Readers’ wildlife photos

When I last showed photos of my beloved warthog Ozymandias (“Ozy” for short), reader Ant produced this new version of Shelley’s poem “Ozymandias,” the source of the pig’s name.

My name is Ozymandias, Pig of Pigs.
Look on on my Warts, ye Mighty, and despair!

Ozy is a common warthog (Phacochoerus africanus), but he’s anything but common. He lives in a wildlife region near Kruger National Park in South Africa, and runs with a group of other pigs who have managed, via burrowing under the surrounding fence, to get near the local houses where they forage for veggies and grass.

Ozy, whom reader Rosemary (who took these photos) calls a “truck with tusks”, is a very large pig who spends his time driving other pigs away, especially when he’s eating. (Ozy is the uber-alpha male, and no pig dares stand up to him.)

He’s also very amorous, though females are afraid of him because of his size. There’s a photos of his testicles and tail below, and sometimes he walks around sometimes with his penis dangling, an appendage shaped like a corkscrew  (see also here).  That shape, also seen in ducks, may be the result of antagonistic sexual selection, with females evolving a twisted vagina to enable them to control which males get access to their eggs. (It’s thought to be a “genital arms race,” and may apply in warthogs and other pigs as well).

Ozy is somewhat friendly, though you don’t want to get near him because of his four razor-sharp tusks, which can slice you open. He does like his head scratched with a stick, but only when he’s eating.

Rosemary is helping me take care of Ozy’s well being, though we’re concerned about a slight limp he has in his right front leg. He may be an old pig with arthritis, but we try to make his golden years as good as possible.

I’m providing an update today with photos of Ozy taken in the last couple of days.

Isn’t he lovely?  Males have four warts on their head, females two.

After eating, Ozy often takes a nap on his side, like this.  He’s usually covered with mud, which helps keep the pigs cool in the African heat. Ozy and the other pigs also have their own little bathtub for soaking; you can see a picture in the last post.

Nothing is sweeter than a warthog at rest!

Ozy wakes up, thinking it might be time for a bath. I will see him when I visit South Africa in August.

Ozy’s caboose. You can see his thin tail (always held vertically in warthogs when they’re running), and his testicles, as well as his thick coat of bristles and a layer of mud.