The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-06-12
HUNTING THE JAVELINA.
THE WILD hog OF THE CACTUS
MAKES GOOD BUNTING.

A-'A
snHEcs-A hauntiRE Party'a ESpericnce.
LEoN'sPRISes. Tex. juno 9.-Tho ranchmen Of
this:part Of the country make q living by watch.
ing their herds increase and rolling shuck Gig
n~rcttes. The spring branding having ended
with unexamplod profit and It being the close
seRson on deer and all feathered Enmo,thoy have
nothing to do except to stand around and mako
deroGatory remarks about the riding abilities
of "Rooseveltis people, or to hunt javclinas.
That Is whnt the Balconos ranch folks have boon
doing three timos q week for a month. They call
It pig sticking" hut 1t is hunting j~nvelinas
Just the same.
Those folks arc English. Thcy canlc out here
fifteen years ago, headed ny Glynn-Turquand.
twenty Of them. oil cadets Of good families,
banjo pickors and polo players from away back.
They bought the BALCONIES ranch property of
10000 acres and settled down TO raising cattle.
The people round about laughed a good denl at
them at first. They rode pigsl in saddles and
locked tho bronchos' tails. But whom II waB
found that they would stick to tho pigskin like
gluo In any sort Of country and l!ft a fifteen.
hand broncho over six feet OF cactus and land
him on tho other side with all four feet toGoth-
er and as lightly as a feather, tho lauRhers
stopped. They said tho BALCONIES Brltishsrs were
'muy braves hombres'' and oil right.
Tho Gl~ynn-Turquand layout introduced tho
sport OF javelina hunting, and II has been good
fun. Tho javolina lie the peccary, or wild hog
Of the cactus. so called by tho Moxicans because
the spiny bristles on his back are like spears or
~javelins. Formerly the Texans used Winches-
tors on thom, but now they chase them and
pierce them with long poles tipped with stcel.
when they can. Tho animal kingdom docs no.
hold a moro cunning. stcnlthy, or patiently fcro-
cious brute. He lie not pretty, but his appear.
ance is as good as his disposition. He has no
nnra1a mn Iowa of hon,o ~ family mn ornfi.
tude, no self-rcspcct. no liking even for his
own kind. To is secretive. morose, stupidity
fierce. and always hungry. Ho will cat any.
thing he can swallow and steal anything he can
cat. Next to INJECTING useless and causeless In
jury, no wouldsrather fight. Strong In num-
bers, he will fight anything. from a Mexican
baby . years old and lost In the chaparral to a
puma a week without food.
Like every other corsair. however, tho jave-
lima has one virtue: he will kill rattlesnakes.
No desire for tho bctterment of the world lends
him to Stay them. He likes their flesh. He is
not in peril In his combats with the deadliest
monster OF tho West. The poisoned fangs are
sent deep into his body. but he goes away and
cats Of an herb that no man has been wise
enough to find and returns to dine upon his foe
man. II everything in the scheme of creation
has its use, the use OF tho javelina is TO kill
rattlesnakes. He Is not good for anything else.
His meat is not edible to any one save n starv-
ing man. His hide is valueless. He detests
the wire fence and will break 1t down when he
finds 1t. He has strong enmity 10 the domesti-
Gated dog.
The ranch hound which meets him and his
companions in guilt is out Of luck. The jave-
lima Stays him forthwith and thon, of course,
eats him. He will root up anything he finds
planted. whether he knows what it Is or not.
lie goes upon the principle that 1t was put there
by somebody and everybody Is against him.
Being an omnivorous feeder. he will destroy
newly dropped calves and lambs. He pays no
attention at all to a maddencd cow or eve, He
Ten of him will not hesitate to attack a man.
Providence has been unkind to him IN that 1t
fHI f for Ehis0a eb el9 would w,aH PSS be- no e ee SlamS E S,m T5ee'
The javeline is quick to anger, indeed. Is in a
state Of chronic irritation. and objects on prin-
government. a fourcieggcd al erchist, hating
law and order and restraint and water. His
im a river Is IN bank AMY 'a Il It o. be e % a fsr = oav she he q Is e eon,
tent. II the hole in the benk DO small he viii
separate, chambers ana connects them with
halls and %doorways. His burrow Is not unlike
the underground dwellings of the termites, but
much larger.
Instances of the javclina attacking mon are
not rare in southwestern Texas. Last winter
still.hunling deer. He had killed nothing, and
late In the afternoon was making his way home
along the edge of BALCONIES Creek. He was
walking near the water with a precipitous
bank forty feet high on his right. hand. tho creek
left, and with much labor had climbed over a
high and massive brush fence which ran down
70 the water and was some fifty yards behind
him. Suddenly he heard a succession OF sharp
grunts, and a javelina ran out OF a hole in the
Cliff fifty feet IN front OF him and stopped a mo-
nent to look at him. J%onston throw his Win.
chester to his shoulder and shot 1t in the head.
1t fell upon Its naunches. screaming. and in
Of the cave and trotted swiftly toward him.
He had six shells In his magazine. and man
aged to stop four OF the attacking force. but
the others came straight on. and he took to the
wa er, wearing his hat and boots and leaving his
rife on the bank. They jumped on it in blind
anger and SCARED the stock a good deal with
their tusks, but could not injurc 1t particularly.
J~onston and his ranchfellows returned to the
place in nm hour. but not a javelina was in
sight, except the dead ones, nor have they ever
returned to that cave.
who rode from old Fort Ewell to Twohig. lie
went always armed with Winchester under his
S9 isTe eRn a s FeN"iEeF G IN the ro 59 his sS m%'f i. and mS 81 NV NJ
cautiously dismounted to examine it: lie was
SIrr9un a%sI,d in an an i hisaI sn by a. a a. band % of them;
chaparral. Tho smell OF his kindrod's blood
sets, tho pe,ccary crazy. Bermaiin's fright,
get to n huisacho tres and climbed 1t. He used
np all Of the cartridges in his revolver, and in
How long no remained porchod in the treo no
one knows., He. must havo moved about
T%G"f him the and SFr he feii. for Wien E nG foSmd limb omfy G soms
scattered honcs and fragments of clothing rc
manned of him. The mail bags had fallen from
the horse, and they, too, were ripped TO pieces.
A new mail carrier was hired. who let the javc,
linns alone.
AS quarry this wild hog furnishcs plenty OF
excitement and trouble. He IA swift and un.
firing and f%roIuents only the toughest and
most inaccessible country. lie cmits n strong
scent which even n coarsely bred dog follows
ensily. and is expert in all devices for throwing
his pUrsUers Off the track, doubling frequently,
making his wny through underground passages
known only to himself and even taking TO The
water when forced TO It. When brought to bay
he is certain to afford the livclic5t kind Of
fight to anything less than n dozen dogs. Hi-
curved tuAks arc as sharp q" %daggers,, and he
uses them with rnpldity and force. The d0Rs
never escape without wounds, and Frequently
they are diseInbowclled. There may be animals
In the chaDarral weighing less thnn 100 pound,
which can whip tho iavelina in fair single com
bal, but they are not known.
The BALCONIES ranch crowd last week hunted
some cover fivo miles west, known as rho
Motto de Osa. II is composed OF the usua
mixture OF catclaw and cactus and is up ans
down hill mostly. Some narts OF 1t cannot bt
penetrated by anything larger than u blue quail
but In the greater part II Is fairly open. fol
chaparral. The ranch pack consists Of II. teCI
dogs OF all recognized crosses. and some unrcc
ognizcd. There IL some greyhound In them
which comes from an old pack OF lack rabbi