{"id":26522,"date":"2024-08-16T14:28:56","date_gmt":"2024-08-16T18:28:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=26522"},"modified":"2024-08-16T14:31:26","modified_gmt":"2024-08-16T18:31:26","slug":"episode-1096-memorial-the-peccary-attack-in-1945-memory-of-eric-skeoch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=26522","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 1096: memorial ; THE PECCARY ATTACK IN 1945: MEMORY OF ERIC SKEOCH"},"content":{"rendered":"
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EPISODE 1096:  memorial ; THE PECCARY ATTACK IN 1945: MEMORY OF ERIC SKEOCH (and Icing on the cake)<\/div>\n

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ALAN skeoch<\/div>\n
August 16, 2024<\/div>\n

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On August 4, 2024, my brother Eric died of lung cancer.  We were<\/div>\n
very close never really angry with each other except when I stole the<\/div>\n
icing from a piece  of cake in our tiny home kitchen<\/div>\n

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Stealing the icing took a little planning such making sure I could make<\/div>\n
 a clean getaway with the icing through the stairway door to the<\/div>\n
backyard.  All seemed ready.   Grabbed the neatly scalped icing top<\/div>\n
of the cake and hot footed it to the stairway door.<\/div>\n

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I did not escape.  The door was locked. Eric had a plan.  He had locked the door.  <\/div>\n
No escape. And  he grabbed the icing back.    One punch. The punch did not hurt because<\/div>\n
he was laughing too much<\/div>\n

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We laughed a lot together\u2026all four of us.  Mom, Dad, Eric and me\u2026<\/div>\n
three children with mom as leader.  Dad was the third kid.  Why?   Because he had a habit of getting into<\/div>\n
trouble. He called mom \u201cMethusala\u201d, shortened to \u201cMethoos\u201d, Eric asked dad why. <\/div>\n
\u201cBecause she is older than me\u2026Methusala is the oldest person in the Bible. He only called her Elsie <\/div>\n
in times of crisis.  \u201cElsie, could you lend me $20 for a new shirt\u201d which was a lie. The horses<\/div>\n
were running at Dufferin Park.<\/div>\n

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\u201cBoys, your job today is to gather up discarded tickets under the ring at Dufferin.\u2019<\/div>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cSome damn fool may drop a good one\u2026bring them to me.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t pick any wth spit or tobacco juice on them.”<\/div>\n

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So many rich memories of our lives together\u2026.as if Eric and I were twins.<\/div>\n

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THE DAY WE WERE ATTACKED BY SQUADRON OF PECCARIES<\/div>\n

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\"Javelina<\/p>\n
\"Javelina<\/picture><\/figure>\n

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\"\"<\/p>\n
\"Javelina<\/picture><\/figure>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n


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PECARRY INCIDENT<\/div>\n
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Take the Pecary incidet IN 1945 at High Park\u2026or was it 1946\u2026no matter. <\/div>\n
The park was a wilderness back then.  Less Maintenance in the war years.<\/div>\n
I was seven, Eric was 5 or 6.  mom had asked dad to take us over to High Park.<\/div>\n
a huge chunk of land deeded to the City of Toronto<\/div>\n
Four hundred acres,,,a zoo in the middle of the park … pens rising from the road<\/div>\n
to the top of a valley.  Lots of animals back then.  The zoo still exists today<\/div>\n
bu far fewer animals.   Perhaps the drop in enclosed animals was<\/div>\n
caused by  \u201cThe Peccary Incident\u201d<\/div>\n

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\u201cDad, where are all the wild pigs?<\/div>\n
\u201cProbably hiding in the barn just to get away from you two \u201c<\/div>\n
\u201cThey are not here.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cThen they must be at the top of the hill\u2026hiding.  Wild pigs<\/div>\n
live in herds.  Where their leader goes the rest follow\u2026so they<\/div>\n
must all be hiding under the trees at the top \u201c<\/div>\n
\u201cThen we won\u2019t  see them.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cFollow me Boys\u2026I know were those little pigs are hiding\u2026. <\/div>\n
\u201d <\/div>\n
    So we back tracked and climbed up behind the caged fence<\/div>\n
\u201cThere they are\u2026the whole squadron, must be 20 or 30 of them.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cDad, look here, the pigs have dug a big hole under the fence.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cThe creatures can get out !\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cGET  OUT…hey are not pigs\u2026called peccaries\u2026wild and can be vicious\u2026teeth<\/div>\n
as sharp as razer blades.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cDad .. they are coming towards us\u2026squealing.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cRun Alan, I\u2019ll grab Eric under my arm and try to kick the pigs\u2026Run like hell, Alan\u201d<\/div>\n

