The porch floor was covered with bits of recycled paper for the second time in one day. The trash can was still upright thanks to a ten pound rock at the bottom of the can. The culprit, a full grown thirty pound pot belly pig, grunted away as I scolded her. Tazzy knew she was wrong and wouldn’t get a treat from me this time.
Tazzy, the pig, lives with my husband and me in our farmhouse in Loudon. She uses a litter box most of the time and sleeps in a modified dog crate on our heated porch. It took months for us to teach her to use the litter box. At first she preferred to do her business on the rugs scattered around the house. I’m sure she was confused about all the fuss but she did eventually figure it was easier to use the litter box (which I clean twice a day) than deal with angry humans. She still occasionally makes a “mistake” especially when she is “meeting her public” and the litter box is not handy.
She likes people but, just like a cat, on her own terms. She will allow us to scratch her back and rub her belly but does not like being picked up and despises cuddling. That’s just as well because cuddling with Tazzy is just like cuddling a football.
Food and more food are her two favorite things, a trait she has in common with dogs. And just like a dog it’s easy to overfeed Tazzy. Much to her dismay she is on a strict diet of ½ cup of pig pellets twice a day and gets limited treats during the day. It’s common to think that pigs can eat all they want but that’s not true. Fat pigs, especially the small and medium sized ones like Tazzy, can go blind. The fat folds over and can eventually cover their eyes so they can’t see.
Tazzy has been on TV (WMUR Cooks’ Corner), radio, (WTPL The Pulse) and is the Miles Smith Farm spokespig at events. She always has a lot to say but can be difficult to understand. Tazzy talk can be hard on the ears especially when she is squealing. Usually when an animal squeals it’s in pain, not so with pigs. A squeal might mean, “I want you to put my feed back on the ground,” or “I did not give you permission to pick me up.” Tazzy still occasionally tries to train us with her squeals but mostly we ignore them.
Her gentler grunts and clicks mean she is content or happy although those sounds can be annoying to us. When not sleeping, she grunts and clicks all the time. We always know where she by her constant radar like grunts. Another way she registers displeasure with her humans is rooting in the recycling on the porch. If we leave her alone too long or don’t let her run around the yard at least once a day she upturns the recycling and decorates the porch with paper scraps
Living with a farm animal may sound exotic but it’s not for everyone. After all Tazzy’s D. Moo’s middle name is “Diva” for a reason!
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