ONE FLEW OVER THE CAR BONNET!

     The most romantic animal, for me  here, are the wild boar or jabali in Spanish,
(sus scrota) oh those latin names again!

     They are a thrill to see, having been hunted to extinction in our home land.
We have only read about them in history books and comics. (One cannot say that one
has lived in the outback of Spain untill one has encountered a WILD JABALI )

     There used to be a pair of them, kept in a park in Huercal-Overa.They were very hairy
and grey, rather short in the body but huge in the head and sporting magnificent tusks.
These tusks are actually adapted canine teeth,
curving upwards from the lower jaw and downwards from the upper, passing each other
with razor sharp precision.

     l have often seen there footprints in the orange groves, also where they have torn up
the ground, in their search for roots ect:. They often, in dry weather, break the irrigation
systems in their thirst for water. For this they pay a mortal price. Many a fat farmer has
rubbed his belly and rolled his eyes at the thought of roast jabali.

     All my friends and neighbours have told me  of sightings, up mountains, in the orange
groves, down by the dry river, trampling cabbage patches, tearing  up potatoes, mashed
up on motorways and even cooling off in swimming pools. Sometimes  single and sometimes in family groups, a mum and half a dozen or more stripy babies.

     l was beginning to feel left out untill one evening, just as the sun was setting. l was
driving out of our local village when, one flew over the car bonnet! l was thrilled and
screamed with joy. My daughter and granddaughter, who had not seen it, wondered
what ever was wrong! It was a timeless moment, l still see the image now as it took a
flying leap right over the car.

   What struck me most was its deep earthy ginger colour. It wasn't  untill sometime later
that l found out why. l was out exploring one day and came across a muddy wallow. lt was
a deep terracotta colour and was full of jabali hair and footprints