Running into wildlife...

On the 4th of July, we went and hung out with our neighbors, Jose and Maria. They both work for the prison, Maria is a doctor there, and to be honest I can't remember what Jose's role is. They shared a lot of stories about working there and the stresses of it, not to mention the horrible stories of things that they actually encounter on regular basis. People making alcohol with fermented fruits and becoming really violent when they are drunk, people making weapons by sharpening toothbrush handles, etc. Pretty scary stuff. After chatting away for a few hours, we said we needed to head home because I needed to wake up early to go running. At that note, Jose perked up and said he likes to run and could he join me?

Fast forward now to July 5th at 6:30am... Jose and I meet outside to go for our run. About 1/2 way in, we turn onto Old Spanish Trail, a beautiful road with great mountain views and a pedestrian path. We decide whether or not to actually cross the street to run on the path, or just stay on the side we were on going against traffic...we decide to stay where we are since we wouldn't be on the road for too long. About 15 seconds later, we hear what sounds like a herd of elephants on the path...and look up to see...a herd of javelinas! I didn't have my camera with me, but here is a google image of what a javelina looks like...


They are basically wild pigs. I'm not too sure how safe or dangerous they are in general toward humans. A friend of ours got in between a mother and her young one time and got totally mobbed over, but that happens a lot in wildlife when a mother is trying to protect her kiddos. Needless to say I'm glad we stayed on the side we were on where we could enjoy watching them moving about.

This past Monday night we pulled into our driveway after our salsa lesson, and spotted a HUGE tarantula next to our garage! I've only seen one tarantula before, but Ryan has seen many and claims this to be the largest one he's ever seen. Despite how they are often depicted in the movies and whatnot, they are very slow and gentle creatures. Ryan's family has some well-circulated photos of his dad putting them on his face, shirt, etc...we weren't feeling quite that brave in our observations on Monday night though.