Thursday, September 18, 2008

Hog Hunting in Louisiana

Yes, I'm hyperventilating about getting this book finished on time, and I'm scheduled to give a keynote address at a luncheon on Saturday up in Baton Rouge, and my sister's coming for a ten day visit in a week, and I still haven't put away any of the stuff I packed up when we evacuated for Hurricane Gustav, and I'm supposed to fly up to Maryland in three weeks, but... I wanted to share this photo of an alligator catching his dinner on Highway 51, which is a road that runs near my, ahem, lake house. Hopefully I'm not violating anyone's copyright here since it came to me by email, but here it is...

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15 comments:

AvDB said...

Will you be in Maryland promoting your work? I only ask because I live there (here).

Steve Malley said...

Jiminy Jillickers!!

Yet another reason I'm happy to call New Zealand home...

Barbara Martin said...

I ditto Steve's comment.

But notice, there is a piece missing from the end of the alligator's tail.

It is difficult to see whether the hog is a farm hog or a wild hog.

Barbara Martin said...

I took a closer look at the hog and it is sporting a good set of tusks which farm hogs do not have as a rule.

It would have been a shame had it been some farmer's bacon or pork chop hog (different breeds are better for bacon or pork chops/roasts).

Further, there are indentations on the alligator's side just above it's left hind leg so he's a tad hungry.

cs harris said...

Avery, I'll be attending Bouchercon. I just looked on my website to get the details, and see that my webperson left it off. Ooops! I'll look it up when I can breathe and get it posted.

Steve, yes, New Zealand is a WONDERFUL place to call home.

Barbara, it is a wild hog. They're a real problem around here. And goodness but you are observant! Do you raise hogs?

Charles Gramlich said...

yes, I noticed that piece missing from the gator's tail too. Means there must be a bigger one out there. I hope he likes pork and not Long Pig.

About Us said...

I'll stick to waiting for geese to cross the road!

Sustenance Scout said...

YIKES, reminds me of the James Carville quote about either eating gators or being eaten by them.

So glad you're home and best wishes for an end to the deadline madness, Candy! Here's to a much more relaxing October for you, K.

cs harris said...

Charles, I suspect he'd go for Long Pig if he could get it.

J, thanks for stopping by!

K, I'm afraid October is going to be almost as bad, with three public appearances scheduled plus my next Sebastian book--already under a time squeeze--to write.

Barbara Martin said...

Being observant is a quirk of mine.

The reason I know about hogs comes from an incident back in my college days (1973) where I was taking some extra credit courses in law enforcement and at a time where PIG was a substitute name for a policeman. I found a badge to sew onto a jacket sleeve: "Pigs Is Beautiful", with a cute pink pig. The intent had been to provoke comments without actually saying anything. It backfired where I received not only sarcastic comments, but threats too. I took pains to learn about the different breeds of hogs and their meat production purpose to feign a different meaning of the badge. One of the things I recall about Yorkshire hogs (big white ones with large floppy ears): they are a multi-purpose hog raised for bacon and roasts.

Shauna Roberts said...

What an immense gator. Nice to know at least one has escaped hunters for a very long time. Make that two, given his tail tip's been bitten off.

Anonymous said...

Candy,
I apologize, but I must correct something about this picture of your Louisiana alligator.
1. It's a African Crocodile.
2. It has in it's mouth a Warthog. They both reside somewhere on the continent of Africa.
Please, do not believe every picture and what people write about said picture when they email it to you. Research, research, research. Steve, Barbara, CS, Charles and Shauna clearly believe your story. Your blog is wonderful and rightly deserves the truth at all costs. Make it right with everyone, Please. Thank you.

Shauna Roberts said...

Anonymous, look at the head. Although it's hard to see properly, given the angle of the photograph, the snout appears the be the stubbier, broader snout of an alligator, not the longer snout of a crocodile. On what features do you base your identification of this as a croc?

Anonymous said...

The front snout... see the indentions where the bottom teeth come up on the outside? Also, definitely a warthog, not a wild boar or razorback pig.. tusks are very different than on this warthog. An alligator this size would be practically black, not greenish or speckled. One thing further.. this is not Hwy 51 in LA. There is no "brush" along 51, only swamp.

phynel said...

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