Of all of my friends, Ashley Wood was the only one who truly loved this creature, the unattractive and unlovely Warthog. Not that they are hideous like the much maligned snake or repellent like a macabre bat, but they certainly lack the cuteness factor of a lion cub or the majesty of a tiger. That was why Ashley loved them because nobody else did. Even though they will never grip the imagination like the furry cuddly animals, somebody had to befriend them, so Ashley accepted that role.

As always, Ashley might have been the eccentric iconoclast but warthogs have feelings too. As such they deserve our protection.

Main picture: A sounder of warthogs absorbing the heat from a bushveld fire

These photographs do not strain my incredulity but rather they are indicative of the warthog’s intelligence.

Here is a vignette from Zimbabwe that I had seen before but it still makes fascinating reading:

I had an email from a friend in Zimbabwe yesterday and she sent me this picture and story that I thought was delightful. They had been away at a game park and on the first evening while sitting in front of the fire in the bar, in walked a fully grown wart hog. He walked over to the bar and without a word the bar man handed him a pillow. He took the pillow, put it next to the fire and promptly lay down with his head on the pillow and went to sleep where, apparently he spends the cold nights there. Then in the morning he’s off into the bush again! My friend, Cynie, says that if the barman isn’t there he’ll grab a pillow off one of the couches! Here he is :
 
http://roarafrica.blogspot.com/2011/07/spike-warthog-napping-by-fire.html

Spike the Warthog with his personal pilllow sleeping next to the fireplace

The pillow certainly has a used, grubby warthog look about it. I suspect he’s just a not-so-wild warthog that grew up around the lodge. Certainly a happy hog

Now you know why I love Africa!