Saturday, November 7, 2009

Birding Laughs #4

Going back to my Saturday morning adventures at the Granite Reef Recreation Area near Mesa, Arizona when I was first getting into birding...

As I walked along the Salt River enjoying the Vermilion Flycatchers in the tops of the trees, the Northern Cardinals, and Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, with binoculars glued to my eyes; I unknowing walked right into a herd of javelinas (wild boars sometimes called peccaries). The javelinas had been nestled down in the shade under the low bushes and taller grasses. I stood there paralyzed as the females and their young rushed off to a safe distance to turn and stare back at me.

The leader of the harem however, stood his ground and bared his terrible teeth and stamped his terrible feet and flashed his terrible eyes, and growled his terrible growl. Then he charged at me! I sprung with superhuman agility to the nearest tree and shimmied up as high as the puny branches would support me. I was really only a about four feet up, but it was high enough. Then the boar and I had a waiting game. He circled below me for a few minutes and finally trotted off to join his herd. I slipped back down the tree and still running high on adrenaline I booked it out of there.

You know, that incident was pretty scary, but imagining myself running up a tree like a scaredy-cat is kind of funny...isn't it.

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