Why are wild boar, hunted in South Texas, called Jabalinas, Jabalina are the collared peccary, not a pig .?

Question

I need to know what to call a wild boar and the collared peccary by their correct Spanish names. Everyone who hunts in So Texas calls wild pigs Jabalinas, or javelinas, and the dictionary does not bear this out,

Answer 1

who gives a **** just freak in shoot it

Answer 2

The critter found in South Texas referred to in the vernacular as the "javalina" (from the Spanish word for the same, "jabali" or "javalinas" in the plural) is not a pig at all.  It is a Peccary.  The subspecies common to South Texas are better known as the Collared Peccary because of the 'white collar' around the neck.  A huge javalina (or jabali, if you prefer!) will dress out to some sixty pounds so you see, they are much smaller than the wild boar more correctly known as the feral pig.  Interestingly enough the javalina is considered by many as the smallest of the North American big game.  

I've stopped shooting them myself because they tend to be flea-infested and unless you get a female or a young one the meat is too gamey and tough.  Camp cooks and people who know how to prepare the meat can tenderize it and cook it so that only a true connoisseur can tell what he is eating.  Also, some people use the meat to prepare chilie for Chilie Cookoffs.  It is really good, just too much trouble to process so I now only hunt the feral hog which is a domesticated hog gone wild.  These are the ones that sometimes cross-bred with the razorbacks or Russian Boars once imported for sports hunting.  

One last note of interest:  A friend of mine hunting on my South Texas property last year reporting shooting a 250 lb. boar.  I haven't seen it yet because its not back from the taxidermist.  He thought it was a javalina, but it has to be a wild boar (since javalina just don't get that big, or do they???).

Last season I spotted a javalina (collared peccary) that seemed to me to be approaching 100 lbs. on the hoof.  It got my attention but thinking it might just be a pregnant (and therefore just over-sized) javalina sow I let it be.  I know it was a javalina because I could see the tell-tale collar and no tail (pigs have tails, javalina do not) but it just seemed too big.  

Too bad I didn't have binoculars and my rifle had a straight 4x scope so I couldn't discern anymore detail.

Happy hunting.

H

NEXT QUESTION:  What is a feral hog called in Spanish.  In South Texas it is called a:  "Marrano salvaje."  That literally means:  'Savage, or wild pig.'   Cerdo also means pig in Spanish but that can be domestic or wild.  Puerco literally means 'pork' and it would not be incorrect to say: Puerco Silvestre to differentiate it from a domestic porker ('silvestre' meaning of the wild like of the forest).  

H

Answer 3

The Javelina's are not truly a hog or what we knows as a member of the swine family. They are a Peccary they live in considerably warmer climates than the wild hogs that we know. They tend to be extremely territorial and smell a lot worse on a good day. They also do not grow nearly as large as wild hogs. I hope this helps.

Answer 4

Actually, wild pigs and Javelinas are totally different animals. They look alot alike, but Javelinas are closer related to rats and other rodents than they are to pigs. They are much smaller than pigs and only get to be 30-50 pounds. South Texas to Arizona are where they're most prominent, so that is probly why you hear that term used so much down there. If your after a 400 pound boar, you be correct by calling them wild pigs.