Why did they have to mark the wild boars?
I mean, it's not like they were theirs. Plus, they were dangerous.
«I was on the fire escape! I saw ya!»
Actually, I believe those javelinas (wild boars), though feral, did belong to the Coates family. And though I doubt the movie mentioned this, Travis did not merely "mark" the pigs; if they were young and male, he castrated them (most of them, anyway), in order to make their meat less rank when they were big enough to be butchered and eaten.
Yes, I know, it's disgusting (and dangerous? You're darn tootin'!)...but life, especially out on the frontier, was pretty rough in those days.
A reverence for life does not require a man to respect nature’s obvious mistakes.
What, he castrated them? That's cruel!
«I was on the fire escape! I saw ya!»
Of course it was cruel--but those were harsh, cruel times. Everyday life was not an easy proposition for anyone, except the favored few in wealthy families.
Then again, even in modern (supposedly enlightened) times, look what we do to living animals to turn them into edible meat. It's horrible.
And I say this with shame, since I am not--or not yet--a vegetarian.
The world is a narrow bridge. The key to the crossing is not to be afraid.
True, they do horrible things to living animals to turn them into edible meat. Knowing that they do such horrible things to those poor animals makes me want to become a vegetarian.
«I was on the fire escape! I saw ya!»
Back in the day, people didn't raise hogs in pens, especially on the frontier. They free ranged and ate things like acorns, nuts, prickly pear, etc. Owners marked their hogs with a pattern of notches on their ears. Each owner used a distinct pattern which could be registered like a brand. They may have castrated them at that time also. The hogs in the movie weren't javelinas, they were just feral hogs. They still exist across the south today. They are very destructive and cost farmers millions in damaged crops.
shareIt is done to steers and horses. Have you ever heard of a gelding horse? Gelding them takes the wildness out of them, somewhat, where they aren't trying to be alpha male but still a good and male riding horse.
With cattle it was/is done often for those not raised for breeding but for meat. Imagine on a cattle drive if all the males decided to battle it out! I remember as a kid going to a round up down in Florida and the cattle were dipped and the males were castrated. Prairie oysters......sounds disgusting, but some eat them. And yes, it was a very hard time for pioneers back then. They did not yet have fences across the west so all the animals ran wild with marks or brands on them and were rounded up when needed.
In the book when Old Yeller first shows up and eats the last pork hanging in the dog trot, the last from the preceding fall's meat, it was a big deal! That is when Travis went out to find a deer for them to eat.