Arizona Golf Is Just Different According to Golfer Who Encountered a Herd of Javelinas

Golfer Mike Rodenbush recently encountered a herd of javelinas while playing golf in Arizona, capturing footage that shows the animals moving across a cart path and into the woods.

Rodenbush, who produces golf content and goes by Mikey TeeTimes on social media, shared a video showing the pig-like creatures—native mammals also known as collared peccaries—running across the course from just a few meters away.

While they may look like pigs, javelinas are not closely related to modern pigs introduced by western Europeans, as javelinas are native to the Americas with ranges extending into Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.

According to general guidance, javelinas are mostly herbivores that munch on cacti, roots, seeds, and vegetation, and they do not tend to intentionally attack humans. However, golf courses have sometimes experienced severe property damage from the animals foraging for food. In 2023, Seven Canyons Golf Club in Sedona, Arizona, dealt with destruction caused by a pack during an unusually hot and dry summer.

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To combat the foraging animals, Seven Canyons previously tried using coyote urine, which general manager Dave Bisbee described to the Associated Press as being like putting bacon bits in their salad because it attracted them even more. The club later experimented with chili oil.

We’re still trying to figure out the right formulation in the chili oil we put out. It’s a delicate thing for the grass, Bisbee stated at the time, adding, It’s a continuing dance we do.