Really! this is news to me and very interesting. I have a bachelor degree in wildlife biology and retired from a 30 year career as a wildlife biologist in southern Arizona. At the time of my retirement there was no documented evidence of javelina eating meat. I would like to know more about your experience. PM me if you like. Did you see the javelina knock the can over and eat the meat?
Just because they are supposed to have bad eyesight doesn't mean that their sniffer's are out of order.
Sorry, no video footage. I had seen javelina in the area and at least once, I personally saw three of them getting into my garbage cans.
yes but the meat was past date!
Maybe they were really hungry?
I can tell you that javelinas are not true pigs, they are not carnivores or omnivores, they have a digestive system of a vegetarian, and to my knowledge there has never been any indication in diet and stomach content studies that javelina eat meat. There is also something to be said about abnormal circumstances and opportunity. Just recently all over the internet news was the first documented case of a giant tortoise eating meat, when one chowed down on a hatchling sea bird. I was with another biologist near Wickenburg one time when we saw a vermillion flycather not eating flying insects the way it is suppose to do but grabbing minnows out of the creek. New and different things happen all the time particularly in the natural world and it makes life interesting.
That is very true. If you believe evolutionary biologist, javelina evolved in the dense jungles of central central America where eye sight was less important than smell and hearing. if you have ever been close to them you know that they have a sent gland on their rump, you can watch them stand nose tor rump and rub each others glands. They know each other and stay together through smell not sight. fascinating animals
I've heard that their closest relative is a hippo.
As much as they look like pigs my understanding is their closest living relative is the hippo.
