Qualified golfers may know how to skillfully navigate the puzzle of sand traps presented throughout a course, but somewhere “between 100 and 150” javelin seemed determined to increase the level of difficulty on the green by ripping up and demolishing the neatly mowed grass of a golf course at Arizona.
Em Casey, the deputy superintendent of Seven Canyons Golf Club in Sedona, shared a video on
“What should be one of the finest golf courses in the country is being destroyed by herds of javelinas,” Casey wrote online.
The once clean and tidy grass was ruffled and torn. Casey said the golf course was sprayed for grubs in August, which are a typical food source for herbivores, and he imagines the animals are digging for earthworms.
Not everyone online was sympathetic to the problem Casey and other staff members are facing. One person suggested that javelinas could not be responsible for the damage and insisted that the real problem was feral pigs. Javeline, also known as peccaryresemble pigs but are actually a different species of mammal and are native to American Southwest.
But Casey said she was there to witness it.
“It’s 100% javelina,” Casey wrote. “We have between 100 and 150. Somewhere between 4 and 5 herds surround the golf course property.
The animals are protected in Arizona, meaning the golf course cannot shoot or hunt the creatures, and Casey said they are working with the state Fish and Game Department to “find a non-lethal solution.
According to Casey, javelina disrupts the golf course every fall, but this year the situation was more serious than in previous years. Earlier this month, Casey said the team sprayed part of the green with a million units of Scoville chili oil to try to deter the hungry creatures from burrowing in the dirt. She said the team spent between 45 to 50 hours a week repairing the damage to the javelin.
The Internet has long been a resource to turn to when wild pigs, or pig-like creatures, run rampant in lands that humans would prefer to keep to themselves. The incident is reminiscent of the 2019 post on total. field day online and a myriad of think about the pieces on the subject.
In fact, the very user who started the national conversation about feral hogs was quick to repost the video of Casey assessing the damage to the course. How the golf course problem will ultimately be resolved depends on the staff, the government officials and the 100 to 150 javelins.
