Javelina feed on tubers and some pieces of bread spread in Picture Rocks.
Q: I am having trouble with javelina getting into my plantings. Is there anything a gardener can do to protect their plots?
A:Β Javelina can nibble plants or destroy plantings while foraging for roots, depending on what they want to eat and what is available in their environment. Often they forage for prickly pear cactus, mesquite beans and agaves but they will also eat a variety of native or cultivated vines, grasses, legumes, other cacti and succulents. Other times they can dig up entire vegetable gardens and eat entire plants. If pressed, they may also eat lizards and birds.
One of my colleagues published a list of resistant plants at http://extension.arizona.edu/sites/extension.arizona.edu/files/pubs/az1238.pdf
Lists like this are to be taken with a grain of salt because these animals will feed on a wide variety of plants and will eat most anything if the choices are few, especially in times of drought since they get their necessary water from plants.
Javelina can reproduce any time of year, they live in groups and they tend to forage in the cool part of the day. At my office, where we have extensive demonstration gardens, they are usually seen after dusk. They can be seen napping in a shady spot when itβs hot. They are dangerous to approach and can bite when challenged. The only proven way to protect plants is to exclude them with fencing.
