Those ugly warthogs!

[Mike Buckley]

I am on a mission to convince Kaye that warthogs are the ugliest creatures on the planet. My first argument is that there is a reason they are called warthogs: not only do they have four protrusions on their head that look like warts, the entire animal looks like a walking wart. My second argument is the evidence of these first two photos.

Photo 1



Photo 2




Perhaps Kaye needs to be convinced by head shots that only a mother could love.

Photo 3 (captured by my wife and post-processed by me)



Photo 4




While I will concede that this last little pig has a cute factor, Kaye should keep in mind that it is so young that it has not yet grown any of its four tusks or "warts." Even so, I have to point out that what it temporarily lacks in ugliness is more than made up by its stupidity of hanging out around such large animals that could squash it in a nanosecond.

Photo 5

[Otavio]

Well, let's just say there are better looking creatures on this planet!

Nice pictures, Mike!

[Brownbear]

You've convinced me that wart hogs are extraordinarily beautiful seen through your eyes... Images 1, 2 and 5 are beautiful... #5 is extra special...

[Wavelength]

Who can define beauty???? I love them

[Mike Buckley]

Thanks, guys!

[tamccain]

I just see exotic bacon.

[ajsmith]

I think they are beautiful... the photos too!

[FootLoose]

They do seem to have been stranded at an unfortunate stage of evolution. However, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and they obviously find each other attractive.

[tbob]

Lions find them so cute they could eat them right up.

[Mike Buckley]

Continued thanks to everyone!

Lions find them so cute they could eat them right up.

I read that the lower pair of tusks become very sharp, so sharp that lions occasionally die from loss of blood when those tusks inflict a wound.

[CP140]

Dang... you had me all excited. I thought there were going to be some shots of an A-10...and is definitely not a sleek thing of beauty.

[FlyingSquirrel]

Mike, how dare you show me such a disgusting animal?! As if that weren't bad enough, you had to make the techs on them so good that you can see all the horrible textures and details. Bleh!!

[Stagecoach]

Ahh, those are just so cute and adorable

[Plumcrak]

Mmmmm, BACON!!!

[John 2]

Nice series Mike. Never thought about it before but they are ugly. Wonder what they think about us?

[Mike Buckley]

Thank you to everyone for your comments!

It's really interesting to see that there are two very clear camps -- one that thinks warthogs are beautiful and one that thinks they're ugly. I'm in the latter camp. It seems to me that if an illustrator was asked to provide a caricature of a warthog, he or she would only need to simply draw something that looks exactly like a warthog with no embellishments needed.

you had to make the techs on them so good that you can see all the horrible textures and details. Bleh!!

Thank you for noticing that, Matt. I have been a little concerned that I sometimes went overboard and will continue to keep that possibility in mind as I review these photos.