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    By this time the whole squadron or peccaries were under the fence and<\/div>\n
chasing us.  I ran but glanced back. impossible for me to ever forget the sight.<\/div>\n
Dad kicking at the peccaries, swearing, running\u2026with  Eric under his arm<\/div>\n
and 20 or 30  peccaries at Dad\u2019s heels.   I was scared and I think dad<\/div>\n
was scared. Eric was safe in his arms but he dare not put him<\/div>\n
down or these wild pigs might get him.  Suppose Dad fell\u2026would the wild<\/div>\n
pigs eat Dad and Eric?   I thought so and ran faster.  Dad was yelling obscenities at <\/div>\n
the peccaries.  Trying to surround him.<\/div>\n

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We escaped.  No memory of the peccaries beyond running and yelling.<\/div>\n
 I think the park rangers rounded up the peccaries and herded<\/div>\n
them back to the fence.  There is no record of the peccaries living in<\/div>\n
the High Park zoo.  What happened to them?<\/div>\n

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Does anyone remember the High Park peccaries?  What happened to them?<\/div>\n
Were they moved to the Toronto zoo?   Was anyone else chased by a squadron<\/div>\n
of High Park peccaries in the 1940\u2019s?   We cannot be the only victims.<\/div>\n

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PECCARIES<\/div>\n

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FACTS:<\/div>\n

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1) PECCARIES are territorial and are only dangerous if humans enter their territory<\/div>\n
 as we did in 1945<\/div>\n
2) Peccaries come in three kinds \u2026 recently a fourth kind was discovered in the brazilian<\/div>\n
jungle\u2026.a giant peccary about the size of an adult pig.<\/div>\n
3) Peccary population has mysterious;u plummetted \u2026 perhaps this is a natural<\/div>\n
response to overpopulation but no one knows exactly why.<\/div>\n
4) Peccaries are wild creatures.  They do not make good pets.<\/div>\n
5) Peccaries carry diseases.which makes a peccary bite very dangerous to humans<\/div>\n
(i.e. rabies)<\/div>\n
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Peccaries<\/b> (also javelinas<\/b> or skunk pigs<\/b>) are pig<\/a>-like ungulates<\/a> of the family Tayassuidae<\/b>(New World pigs). They are found throughout Central<\/a> and South America<\/a>, Trinidad<\/a> in the Caribbean<\/a>, and in the southwestern<\/a> area of North America<\/a>. Peccaries usually measure between 90 and 130 cm (2 ft 11 in and 4 ft 3 in) in length, and a full-grown adult usually weighs about 20 to 40 kg (44 to 88 lb). They represent the closest relatives of the family Suidae<\/a>, which contains pigs and relatives. Together Tayassuidae and Suidae are grouped in the suborder Suina<\/a> within the order Artiodactyla<\/a> (even-toed ungulates<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Peccaries are social creatures that live in herds. They are omnivores<\/a> and eat roots, grubs, and a variety of other foods. They can identify each other by their strong odors. A group of peccaries that travel and live together is called a squadron. A squadron of peccaries averages between six and nine members.[<\/span>1]<\/span><\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Peccaries first appeared in North America during the Miocene<\/a> and migrated into South America during the Pliocene<\/a>\u2013Pleistocene<\/a> as part of the Great American Interchange<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They are often confused[<\/span>2]<\/span><\/a><\/sup> with feral domestic pigs<\/a>, commonly known as “razorback” hogs in many parts of the United States,[<\/span>3]<\/span><\/a><\/sup> when the two occur in the wild in similar ranges<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Maya<\/a> kept herds of peccaries, using them in rituals and for food.[<\/span>4]<\/span><\/a><\/sup> They are kept as pets in many countries in addition to being raised on farms<\/a> as a source of food.[<\/span>5]<\/span><\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Can peccaries be tamed?<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Peccaries are similar to domestic pigs only they cannot be tamed due to their aggressive nature and are likely to cause injury or kill humans. The word javelina is a Spanish word meaning \u2018javelin\u2019 or \u2018spear\u2019 as they have razor sharp tusks. Peccaries are not members of the rodent family or the pig family.<\/div>\n

    <\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    EPISODE 1096:  memorial ; THE PECCARY ATTACK IN 1945: MEMORY OF ERIC SKEOCH (and Icing on the cake) ALAN skeoch August 16, 2024 On August 4, 2024, my brother Eric died of lung cancer.  We were very close never really angry with each other except when I stole the icing from a piece  of cake […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26522\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}