Sunnyside Farm Fun: How to get bitten by a friendly pig...

Sometimes I have those moments...you know what I mean: those times when my amazing ability to proceed without any thought whatsoever surprises even me. Those moments when the logic (that is generally so much a part of me) dissolves and I proceed ahead with something resembling total foolishness.

Long time readers may remember one such time when I wrote a matching post 'How to get bitten by a cow in one easy lesson'. Oh the thoughtlessness of that moment still stumps me.

It seems that pigs like ashiatsu massage...

This was such a time.....

To start with, it's important to point out that while pigs do not have a mouth full of sharp teeth, their jaws are incredibly strong. Anyone who's had free ranging pigs will understand their ability to crush sticks with very little effort at all. Their strength really is amazing, although I previously comprehended this with very little care, but that all changed when I found my arm in a pig's mouth. Then, only then, did I truly tremble at the power of this amazing animal.

And goats enjoy climbing on anything that resembles a rock?

But I'm ahead of myself. "How?" You may ask, "How on earth did Renata end up with her arm in a pigs mouth?" Well the answer is very simple really...the best (possibly only) way to get bitten by a very placid, very tame pig is to simply put your arm into their feeding trough at feeding time.

It's amazing how they can co-exist together, both quite happily!

Oh, yes! As I said, lacking any prior thought and a complete loss of logic.

I did have my reason though. While I obviously didn't think about the arm in the feeding trough, I did think about the mounds of left over whipped cream & butter mixtures that were stuck in the scrap bucket. A good bang would have dislodged these & instead of wasting it on the ground away from the pigs as my children would do, I decided to bang it into the feeding trough. Note: Sometimes the children are smart...

This went on for hours (although the goats are now locked in 'jail' as they got into my garden)!

Poor old Delores, our sow (who is again expecting piglets ~ we are so excited!!), has a decided loss of manners when it comes to food & was gorging herself in the daily race to eat as much as possible for herself of the multitudes of kitchen scraps, leftover dairy products & milk that compliments their free ranging diet. Gorging is instinctual for a pig and it doesn't matter if there is one or 10 pigs, it is as fast & as much as possible in each mouthful. She was happily eating at the pig trough, enjoying the left overs of the day when I reached into bang the bucket into the trough. This happened as she took a bite, only this time instead of the pumpkin skins she was enjoying, it was a little more alive than she was hoping for. She was certainly surprised at my scream as her jaw clamped. Thankfully she had the presence of mind to let go (I'd hate to think otherwise). I was able to scramble away & although the tingling travelling up & down my arm stayed for two days & the bruising has only just gone over 2 weeks later, I am happy to say I had very little injury for the experience. I'm only happy it wasn't Boris....