As a child my parents read me Charlotte's Web. I don't remember instantly feeling as if I needed to own my own pig, although I do know I have no desire to have a pet spider. I know Charlotte was nice and kind and the hero of the story but Spiders scare the tar out of me. They are creepy and I have this weird fear of eating them in my sleep. I once read a statistic that said you eat like a million spiders in your lifetime or something obscene like that. But....I am already getting off topic. Anyway, I have managed to make it through my entire childhood and well into my adult life without ever uttering words, "I wish I had a pet pig" until last summer.
My brother and I had a lot of animals come in and out of our lives during our childhood and adult years. He had a guinea pig named Guinea. We had 2 hamsters we got for Christmas named Silly Willy and Scaried Kat. He had a bird named Beaker. I had gerbils who multiplied and multiplied and multiplied. Who new Gerbils were so good at Math? And of course we had dogs and even a few cats until we discovered that cats hate me and they tried to kill me on numerous occasions. (I am severely allergic to cats) And of course the plethora of horses that we still own to this day. We collect animals like most people collect Elvis memorabilia. And the idea of actually selling one of our horses?? Unheard of! Who does that??
So, as some of my loyal 11 followers might know, Travis and I had 3 pet ducks that I got for Mothers Day last year. Huey, Dewey, and Louie, were white males ducks that moved from the farm to the house. We built them a great house with an enclosure and got them a pink princess swimming pool to swim in. We LOVED our Quackers. Unfortunately two of the three were tragically killed one night so we moved the third one back to the farm to "live with his chicken friends." To this day Madeline will tell you that her "Huey Dewey's" live with their chicken friends. We were devastated. During our grieving process we were trying to figure out what type of pet we could get to replace the Quackers. We knew ducks weren't safe on our property and we needed a pet that could live in the house. (Because 2 Golden Retrievers, and 9 million horses obviously aren't even mouths to feed) Travis said, "We could get a pig. A potbelly pig and he could live in our house." At first I was completely turned off to the idea, but then I took to Google! According to the Internet Pigs are highly intelligent animals, clean, affectionate, and can be house broken like dogs. So about the time I was really getting on board with the Pet Pig idea Trav changed his mind. And I quote.... "I don't want a damn pig. Why in the world would we get a pig?" Ummmm....because you suggested it? Too late....the wheels were already in motion. I had contacted a fellow horse friend who had pigs and she was planning on breeding her female and we were first in line for a piglet! YAY Us!
On February 23rd the female pig went into labor and had 2 baby piglets. The labor was harder than predicted and tradegy befell the mama pig and her babies. The mama had to put humanely put to rest and only one of her piglets survived. My horse friend is currently working around the clock to keep the only surviving piglet alive and so far he is showing excellent progress! Since that baby piglet has a forever home with my horse friend I took to Craiglist to find our little oinker. Where else would you look for a pig?
Like any other pet (minus the horses) we have bought, Wilbur came from a whole in the wall farm over run with Rabbits, Dogs, and 3 precious ponies I tried to convince the woman to sell me as well. No Dice! Wilburs breeder was missing quite a few essential teeth, and tried to convince Travis and I that she rescued animals that needed homes. Although to me it looked as if she should be on an episode of Animal Hoarders. In her defense all the animals looked well fed and for the most part very social with humans. They were inquisitive and came up to the front of their pens and cages to greet us. As we quickly made our escape with Wilbur in hand Travis promptly announced, once we were safely tucked away in our car, "You know their cookin up some Meth in that house." I silently agreed.
Wilbur road home in my lap shaking uncontrollably and peed on me twice. At one point he jumped out of my arms and raced around the back seat like a lunatic. Madeline screamed and laughed "Wilbur is loose Wilbur is loose!" and I jumped over the car seat to pig wrestle my 5 week old piglet in a moving vehicle. (Don't tell my dad I took my seat belt off) Once I had Wilbur safely in my lap again he started to slowly calm down and breath easily. That is when I noticed that my brand new piglet smelled strangely of Marijuana. As time went on the smell got stronger and I insisted Trav roll the windows down in the car as we were driving. It might be useful to add that it was 22 degrees outside and snowing. But non-the-less I didn't want myself or my 3 year old daughter getting high from the piggie hotbox we were currently creating.
The rest of the ride home was pretty uneventful. Everyone made it home safely and I promptly did a wardrobe change while Trav set up Wilbur's new accommodations. The days following have provided entertainment for my colleagues, friends, and family. Wilbur's arrival at our house is worthy of quite a few blogs and I have a feeling he will be the topic of conversation for quite awhile amongst my social circle. A colleague suggested I read Animal Farm....from what I understand it's really about Communism and not about pigs so I am not sure what he is implying.....but I might pick it up and give it a go.
So stayed tuned my followers because there are many more Wilbur stories to come!
Love, ET
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