Outfoxed by a photograph of a ‘peccary’

By Zoey McGee | Manor Ink

Jake Eavey, an outdoorsman and wildlife tracker, recently found himself fooled by a convincing optical illusion. One day, his trail camera captured an image that appeared to show a collared peccary, or a wild piglet. “It was just one of the weirdest things I’ve ever seen on my trail cam,” Eavey recalled. “It was very shocking, because the closest state where collared peccaries live is Texas.”

Recognizing the potential importance of the sighting, Eavey sent the image to the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, which actively monitors sightings of wild hogs and Eurasian boars. “I sent it to the DEC, and the person who got the email was like, ‘Wow, this is really trippy,’” Eavey said.

These invasive species are increasingly being spotted in northern states, and their presence poses serious risks. The DEC, which has a team of biologists tracking these populations, took the submission seriously. But after a few hours of analysis, their experts determined it wasn’t a pig at all, but a gray fox, turned away from the camera with its head down and its tail giving the illusion of a pig’s snout.

The DEC sent the image back to Eavey with annotations showing the fox’s posture, clearing up the confusion. Once explained, it was clearly a fox, but initially, it was a convincing trick. The timing made it even more amusing: the photo had been taken the day after April Fools’ Day. “It felt like Mother Nature was playing a little April Fools’ joke on me,” Eavey said with a laugh.

Though this particular sighting turned out to be a false alarm, the DEC’s interest highlights a real environmental concern. Feral hogs are a growing issue in the US, especially in the South, but their range is expanding northward. In New York, confirmed sightings get immediate attention due to the damage hogs can cause to crops, ecosystems and native species.

“Any time you see something that might be a hog or a pig, you try to report it. But this time, it was just a fox playing a little trick,” Eavey said.

He added that he was excited to share this. “I just hope people find it interesting. If it sparks somebody’s interest in getting into American wildlife, that’s great. I think it’s very important for everyone to know about the natural world we live in, and the fact that we’re sharing our habitat with a lot of animals that didn’t have a say in us taking over.”