Second Week: Pigs

       As many of you have probably predicted... I love pigs!!! :) They are so similar to dogs, it's unreal. At Piggy Paradise right now, they have 25 pigs -- almost all of the pigs are potbelly pigs, except for a few that are mixed with other breeds --  that they split up into different 'communities'. There's a senior community, a special needs community, and a regular community. A pig's average life span is about 20 years, so the pigs in the senior community are suffering from things like arthritis, deafness, blindness, and even dementia. Pigs in the special needs community may have neurological problems, physical limitations, and weight issues. And the pigs in the regular community are in fairly good health. The senior community is kept totally separate from the special needs and regular communities. The special needs pigs and the regular pigs are all kept within the same enclosure, but there are gates to keep them separated if need be.


       We started off our morning by preparing all of the piggy food. The pigs eat a diet of hay pellets, frozen veggies, and heads of lettuce. After we divvied up their food, we walked around to each community to feed the pigs... And they went nuts for their morning meal! Pigs can be very impatient and pushy when you're trying to place a handful of food into their troughs. We walked into the special needs community, and it was my job to give RB his pan of food. He is a BIG boy!

       This is another pig that's a part of the special needs community, Buckaro. He suffers from mechanical blindness. Since he's overweight, his skin and "chub" cover his eyes, which limits his sight. But I think it makes him even cuter!

        After the morning feeding was done, my supervisor (and the primary caregiver of the pigs), Adria, told me to take Tobias for a walk. Tobias is kept in his own cage, away from all of the other pigs, because he does not play nicely with others! But he loves people! Also, Tobias has a broken jaw right now, and he is in a great deal of pain :(. Poor guy... But he still enjoys eating treats! Pigs' favorite treats are fig newtons. Tobias is a pretty cool piggy... not only can he 'sit' on command, but he can also 'shake'!!! It's so adorable. I'll stop blabbing and just show you a picture of him already...

      How can you not smile when you see that face?! When I was walking him, I didn't have him on a leash, so I used something called a "carrot stick". A carrot stick is basically just a long rod that I use to "steer" Tobias if he's not going the direction that I want him to. I didn't use it too often though... He was a pretty good walker! Every so often he would look up at me and beg for a fig newton! (Hence, the adorable little face that you see in the picture above!)

       In addition to feeding, I brushed a bunch of the pigs! You wouldn't think that pigs like to be brushed, but they really enjoy it. I basically used a scrubber brush, like a brush you would use to scrub the kitchen floor. And once you start brushing, the pigs just flop on their sides. Kinda like this...

This is Oliver! He's one of the few white pigs they have at the sanctuary.

       The two pictures above are of a 9 month old piglet named Gene! He has three other siblings at the sanctuary right now: Mazie, Millie, and Doogie! Not all of the piglets are as friendly as Gene, so I spent a lot of time in the afternoon socializing with the pigs. In order to socialize a pig, you have to try to get the pig to take fig newtons right out of your hand and from your lap while you're sitting down. I did this exercise with Mazie and Millie -- since they don't really like to be touched. So once they got close enough to take the fig newton from me, I would rub their backs and their sides. The goal is to get them used to human touch, and to show them that humans aren't bad! Here's another picture of Gene, falling asleep with a friend! (Whom I can't remember his name!)

       We also got to meet some of the goats! They do piggy-goat play dates, which is pretty hysterical, might I add. Where the goats are kept, one of the caregivers has set up an agility course! A few of the goats really enjoy doing agility, it's so awesome!

This is Steve the Goat. He's quite the character!

 And this is Billy the Goat! 

       Hopefully I'll get to know more piggies and goats by the end of this week! I really enjoyed my first day at pigs, they are such cool animals!! As the 4th most intelligent species, I'm intrigued by all that they're capable of. As the week goes on, I'm sure I'll witness many instances of their intelligence. I'm already so impressed by Tobias! Anyway, I'm sure this week is going to be tons of fun. Looking forward to it :).