Any day at dusk here in the Chihuahuan Desert or the Davis Mountains one sees families of Javelinas , called squadrons , looking like grey , hairy tanks on spindly stilts , scooting across the desert between the prickly pear cactus and the scrubby mesquite clumps . These strange looking beasties are among the longest surviving species of mammal on the earth . The earliest examples found lived during the Eocene period some 37 million years ago . The collared peccary ( Tayassu tajacu ), known in Big Bend as the Javelina , has managed to survive , adapt and continue to populate the deserts of the Americas from the southwestern United States to as far south as

Argentina . They live together in family groups of between eight and fifteen , headed by the biggest , strongest male . As a group they mark and defend their territory .

Sometimes javelinas are called skunk pigs or musk hogs because of their strong scent . But don ’ t go worrying about it being some kind of handicap , because for the Javier and Lena family it is a signature perfume .

Javelina have very poor eyesight and use their sense of smell to identify each other . They rub up against each other , creating an individualized family perfume . If a wily stranger tries to enter the area , their nose reveals the interloper even from a good distance . A javelina ’ s sense of smell rivels any bloodhound on the trail . Their first defense against predators is to smell them coming ; suddenly the entire family is off and running at up to 38 or 40 miles per hour . If necessary , the adults will attack an enemy and although the are good fighters with strong bodies and vicious teeth and jaws , a head-on fight is always the last resort .

An adult male can weigh up to 78 pounds but 60 to 65 is average , females are between 44 and 65 pounds . They are fully adult in about a year . Mothers separate themselves from the family and set up a small nursery territory where the males are not allowed for the first few weeks of