Animal Facts:
The warthog is named after the wart-like bumps on its head, which are a combination of bone and cartilage and which help to pad and protect its face and eyes in fights.
Especially in the mating season, males, called boars, fight over their right to reproduce, which is why they have bigger and more bumps than females, called sows.
Older boars often live alone, while younger males live in bachelor herds.
Meanwhile, females live in so-called ‘sounders’, which include several generations of their female offspring and can contain up to forty members.
Litters contain two to eight piglets, and warthog mothers are protective of them when it comes to their long list of natural enemies, such as lions, African wild dogs, hyenas, crocodiles, leopards and cheetahs.
When faced with these predators – which the warthog mostly detects with their great sense of smell and hearing as they have poor eyesight – they prefer to flee and hide in their dens.
They back into their burrow, backside first, and defend themselves and their piglets with their long, razor-sharp tusks, which are simply canine teeth. These can cause serious wounds and rip open a lion’s belly with ease.
As well as using their tusks for fighting and as a defensive tool, they use them for digging up roots to supplement their diet of grass, plants, berries, fruit and bark. During times of scarcity, they also eat insects and meat from carcasses they find.
When grazing, warthogs do so with their forelegs bent because of their short necks and – in comparison – long legs.
To protect their knees when kneeling, they have calloused pads on them.
Even though they could also use their tusks to dig their own burrows, warthogs are opportunistic animals and prefer to use holes that have been made and abandoned by other animals, mainly aardvarks.
Apart from protecting them from their enemies, these burrows shelter warthogs from the elements.
The only real fur of a warthog is a mane-like stripe on their back, similar to a horse’s mane, and a tuft of hair at the end of their tail, which they stick straight up into the air like an antenna when they run. This lack of fur means that they are sensitive, both to the cold at night and to the burning sun.
A method the warthogs use to protect themselves from the latter is to take regular mud baths. Like other pigs, they have no sweat glands, and they use mud to help them regulate their body temperature and keep cool. This is why they prefer to live near waterholes, as the mud also has the benefit of preventing sunburns and protecting them from insects.
On top of that, warthogs form symbiotic relationships with bird species, which eat the parasites that crawl on their skin.
Some spiritual meanings:
The bumps on the warthog’s face act as a protective layer.
Have you added unnecessary protective measures in your life?
Or do you need to create stronger boundaries?
The sows are known to be caring mothers.
Do you have any ideas or projects that need your attention and care?
Look at what you need to nurture in your life right now.
Warthogs prefer to back into their burrows when threatened.
Do you have a place to which you can escape when feeling overwhelmed by life?
Or do you feel cornered?
Also, do you need to take on what’s lying in front of you?
The warthog will fiercely protect itself and its piglets when attacked, even taking on much larger enemies.
This means you can successfully take on large projects.
Using burrows made by other animals tells of the warthogs’ opportunistic nature.
Can you accept gifts? Are you ready to seize chances?
Or are you too inflexible to act quickly? Do you maybe feel that you don’t deserve what you’ve been given?
The erect tail of the warthog when running looks like an antenna.
This speaks of your own link to the higher planes.
Are you listening to the intuitive messages you receive?
As well as being an expert digger, the warthog is connected to nature by taking mud baths.
Are you grounded in your life?
Also, is there anything hidden that you need to dig up?
If you want to read up on more spirit animals or want to learn more about spiritual topics in general, pick up a copy of my book “Willow and Strix – A spiritual journey” ©, available as a paperback or ebook (free for kindle unlimited users) US – UK – DE and in other countries
A. Wakan's Spirit Animals 