The dark brown patches of upturned earth were everywhere, marring the usually pristine emerald green turf that covers much of a sprawling luxury golf course in Sedona, Ariz.
But the pockmarked landscape wasn’t the work of overenthusiastic golfers gouging deep divots into the Seven Canyons course. The damage, according to one of the golf course’s employees who has been documenting the destruction online, was caused by some of the southwestern state’s native wildlife: plundering packs of javelina.
The animals’ most recent foray into landscaping was captured in a video shared on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, over the weekend that has since gone viral, amassing more than 27 million views as of Wednesday afternoon.
“We’ve got between 100-150 of them,” the golf course’s employee wrote on X. “Somewhere between 4-5 herds surround the golf course property.”
With a boar-shaped body, short legs, hoofed feet and a piglike snout, javelina could easily be mistaken for swine. But the salt-and-pepper-colored mammal is a collared peccary, a type of hoofed animal that lives in the Desert Southwest, which includes Arizona as well as New Mexico and West Texas. Unlike wild hogs and pigs, which were introduced to the country by European settlers, peccaries evolved in South America before migrating north into the southwestern United States and are considered native to the region, according to the National Park Service. They have been seen eating small animals, but their preferred meals tend to be roots, grasses, seeds and fruits.
The javelina that have been visiting the golf course in Arizona probably are foraging, rutting through fairways and around tees for roots, Vox reported.
On social media, many people are coming to the javelinas’ defense, pointing out that the 200-acre golf course is another example of how human development can reduce wild habitats. The animals’ defenders have signaled their support using the hashtag “#TeamJavelina.”
“Imagine getting upset at a bunch of Round Bois because you decided to make an ecologically dead landscape that wastes water for one of the world’s most boring sport in the middle of a desert,” one user posted on X.
"course" - Google News
October 26, 2023 at 02:35AM
https://ift.tt/YmPTNin
Herd of javelina tears up Arizona golf course - The Washington Post
"course" - Google News
https://ift.tt/l2Oa4eq
https://ift.tt/lspkBQa
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Herd of javelina tears up Arizona golf course - The Washington Post"
Post a Comment