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The Warthog. Photo Åke Sjöström © Here we have one of my favourite African animals. The warthog is fun to watch, especially a sow with very young piglets that haven’t learned what to be afraid of. If you get really close without making the sow suspicious the piglets could come within reaching distance because they are very curious. One grunt from the sow and they are all running like crazy with their tails high up in the air, a little bit like a radio controlled car swirling away. They have a bit odd behaviour from time to time that I think comes from their somewhat poor eyesight, they could be grazing along merrily on a meadow when totally out of the blue they decide there is grave danger close by, raise their tails, grunt loudly and run like idiots for 50 meters just to stop, look around and continue grazing. This behaviour seems to be common because when displayed in a heard of other animals like blue Wildebeests or Impala the other animals only reaction seems to be that they stop grazing and have a extra look around before they continue feeding, ignoring the clown of the class. They are in my opinion quite easy to walk & stalk as they have a somewhat poor eyesight and are very noisy when they feed, witch help to cover some of the sound you might make on your approach. On mornings & evenings they are often found on open grassland. During the day they sleep in holes or in a dense bush, so if you are walking around try to scan not only for the big animals far away but also on the ground surrounding you and you will find pigs sleeping here and there. When they move from daylight hiding places to evening grazing they often make so much noise that you could believe that it is a small heard Wildebeests that is moving fast through the brush. When you do stalk them be aware that they move around a lot so keep an arrow on your string because the opportunity cold come and go very quickly. There is no time for fumbling with arrows, fall away rests and string loops when the opportunity opens up. Another thing to be aware of with Warthogs is that if you do stalk another smaller antelope like Impala or Bleesbok and there is Warthogs around be aware of is that the warthogs sometimes get a bit aggressive towards other animals and chase them away. It happened to me after a two hour stalk on a beautiful single Impala male, all I needed was two more steps and I would have a good angle at a shot from 22 meters when a young Warthog male decided that the impala was in his way and chased him away, directly after that he chased a smaller warthog straight into my scent and all my efforts was wasted. Unpredictable is a good word for Warthogs. It is said that the warthog is a formidable string jumper but it have not happened to me. I do believe that a warthog is very alert at a waterhole and the ones I have shot have all been quite relaxed and far from waterholes. The warthog is very good eating as well. If you stay for two weeks or so se if you could get the carcass to a local butcher that could make some “Russians” (a kind of sausage) to barbecue at evenings. I love to eat Russians with mashed potatoes mixed with feta cheese, butter, black pepper and salt. Add a glass of Roodeberg red vine or a Windhoek beer and the meals is perfect to enjoy in the dark African night! Facts.     Horn:   The male generally have bigger tusks and have an extra pair of warts. Tusks average at 25 cm Weight:   Male xxx kilos / xxx pounds, female xxx kilos/xxx pounds Feeds on:   Mostly grass, roots but also eats bugs, birds, eggs and occasionally take a bite at a carcass. Active:   Most active in morning and evening, but it is not unusual with activity any time of day. More activity is seen in midday if the weather is cloudy and not so hot. Name in Africaans:   Wlaakvark. Latin name:   Phacochoerus aethiopicus Gestation Period:   3 months No of Young:   1 - 8 piglets Sexual Maturity:   18 months Birth Weight:   600 g Running Speed:   40 km/h Breeding:   September - December.