Don’t Hog the Yard!

After such a strange encounter only days ago, I would have thought that nothing out there would have surprised me anymore. Well… I guess life was just out to prove me wrong!

Trying to finish up a roll of film for photography class, I was poking around outside, snapping pictures of anything that seemed remotely interesting. There’s hardly anything extradinary to capture, but deadlines beckoned and with time running short, all I could really hope for was to have any negatives to develop on Monday. Expecting to quickly shoot and run off to my next engagement, I wasn’t paying very close attention to much else other than what was in my view finder. In all my haste, I nearly missed the unbelievable sight mere feet away from where I stood – A genuine warthog, in all of his pig-like glory!

Peeking through the tall grass and fallen leaves, he looked away hastily and pretended to have not seen me, pushing around dirt and twigs, snorting up an acorn or two every so often. Never having witnessed a warthog in action before, I wasn’t sure if this was such a natural pursuit or not, but it was fascinating nonetheless. With such determination did he hunt his prey! Although the acorns had practically covered the ground in a thick layer only weeks ago, much of what remained was nothing but shells and rotten nuts at this point, having been snatched up by the squirrels already. Still, this particular hunter/gatherer seemed to be quite skilled at rooting out the few that were left untouched, as if they had simply been waiting for him alone.

I wondered if this was a baby I was seeing, as he was rather diminutive in size, atleast in comparison to how I had an imagined a warthog would measure up. Not a parent or sibling in sight, the little guy made no fuss over the absence of an accomplice, preferring instead to reap all the rewards for himself. Young as he may be, such an independent young hog has no worries about being unable to protect himself or find his way back to the rest of the group, I suppose. I don’t think anyone would bother him out here, either; Most animals around here wouldn’t even know what to think of his presence!

Maybe I should start putting out free nuts or seeds for all the unusual creatures that have been visiting my house since it seems to be such a popular destination! I don’t know what it is that makes my particular area so attractive, but I’ll certainly remain vigilant and attempt to catch any other oddities in action.