Safe and sound in my study, and not a javelina in sight.

People keep telling me not to worry. For a start, they assure me that yesterday's pack of three was a really, really small pack. Usually there are at least half a dozen of them, and often more. (Just quietly, if half a dozen javelina had appeared on my doorstep, I would have put my house on the market and moved to Mexico. Or the dark side of the moon)

And they're typically not out and about so late in the morning. So they must have been really hungry. Poor javelina! Why is pity not welling in my bosom? Why am I not throwing bunches of carrots into the wadi for them? Because they kill little dogs, that's why.

Also, their territory is huge. Rather than hunkering down (like rattlesnakes) javelina roam from place to place, over dozens of square miles. I might not see another one at my front door for another couple of years. Here's hoping. They weren't back this morning, at any rate.

Finally, the good news is that javelina only attack when provoked. Unfortunately, the bad news is that the sight of a dog provokes them. Other things provoke them, too. They particularly hate the feeling that they're trapped. That might have caused a problem, someone told me. As if it was my fault they waltzed into my front entry-way! Maybe they were really dumb javelina, and that's why there were only three of them left.

But every cloud has a silver lining. After yesterday's experience, I decided to test the little cartridge of mace I've been carrying around for the past three years, just to make sure it still worked. It didn't. Instead of emitting a blinding mist, it dribbled. So that was interesting. I didn't know mace had a use-by date. Did you?