PECCARY (probably from the South Ameri can Indian name). A small wild hog of the warmer parts of America, two species of which, of the genus Dicotyles, represent the swine 1Sublw) in the New World, or. in the view of some. constitute a separate family Dicotylid:e. They differ from typical swine in having a mere tubercle instead of a tail; no external toe on the hind feet : and the tusks short and not curved outward. A gland opening on the loins near the tail secretes a fetid humor, and must be cut out at once after killing a peeeary, the flesh will be tainted. The common collared peccary or tajacit (Dirotyles torguatus) is found in almost all parts of South America and north through Mexico to Texas and Arkansas; the white-lipped peccary (Dieotyles lubintus) lives in Guiana, _Brazil, Paraguay. and Peru. Both species are gregarious, the white-lipped peccary often as sembling in very large herds. and sometimes do ing great mischief to maize and other crops, \mall are attacked at night, when the animals do all their feeding. The common peccary chiefly frequents forests. and small companies sometimes take up their abode in the hollow of a great tree.
II is about. the size of a small hog, grayish, bristly, and maned. A narrow white collar en circles the neck. The white-lipped peccary is considerably larger, of a darker color, with con spicuously white lips. Both species are capable of being tamed, but are of irritable and uncertain temper. In a wild state they defend themselves vigorously against assailants, making good use of their sharp tusks, a whole herd combining for defense. Their most dreaded enemy is the jaguar, or in the north the puma, which seizes one when it can be caught alone, but hurries into a tree to escape the onslaught of a herd. Human hunters have less to fear from them, judging by the Texas examples, than old stories would indicate. They are omnivorous, and, if hurtful to crops, render service by destroying reptiles. Their voice is somewhat like that of the hog, but more sharp. Their flesh is inferior to domestic pork. Consult: Alston, Biologia Americana Centreli: Ma Juntals (London, 1879) ; Audubon and Bachman, Quad , upeds of North America (New York, 1841).