two is the most common number of young. Unlike other animals, the javelina does not lick the offspring at birth, but rolls or tumbles it. The young are precocial, following their mothers shortly after birth and are usually weaned at six weeks.

Another American youngster -- a baby possum. Sent to me by my ex-sister-in-law (we're divorced) from Memphis, Tennessee. You can judge the size of this critter by the oak leaves and the width of the boards.

OH DEAR! A sharp-eyed reader has reminded me that the little guy above can't be considered a baby in any sense of the word. He's a possum, after all, and possums are marsupials. As a true infant, he lives in his mother's pouch for some little time before sticking his nose out into the big wide world for the first time. Then he will spend more time in and out of the pouch before really living entirely outside. My face is red.

15 comments:

  1. Great pictures!

    I don't think I've seen baby Javalina before -- I didn't realize how prominent their collars were at that age.

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  2. The micro-javalinas are cute little critters as, it seems, are all new-born animalia.

    Please don't ship any of them to us, however, as we already have feral pigs in the bush. Also, we have our own marsupial possums.

    Hermano

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  3. They are very endearing, even if they do grow up to eat all your tulips!

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  4. There is nothing like babies to warm the soul.

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  5. Anonymous7:48 AM

    This is all rather humbling. If animals as ugly as javelinas can have cute babies, and the same is true of good-looking species, why are homo sapiens' babies so unattractive?

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  6. Anonymous9:50 AM

    Very cute mini-bacons!

    Who are their natural predators, not including humans.

    Mountain lions?

    ~Anon in AV.

    (So sorry to hear about the Sharlot Hall AZ-gov 20% reduction.)

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  7. Anonymous10:03 AM

    A nice critter post. Our boars down the road have had a litter, but I've yet to get any photos.

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  8. Babes are cute, no matter what they are.

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  9. warren -- those collars really show up!

    bro -- I take your concern about imports quite seriously. Won't even ship you a jar of pickly pear jam for fear of introducing an invasive species.

    lucy -- my friends just love their javelina pack. Did I mention that they don't grow tulips?

    windy -- the appeal of all babies is quite remarkable. I even find the teeny tiny first & second grasshopper imagos to be cute, tho they're pigging out on my potted garden.

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  10. boonie -- you are being your curmudgeonish self, old buddy! Just give the hoo-man baby a couple of days after birth & he/she turns into a pretty attractive little critter.

    anon -- you have me wondering if bacon has ever been made from a javelina. Yes, mountain lions. For the little ones, coyotes. Also bears.

    steve -- I'd love to see a pic -- are they pink like domestic pig babies or are they covered with hair like the javelinas?

    jsrart -- so very true. BTW, friend Bob disagrees with AZ Game & Fish about twins. He says that all other javelina babies he's seen in the past 8 years, which is more than several, have arrived as singletons, not twins.

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  11. Anonymous1:19 PM

    GJ, they are covered with hair, but of a lighter shade.

    Steve in Germany

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  12. Anonymous2:56 PM

    The babies are cute indeed.

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  13. thanks, steve, for the report on baby German boars...

    and thanks to you, dagny, for the link.

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  14. Awesome coverage GJ! So cute when they are little. :)

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  15. tombo -- I just wish I'd been the lucky person who got to take those pictures!

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