A baby javalina was lost on the ranch. In Arizona, cattle ranches are very large. Our ranch was one of the smaller ones, only five and a half sections (each section is a mile square). My husband and I were driving the pickup to a spot about three miles from home to check the water tank. We reached it and the tank was full, but then we saw a small creature running back and forth, to the tank and back to the mesquite tree and back again.

It was a baby javalina, and it had gotten lost from its mama and the rest of the herd. It was getting dark. We drove around in all directions from the water tank, but there was no sign of the rest of the herd. Soon it would be quite dark and this baby was very small.

Grabbing a feedsack, my husband flipped it over the little one and scooped it up into the bed of the pickup. When we got home, we put her in the saddle shed. That should be a safe place for the night.

We slipped out several times to peak through a crack. The little animal was not happy. She ran from one side to the other, sometimes banging her head into the wood walls (not enough to hurt herself). We made sure she had water. I was worried that she was so agitated. Even baby javalinas have very sharp teeth. We didn’t try to handle her any more than necessary.

Next morning, we loaded the small javalina into the pickup and headed back to the ranch. “Can we keep it?” my eight-year-old son asked?

“No,” I answered. “This is a wild animal. I know some people have made pets out of them, but ranchers know better. She needs to be with her mother and the rest of her herd family.”

We arrived at the water tank at a lucky time. We could just see the herd of javalinas disappearing down the path between the cacti and mesquite trees. Quickly, we put the baby down on the ground. She put her nose up in the air and sniffed, then started running toward the path, following the herd.

I felt certain the baby would catch up with her mama. If we had left her yesterday evening, she would have run around and probably gotten lost. Now she was back where she was supposed to be.