Pigs in Sunol

[mccormac98]

Saw a lone adult female last evening between 7:30 and 7:45 at the Sunol "summit" area. She was chowing down on the wild grasses. This is the first pig I have seen in Sunol since my last posting two or so weeks ago.

She was 200 yards away. I tried a "pig squealer" type of call. I blew it hard and made a high pitched squeal. I then watched closely with my 10x binocs. The sow looked up, moved her head side to side as if she were trying to listen, then went back to munching. I squealed again, this time she moved a step or two in my direction, opened her mouth slightly and listened. Then she went back to munching. I squealed a couple more times ... each time she listened then went back to work. She did not "come a runnin." But it seemed like it got her to drop everything and listen. Could be useful when lining up a shot.

I also tried a grunt call ... but she couldn't hear it. I will try this again when I get a chance with a closer pig.

Bill

 

[Speckmisser]

Bill,

This is just an awesome educational opportunity, man! Very cool.

 

[mccormac98]

Thanks, Speckmisser. Yeah, it is really educational to see the pigs and to try out stuff on them. Plus it is nice to see that the pigs hang out in the same area without running off for several months at a time.

I'm still waiting for that moment when a 600 pound boar responds to my calls by attacking my car. I can just see it ... me unarmed, sitting on the roof of my car, madly text-messaging JHO for reinforcements ...

Bill

 

[Speckmisser]

Originally posted by mccormac98@May 25 2004, 02:23 PM
I'm still waiting for that moment when a 600 pound boar responds to my calls by attacking my car. I can just see it ... me unarmed, sitting on the roof of my car, madly text-messaging JHO for reinforcements ...

The J-HOT (Jesse's Hog Operations Team) will respond immediately!

 

[mccormac98]

LOL!

J-HOT! I like it!

I'm thinkin' 'movie' or 'tv show.'

Bill

 

[superduty]

mccormac98, squeel and grunt away. We got your back man!

 

[mccormac98]

Scene 1: Family trapped in sub-compact car as 600 pound boar

ravages the tires. Dad madly text-message for help.

Boar breaks glass and threatens to rip door off vehicle. Lots of screaming.

Scene 2: J-HOT Team Leader gets the call. He quickly puts out the alarm. Team assembles, loads copius and excessive amounts of weaponry and ammo, then jumps in the suped-up J-HOT "Boar-Runner" pickup truck and hightails it out to the trouble spot.

Scene 3: J-HOT arrives and sees man atop of compact car and a crazy mad boar flinging itself at the car. Lots of screaming. J-HOT team leaps out of the truck and blast away furiously in action reminiscent of the jungle-blasting scene in "Predator."

The scene climaxes when a mortar round blows the boar ten feet into the air.

Scene 4: Family and J-HOT sitting around a campfire eating some really tasty pork. Little girl looks into the camera and says "I know what I want to be when I grow up ... a J-HOT Warrior!"

Music, credits.

 

[mccormac98]

Saw five pigs at 7:30 tonight at the "summit" area. The five consisted of two adult sows, a boar, a juvenille, and a brown piglet. The piglet was about the size of an adult cat - quite a bit bigger than the little squeakers I saw two months back. I hope this one piglet isn't the only survivor of the five I saw then.

I am pretty sure that these are the same pigs that I have been seeing all of these weeks. They have black bodies and white faces.

These guys were feeding in grass on the edge of an "island" of coyote brush that must have measured maybe 40 yards across. This 'island' was on a hillside so I could see its boundaries clearly. It lay about 200 yards from me to the west of Calavaras road.

The brush was only 2 or 3 feet high on average - not high enough you'd think to give great cover. And yet whenever the pigs stepped behind a bush they completely disappeared. You'd think that five pigs would move a branch or two to give themselves away but I saw nothing. And I had my binoculars and was really scouring the brush. It really made me think that you could be standing very near a large group of pigs and never have a clue ...

Bill