They Don't Call It Wildlife Ridge for Nothing

I took Nicco to Wildlife Ridge Park to play with a couple buddies and to go on a neighborhood egg hunt. We gathered up his basket, some plastic eggs and m&ms and met our friends for some pre-Easter fun.

Nicco is digging in his basket to make sure there is nothing there, you know, so he will have room to fill it up.

Hunting high and low...

"Helping" the little kids find eggs after he got his share.

Checking out the loot. After the wild hunt, the kiddos went up the hill to play on the playground and the moms stayed in the shade to visit. I looked up and saw this:

From where I was sitting, I couldn't tell what it was. I assumed it was a big dog, but there was no owner in sight. Then when it moved, its shoulders looked like a little bear, but I didn't think that could be. I've never seen a javelina, and I always thought they were smaller than this, but then it popped its head up and sure enough:

It was a big old pig. I ran over to get a picture then froze in my tracks. I asked my friends if it would attack me. They all laughed. I didn't think it was that funny, because I've seen Lost. I've also seen "DANGER: SANGLIER" signs all over in France. Then I found out they were laughing because last year when these ladies had candy filled eggs in the park, a whole herd of javelinas invaded. My friend Stephanie was having none of it. No stinky old pigs were going to steal the children's eggs! She apparently charged into the open space among the pigs yelling and screaming and frightened them all away.

After our little encounter, a bunch of the kids ran to where they saw the javelina disappear into the trees. Some of the bigger boys came back breathless, saying there was a dead bobcat in the wash. A brave mom went to check it out. It was a trash bag.

Now I've seen almost all of the well known desert critters. Only one remains. It shall remain unnamed, because I don't want to summon it.