Jabali

For this holiday in Spain I planned on continuing with my new running program, and I have done very well with it considering the rainy weather (that great PR line about...”There are 360 days of sunshine in Las Negras”...is total bunk!!!!). Prior to leaving the states I asked Tom what crazy wildlife I needed to be aware of before I set out running in the desert of the Natural Park. I asked this because I had heard of people in the states (mainly on the west coast) setting out for a seemingly routine run or walk in a remote place when they were suddenly drug into the brush by that stray (and obviously very hungry) mountain lion; I didn't want to be one of those causalities.......
Tom responded by saying the only potentially dangerous animal he'd heard of were the wild boar (or jabali, as they're called here in Spain), but...they were only dangerous when they had young ones or if they were cornered and in all of his nine years of living here, he'd never seen one.
I was also a little concerned about scorpions and poisonous snakes but Carlos said they were sleeping this time of year. Great! Runs in the desert and working in the garden would come without any trouble.

Needless to say we've had many walks (and runs!) in the park both far from and near roads and civilization, and we have yet to see any of these beasts (although a rather curiously patterned green, black and silver snake was squished in the road last week, hmmmm.....?).
These jabali however, have recently piqued my interest. While walking through the wilderness, I have been looking more closely in all of the ravines and canyons- since those are the places there is cover (small palms, shrubs and tall grasses) as well as water and mud---always a pig's favorite! But we've seen nothing! Nada!
After more then a month of this, we were talking with our friends Antonio and Manolo about my obsession, when they told me that Antonio and their boxer Moss (as in Kate) had come across a few jabali just the day before! He said he was startled when three of them darted from under some brush and took off running in three directions down the hill; Moss took off in hot pursuit but was not able to catch one. I have since come to learn that was probably a good thing.......

Being raised on a farm I know what a pig is all about....some can be huge and mean but for the most part they aren't too scary. I've also seen the wild pigs in Florida that graze along the runway as your plane is trying to take off, these are smaller (at least from the seat in the plane they look that way) with short hair. The jabali are very different.....

Recently, I let me buddy Ramon know about my intense need to not only see a jabali, but after hearing how good they were on the BBQ, my even bigger obsession to EAT one! Ramon is the guy to tell these things to, he knows everybody! So, for the past couple of weeks he's been making phone call after phone call trying to find a farmer or a friend of a farmer or a farmer's cousin's friend's mother.....that may have a couple in their barn. Not sure how legal this is as they might be protected but it seems there are a number of farmers that house a few of these animals. The problem has been this....we're always a few days short of a sighting as the farmers have been eating them too!
Well, as luck would have it, Ramon struck gold yesterday! After a few, long, rain soaked days, the clouds parted as we drove through the maze of invernaderos and found a farmer waiting to show us his jabali. It was like a sign from god! I was finally meant to meet one of these creatures!

Let me tell you this....they are a bit scary! The most surprising thing was how hairy they were. I would guess their coats were a good 4 or more inches in length and thick, like bear fur, and they were an all over agouti color. Their ears were upright and very furry! Another surprising thing was their shape....their profile, with their heads down, was similar to a bison with their tallest point measuring at the top of their shoulders. From this spot, their short backs and rumps slopped in a continuous line to the base of their tail which was shaggy and hung straight to the top of their hocks. They were very funky looking creatures that almost reminded me of a werewolf! And the reason I think it was a good thing that Moss didn't tangle with one......these things are big! The shoulder of the male jabali was a good 4 ft tall and he weighed about 180-200 lbs.....he'd have torn her up!
Even though they were a bit scary, I did found them a touch endearing...I think it was the furry ears.
However! I'm still not above eating one!
So with that said, we have asked a fabulous restaurant, El Albir, (introduced to us by Ramon-gotta love this guy!) to cook some for us and they have agreed! Next Tuesday, with only 36 hours left in Spain, Antonio, Manolo, Christopher and I will dine on the loin and fillet of jabali....although not the one I met......

(These photos show the progression of the pig....from top to bottom: domestic, feral, jabali.)