140 HUNTING THE GRISLY. 



a few shiftless Texans went into the business 

 of hunting them as a means of livelihood. 

 They were more easily killed than deer, and, 

 as a result, they were speedily exterminated 

 in many localities where they had formerly 

 been numerous, and even where they were 

 left were to be found only in greatly dimin- 

 ished numbers. On this particular Frio 

 ranch the last little band had been killed 

 nearly a year before. There were three of 

 them, a boar and two sows, and a couple of 

 the cowboys stumbled on them early one 

 morning while out with a dog. After half a 

 mile's chase the three peccaries ran into a 

 hollow pecan tree, and one of the cowboys, 

 dismounting, improvised a lance by tying his 

 knife to the end of a pole, and killed them 

 all. 



Many anecdotes were related to me of what 

 they had done in the old days when they were 

 plentiful on the ranch. They were then 

 usually found in parties of from twenty to 

 thirty, feeding in the dense chaparral, the 

 sows rejoining the herd with the young very 

 soon after the birth of the latter, each sow 

 usually having but one or two at a litter. At 

 night they sometimes lay in the thickest 

 cover, but always, where possible, preferred 

 to house in a cave or big hollow log, one in- 

 variably remaining as a sentinel close to the 

 mouth, looking out. If this sentinel were shot, 

 another would almost certainly take his place. 

 They were subject to freaks of stupidity, and 

 were pugnacious to a degree. Not only would 



