most entirely on prickly pear cactus. 
Lyle Sowls, leader of the Arizona Co- 
operative Wildlife Research Unit, has 
shown that captive peccaries can sur- 
vive for several months on prickly pear 
alone but that they eventually dete- 
riorate on such a diet. The plant is 
important for the animals because it 
sustains them through the lean winter 
period. The pads, or cladophylls, of 
the prickly pear cactus, with their long 
spikes and tufts of spines, do not seem 
to be inviting food items, yet the pec- 
caries, with apparent disregard for the 
spines, attack them with impunity. Oc- 
casionally, individuals will worry a pod 
loose from the plant, then paw at it 
as if to break off some spines. More 
frequently, they simply approach a 
plant and bite directly into it. 
In the herd I was observing, feeding 
animals remained close together and 
often several individuals fed side by 
side from the same plant. Occasion- 
ally, squabbles broke out when one 
animal approached and began to feed 
next to another, but more frequently 
the animals simply fed together peace- 
ably. In many instances, two animals 
were able to approach and feed so 
close to each other that their snouts 
almost touched. Juveniles, in particu- 
lar, were able to approach adults and 
feed mouth to mouth with them. Ju- 
veniles even snatched food dangling 
out of the mouth of an adult without 
suffering retribution. 
After a bout of intensive feeding, 
the herd began to travel rapidly in 
a particular direction, with animals 
feeding in a more choosy and desultory 
fashion. Moving and feeding contin- 
ued until between 10:30 and 11:00 
a.m., by which time the herd had trav- 
eled approximately a half mile from 
where it started and was nearing an- 
other bed-ground. As is often the case, 
this site was surrounded by a radiating 
network of trails, and when the ani- 
mals encountered a trail, they quickly 
moved onto it and walked steadily to- 
ward the bed-ground. 
As the animals entered the bed- 
ground a striking event took place: 
Two peccaries perform a ", mutual 
rub." Each rubs its head over the 
other’s dorsal gland. The scent 
of the gland’s oily secretion 
may aid in judging distance 
between herd members. 
all herd members began to play in 
a wild and comic manner. Such play 
bouts are frequently started by juve- 
niles, but most adults participate in 
them. Mutual chasing around a bush 
and one peccary flopping on the 
ground to mock bite with a partner 
standing over it were particularly com- 
mon. My favprite play action involved 
one animal running full-tilt downhill 
toward another lying flopped on its 
back; the two would clamp jaws, and 
the running peccary’s momentum 
would carry it sailing over the other, 
rotating in a slow arc, like a diver 
in layout position, until it crashed 
heavily on its side. As is true of their 
social behavior in general, peccaries 
show great behavioral diversity while 
playing. Play bouts lasted about fif- 
teen minutes, and juveniles tended to 
play longer than adults. Eventually, 
all animals reclined close together, 
many lying side by side. 
The herd rested for several hours. 
Individuals got up and fed briefly or 
changed places to recline next to an- 
other herd member or moved in and 
out of the sun to keep comfortable. 
Much quiet, amicable behavior, in- 
cluding sniffing, nuzzling, and lying 
in close contact, could be observed 
Jerry Day 
64 
