Pigs Gone Wild

It was about 7:30 and chilly on Friday night when husband and I  stopped at a red light in Payson, Arizona. How innocent I was, unaware that I was about to encounter a wild animal of such hideous ferocity that my very life would hang by a bristle.

Out of the razor sharp corner of my finely honed vision I caught a  flash of hairy movement on the sidewalk. 

To be honest, this is not unusual in Payson, which is a town known for it's hirsute population, but this bushy creature had delicate little legs and a snout more prominent than the norm.

image found here

Husband pulled around the corner and I got out with my cell phone, preparing my camera to snap a picture for you, dear reader.  Did I know what the beast was?  Yes, I had my suspicions, but until I came face to face mujer contra javalina and stared into those beady eyes positioned north of the agile snout, I did not know for sure.

There it was...a brush pig, a stinky wild swine 

come to town to terrorize tourists...

an Arizona javelina.  

Time stood still as  blue eyes bore into boar eyes and then he lost the staring contest and was off like a shot, heading across the highway.

Now I realize this blurred shape does not do justice to what I saw and so I have used my prodigious photoshopping skills to refine and clarify the image.

    

I hunted the cowardly swine, combing through the untended landscape of Payson's main street.  I caught glimpses in the tall dry grass and smelled the musky aroma but as my bristly friend melted into the night I wiped away a tear and raised a hand in salute while softly singing...

Born free as free as the wind blows

As free as the grass grows

Born free to follow your snout 

Adios amigo, until we meet again.