Hi friends! My name is Pip and I can’t wait for you to come to visit me at Indiana Caverns. I’ve never met anyone like you before! I’m a peccary and many of us made the southern Indiana forests our home during the North American Ice Age. This was when really big sheets of ice came down from the north and covered almost all of Indiana. My other peccary friends and I lived in this area about 11,000 years ago, and two legged humans like you hadn’t traveled to Indiana yet.

Have you ever heard of a peccary before? We’re similar to pigs, the old world kind, that look like wart hogs. The difference between us is that our tusks’ curve down instead of up. I’m a flat-headed peccary. We like to roam around in herds and use caves like Indiana Caverns for shelter. I’m almost two and a half feet tall, which is a medium-size mammal. For our size, we were the most numerous mammals in North America during the ice age.

Maybe your teacher will bring you and your classmates soon to visit me and some of my other friends like the black bear, bison, and fisher. They all lived near Indiana Caverns too! I’ll have the boat ride through the cave ready for you when you get here, and if you want to bring Mom and Dad along with you too— I know the whole family will have a great time!