Pot Belly Pig

[allgirls]

no not me...a real one...in our back yard!!!

Sophia woke up so I brought her down and she was back with the cats...the phone rang, my daughter's teacher, and so I am talking to her and suddenly Sophia comes screaming..."I scared mama...I scared" I said what are you scared of...did the cat scratch you "no mama, I scared of the pig" so I kind of chuckle at her vivid imagination and continue talking to the teacher and so on...well...finally I hang up and say "let's go see the pig" she wants me to carry her...so I see the cat and say "is that the pig?", "no silly mama, that's the cat, there's the pig" and she points out the back yard and sure enough...a huge pig in the back yard!

:eek :jaw :bigeyes :scared :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

so now I don't know what to do..I live in the country...my house backs on to a sheep farm...I am thinking it's escaped from a farm but then I don't want to call the farmer because he'll get butchered...I cannot doom the pig! But he's really tame and comes up to the door...Sophia and I take pics and then I call my next door neighbor and she says it's her next door neighbor's pot belly pic...whew!~ no doomed to be butchered farm pig...moral dilemma solved!

But now what to do..he is digging massive holes in my back yard...I keep feeding him apples to keep him from digging but I am afraid he is not supposed to eat apples...so I give him green beans...doesn't like his veggies..so I gave him a container of organic red grapes...the neighbor comes over and we use the grapes to lure him over to her dog run...whew...so he's there now..his owners aren't home.

Quite an adventure...

Things like this never happened when I lived in the city!

[Rach]

I read somehwere that pigs are actually picky eaters. :P

Oh well! At least the problem has been solved! How exciting!

[Godiva]

hehe the joys of living in the country. No worries, apples are just fine for pigs, they can eat pretty much the same stuff as cows and horses. Although if it ever happens again, make sure you keep your kids and animals away, even though he is a pet. Pigs have killed more people than any other barnyard animal. (which I found hard to believe with how often the horses I ride seemed intent on killing me or putting me in the ICU :LOL ) generally they are safe, but some can be agressive and they can do serious damage. In all honesty though, pigs shouldn't be pets, people don't know how to properly care for them. They buy them small and cute and don't realize that they grow up to be very large animals. Plus they think that pigs are supposed to be fat and they overfeed them to the point where they can no longer walk.

[allgirls]

absolutely you are right!!

in fact the owner of this pig brought her home because she was abandoned...she's a veterinary assistant...since she lives in the country and has room she decided to keep her but she wants to find a home for her if she can.

I could not believe how BIG this pig was...I guess the few I have seen were babies.

My cat was petrified of her as well...so was I...I have never dealt with a pig...now if it was horse in the back yard I would have known how to approach or not...they show their temperament pretty quickly. Pigs...I don't know pigs.

I sure hope we can find sod somewhere to repair the damage to the back yard. I could not believe how much damage it did in such a short time to the grass with it's snout!

[Godiva]

oh yeah, he was probably rooting for some tasty bugs. Pigs are omnivores so that may be why they tend to be more aggressive than other barnyard animals. Haha I don't blame you, pigs scare me a bit. If I had a choice of a seemingly friendly pig or an obviously agressive horse, I'd pick the horse to go work with, lol. That's good though that the owner now is a vet tech so at least the pig is being properly taken care of.

[allgirls]

so the owners have their pig back...my neighbor mentioned she did quite a bit of damage to my back yard when she took her back ....I figured they would come by and mention it and maybe offer to fix it...haven't seen them yet

If my animal did something like that and I was aware I would immediately see my neighbor to repair the damage.

Maybe they will...perhaps they were too busy last night repairing the pen and then worked today.

I will go see them myself if they don't come by.

[Rach]

so the owners have their pig back...my neighbor mentioned she did quite a bit of damage to my back yard when she took her back ....I figured they would come by and mention it and maybe offer to fix it...haven't seen them yet

If my animal did something like that and I was aware I would immediately see my neighbor to repair the damage.

Maybe they will...perhaps they were too busy last night repairing the pen and then worked today.

I will go see them myself if they don't come by.

Hopefully, they will come by when they have the chance.
Good luck!