Patrick Winn, age 13, of Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, for his question:

Why is the  javelina called the farm hog?

The New World Spaniards named him the javelins, using their word for wild sows or boars. The same New World animal also is called a peccary, a word derived from his American Indian name. The same spunky little wild pig also is called the musk hog. This name also has a logical explanation, because the javelins happens to have a scent gland in his rump. This gives off a musky odor that can be smelled from quite a distance.

His first three aliases seem logical. But there seems no logical reason at all to call him a farm hog. The tough character would despise the docile life of a farm. He shares life with a small herd of freedom loving relatives, in the forests, on the scrubby deserts and hillsides of Latin America and our Southwest. The javelins is well armed with tusky teeth and always ready to fight fiercely for his freedom. In fact, if he knew about it, he just might consider it an insult to be called a farm hog.