Democratic Sentinel, Volume 22, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 November 1898 — Dangerous Pigs. [ARTICLE]

Dangerous Pigs.

A writer in the St Louis Republic says that the most vicious and fearless member of the brute creation Is the peccary, or wild hog, of' Mexico. This animal seems utterly devoid Qf fear, apd displays an Intelligence in fighting man strangely at variance with its apparently complete lack of mental attributes. Their ability to scent men is particularly marked. The only thing to do when they get after you is to run away from them as fast as a horse can carry you. And then there is no certainty that they won’t catch you. They are nearly as swift as a horse, and tihelr endurance is as great as their viclousncss. A friend of mine encountered a drove of them in a Wild part of Mexico a few years ago, and his escape was almost miraculous. He very foolishly shot and wounded a number of them. Then he took refuge in a tree. The peccaries kept him in the tree all that day and through the night. They circled round the tree, grunting and squealing their delight at the prospect of a feast He soon exhausted his ammunition and brought down a peccary at each fire; but this had no terrors for the beasts. Toward morning they began to eat those he had killed, after which they formed in line and trotted off. If they had not had some of their own number to devour they would have guarded that tree until my friend, through sheer exhaustion, dropped from his perch and allowed them to make a meal of him, The wildcats and tigers that infest the Mexican wilds flee from the peccaries with instinctive fear, and rattlesnakes keep out of their path.