On Wed 26 Jan 2005 09:52:42p, Rodney Myrvaagnes wrote in rec.food.cooking:

> On 26 Jan 2005 05:13:04 GMT, Wayne Boatwright > wrote:
>
>>> I live in Texas and a guy I work with hunts the pigs at night for
>>> farmers who want to get rig of them, because they are destroying thier
>>> crops. Do a Google image search for "wild pig"
>>> The wild dark haired ones with long sharp teeth, is what I have in my
>>> deep freeze.
>>
>>Are these "real" pigs, or are they javalinas?
>>
>>I can't stand the taste of javalinas. They are not actually "pigs".
>>
>>Wayne
>
> Really? They look like miniature tuskers to me. I haven't had the
> opportunity to eat one. What are they, if not pigs?

Yes, they do indeed. Javalinas are actually Collard Peccarys. From a
reference:

The collared peccary resembles a wild boar but is unrelated to the pigs. It
has a heavily built body covered with coarse hair, a heavy snout, and a
distinct collar of light-coloured hair around the neck. These animals are
common in the southern desert regions of Arizona, New Mexico and Texas,
where they frequent the shrubby areas and canyons. They favour the saguaro-
paloverde regions and mixed shrub grassland. They roam the desert in loose
groups of 8 to 12 (but up to 30) individuals, each group being led by an
older sow. They are territorial.

The favourite food is prickly pear and other fleshy cacti - they eat vast
amounts of prickly pear pads and are undeterred by the spines. They also
dig up roots and bulbs.

My note: They are meaner than sin!

Wayne