Hypertext Magazine asked Patricia Colleen Murphy, author of Bully Love, “What are coatimundi and javelina and should I be afraid?”
Don’t be afraid of wildlife. Be afraid of humans encroaching on wildlife. When we build and drive and hike in wild spaces, we are entering land that is already owned. So instead of thinking about what the animals might do to us, think about what we have already done to the animals.
When I moved from Ohio to Arizona in 1993, I left a settled place where most animals were fenced or leashed. I sometimes saw squirrels, chipmunks, birds, and not much else at all.
In Arizona I was introduced to a whole host of outdoor dwellers. Snakes. Scorpions. Jackrabbits. Coyotes. Coatimundi. Javelina. Bobcats. It was a learning curve.
Coatimundi are cute. They are members of the racoon family and can grow up to about 14 pounds. Coatis are scrappy fighters, but they won’t bother you in your hiking boots. They tend to run in packs from four to 25, and if you’re lucky you will get to see them bounding up a canyon wall in the leaning light. They are very vocal and so you might hear them grunting or chirping before you see them.
Javelina are less cute. Okay they are not cute at all. They can also be stinky (they have the nickname skunk pig), so your dog might find them before you do. They can get up to 88 pounds and I have seen them that big. They often travel in packs, which can feel scary and they might very well charge you. In my neighborhood, they do knock over garbage cans and they like to eat the petunias. Last year a tiny baby came to my back fence and he barked like a little puppy.
Patricia Colleen Murphy was named winner of the 2019 Press 53 Award for Poetry with her collection Bully Love, which was selected by Press 53 poetry series editor Tom Lombardo. Murphy is the founder of Superstition Review at Arizona State University, where she teaches creative writing and magazine production. Her collection Hemming Flames (Utah State University Press) won the 2016 May Swenson Poetry Award, judged by Stephen Dunn, and the 2017 Milt Kessler Poetry Award. Her writing has appeared in many literary journals, including The Iowa Review, Quarterly West, and American Poetry Review, and has received awards from Gulf Coast and Bellevue Literary Review, among others.
