Close Encounter of The Pig Kind

About a month and a half ago, the new neighbor, who is a truck driver renting a house here in La Sechere came into possesion of a small Vietnamese pot bellied pig. The first we saw of it was a small black animal running down the lane towards the forest. Soon afterward, a girl came sauntering by with a plate with cut up vegetables on it.

I had never seen the girl before, or the pig. I thought she was "walking" her pet pig and thought, "That's strange."

Later that day, I was driving back from the market and the pig was in the road in front of my house. I stopped the car and the pig took off into the field. Later the pig came back and my dog, JJ got very interested and chased him into the valley. He had never met a pig before and I couldn't stop him. He came back quite satisfied.

The next day, I was walking JJ off the leash and the same girl was out with a plate of vegetables and calling the pig who was in the field. I put the leash on JJ and asked her if the pig was hers...

She said it was, but he was crazy and woudn't come home. Then she laughed nervously and went away. I found out later that girl was the new neighbors girlfriend and that he had gotten the pig as a gift and it took off as soon as he let it ouit of the truck.

After that, I saw the pig occasionally hanging out with the donkeys next door. JJ found the pig very interesting and a source of great fun...

I have another neighbor who rescues horses. She has at any time, 18 to 25 horses on various pieces of land around here. She rehabilitates them and finds new homes for them, but I suspect that more and more of them stay here. She has a very patient husband. She told me that the pig was living in one of her sheds down the hill and showed up every night when she fed her dog.

I went to the USA for 2 weeks and when I got back, we noticed the pig was almost twice as big and quite bold. He hangs out with the cows and the horses. JJ now is obsessed with the pig, who ignores him.

I am beginning to think we might have a problem here. The pig is going to get quite big.

The hunters seem to be wary of him because he is not "normal". In fact the pig is sort of immune because he is foreign. Nobody is going to want to eat him, so he is living a charmed existence. 

Here's a picture I took today of JJ and the pig. JJ was barking nonstop in the pigs face and the pig just ignored him. Of course a few seconds later, all hell broke loose as the pig bolted and JJ took off after him. Those little legs can sure go fast. He out ran JJ, who I don't think would know quite what to do if he caught the pig....The chase went on for about 15 minutes with breaks. The pig went home and JJ jumped in the creek.