The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936, 1909-12-30
THE VICIOUS PECCAnY
A Fierce Creature Is the SOL
American Wild Boar.
HE Is SMALL, BUT FEARLEG,
Will Attack Man or Any Animal In -
istence on the Slightest Provocatu'.
and win Fight to the Death-A Ea,
tie With a Jagusr.

and VIII Fight to the Death-A Eaa
tie With a Jagusr.
During II of his journeys into Me.
leo Edward W. Walton. Il miniu" ~
pert. had u close call from being Slic, {
To ShrrdS by The fierce little Suut.
American pigs known as peccarieS. =
told The story of his escape to Il Dew
yer Post reporter.
Il wished to eur some plumIr
from Il number of the beautifully plum.
aged birds" said Mr.. Walton. Il wcr'
into the jungle and came Ia IL Su.i,'
opening in which there were DR.
leaves. probably IL DOT i'm depth. cr'
Primg the ground. and hundreds ~
beautifully cOlored tropical birds =
the air and in the trees. | fired ut on"
of the birds in flight. when it SermCC!
to me the whole area of these deaT
leaves arose in front of and I'LL arour6
ne. Being a stranger. naturally | va"
much frightened. especially when ,
saw the animals which raised up thr
leaves apparently ready for nm ATTACK
The older animals opened and closed
their mouths. showing their big. sharp
tusks. formed much like Il dirk knife
and some of them started toward me
lmpulSively | commenced firing my
gun in the air and turned around
which seemed to stop most of they
mOmentarily. and rs | had lots of car
tridges I kept up the shooting. and
fH4- f,rnll a~l roD ,.R
afterward that l had saved my lire
by so doing and by not shooting any or
the animals.
These animals proved TO be pPcca-
ries. They are most ferOciOus and will
attack any animal in existence on the
slightest provocation. When | got
back to headquarters and told my com
panionS my experience | was Informed
that had | shot one of the animals ara
made him squeal the whole bunch
would have been on me and would
have torn me to pieces quickly. TheY
have been known to kill bears. jaguars.
cattle. horses and any number of dogs;
Although in the fight scores of their
number might be killed. they seem tC
have no fear when once aroused.
Il was told the p~eccaries burrOw un.
der the dry leaves to protect them
selves from mosquitoes and other
winged pests of that hot country. Ny
friends had many exciting experiences
to tell in regard to these ferociOus lit
tie animals. One of this party. while
travelling with a companion in a waE-
on. stopped for lunch under some trees
and turned their horses out to Craze.
While at lunch a large bunch of pee
carries appeared. and they thought it
would be nice to shoot among them
and get one or two for meat, so they
fired into them. wounding several.
which commenced to squeal. Then the
whole bunch made an attack. The men
climbed quickly into the wagon and
kept Oh shooting so long as the am
munition which they had in their
pockets lasted. AS they were opening
their bags to get out more ammunition
the pPccarieS climbed up the tongue
of the wagon and jumped into it. and
the men saved themselves only by
jumping OH to the seat and hen on to
limbs of the trees. the ~peccaries taking
possession of the wagon and tearing
things to pieces. They remained in
possession for hours. the men watching
them from safety in the trees"
The peccary. or South American wild
boar. is the smallest of his species. av-
eraging about three feet long. nor is
the animal possessed of any unusual
degree of strength. 10 make up for
the natural individual deficiencies in
combat with the more powerful ami
mails of the jungle the ]peccaries al
ways travel in large herds. When once
attacked by Il herd of p%eccarieS the
uutcOme is nearly always death to their
enemy. The little pigs are armed with
short sharp tusks. and no matter how
great the slaughter of their OWL NUM-
Der during the melee the herd stay Oh
the job until the work is finished.
Travellers in tropical and South
American countries tell of fierce en-
counters between the p%eccaries and the
jaguar. the monster cat which is lord
OF the forest. The jaguar has a fond
ness for a dinner of pork. but a whole
some respect for the power of a herd
of wild pigs. When he wants to sat
iSfy his cravings for u pork diet be
drops from Il limb of Il tree on to the
back of a straggler in the peccary
herd. The jaguar Stays his victim and
hen retreats hastily to his tree be-
fore the herd can get at him. When
the herd grows tired of waiting for
him to come down and Ove along
the jaguar descends and enjoys his
mpa! ut leisure. Frederick SelOus in
his romance Of the animal world has
an interesting account of a fight be-
tween Il jaguar and a herd of pee
carries. The peccaries had the jaguar
freed on the limb of u tree from which
the bark had rotted away. He was
only Il few feet above them and by
harasSing and jumping at their enemy
finally succeeded in bringing the con-
ti:t to the ground. After the fight
yr-- ,va. -bara raro alavnD EilIad and