It's not uncommon to see javelina around here that are between 20 and 30 inches tall. They are much smaller than full-grown domestic pigs or their ancestors, but they are a lot bigger than a cocker spaniel. There are lots of scrub oak here and I guess javelina grow quickly eating their acorns. The javelina is a protected species here in Arizona, so if a herd of them eats your entire potato crop, all you are legally allowed to do to them is yell just loudly enough that you don't disturb the neighbors.

Sounds like a carpet shark (choose your definition) won't be of much use to me. So I guess I need to look for a badger.

The wild boars we have are much bigger than my labrador retrievers. One of my dogs started chasing one and it's a good thing I saw it and called her back. That boar, with its tusks, could do some damage to my dog. It was easily double the weight of my dog. It is unusual to see one in the daytime.

Most of the feral hogs I see around here mature to about 250lbs and are definitely a threat to dogs. We had a problem with them destroying our pastures a couple of years ago - until our Great Danes killed one. They have not been back since, but I'm sure they will be eventually. Javalinas are not as plentiful locally and are probably nearer to 100lbs when full grown.

I wonder if, when I saw those as a kid, that was a nest of piglets or if they're just tiny due to lack of food. I don't think I'd wanna go against a 250lb wild boar, that's for sure! When my parents decided that they wanted to raise some piggies, my father & I went to a mini-ranch in the mountains where we lived & chose a couple of piglets. One of the hands distracted the sow & told me to jump in there, grab a piglet, and toss it over the fence as they couldn't separate the sow from her babies. So, he poked her (she had to weigh in close to 300lbs, seriously) with a board and I jumped over the fence & made a dash for a piglet. Grabbed one of them by the leg & tossed backwards like a football (tossin' the ol' pigskin?). Anyways, the piglet squealed (understandably) and that enraged the sow. Holy crap, I never have moved so fast in my life! I literally jumped over the 6 ft fence in 1 leap and nearly lost my shoe as she'd bit down on my foot! My father clobbered her with a 2x4, but that didn't slow her down. Had to wait about 1/2 an hour for her to calm down before I could do it again for the 2nd piggie. Luckily I grabbed 2 boars (which is what my father wanted) the first try. And since I got to risk my life to get the piglets, I got to name them: Bacon & PorkChop. We kept them for about 6 months, getting them in April & having them slaughtered in October. Bacon dressed out at over 210lbs and PorkChop was about 180lbs, all lean meat. The butcher warned us to cook these piggies slow & over a low fire 'cuz there was very little fat on them. They were good piggies, but damn did they taste better! We had so much pork... our 2 freezers were full (which is good because Father didn't get a deer or an elk that year) for EVER it seemed like!

I'd say you used up 2 of your 9 lives on that escapade.