Pigs are definitely curious and playful, two qualities that are considered signs of intelligence. As evidence for PigIQ, I give you Chewie the fair pig who has learned to water my lettuce crop for me.
In the photos below, Chewie demonstrates her irrigation technique.
Step One: Pull the garden hose through the fence. Try not to bite holes in the hose as you do.
Step Two: Roll in mud puddle created by flowing hose and then carry the hose to the garden side of the pen.
Step Three: Poke hose through garden fence and gently irrigate FC's bright green lettuce plants.
Step Four: Look imploringly at FC as he thins the crop, so maybe he'll toss you bits as a treat.
Now, let's see a cat do that.
The dogs would have demonstrated proper garden irrigation technique, but they were busy helping Junior with his Algebra 2 homework.
P.S.
Since some of you are going to ask, this is Chewie's last week with us, the fair weigh in is Saturday.
I'd always heard it that pigs are smarter than cods, which are in turn smarter than cats.
ReplyDeleteAll right, I want that lil pig to come live with us! What a face. ;)
ReplyDeletefc where were your dogs when my children in high school??? chewie is a fine looking swine should fetch a good bid at the fair!! good luck.going to be heard to replace such a smart hog S T E B
ReplyDeleteFC-
ReplyDeleteHow come you never got another goat like Buffet? He was pretty entertainig. Tell all I said hello.
Lightnin
Good luck to Chewie at the weigh in.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth thought this was just so silly.She had that little girl giggle with some snorts.Too cute.
ReplyDeleteYou take that pig to the fair and first thing you know there'll be a garden spider with "SOME PIG" embroidered in its web.
ReplyDeleteWe also have fair pigs at our house and the weigh in is this Friday. Like you, I think the dogs are smarter. They definitely rank higher in the household order.
ReplyDeleteCats are on a scale all their own. They wouldn't deign to be compared to a pig or a dog. Humans are beneath them, as well. Although, I do think our cat would be impressed with Chewie's irrigation techniques. That's a very cute and smart pig.
ReplyDeletechewie is fabulous! my cats decline to comment, as they are busy with their flower arranging this morning.
ReplyDelete[we have camellias floating in a glass bowl on the dining room table. the kittens think it is lovely that i thought of putting a water dish by their favorite sunbeam spot, and that i stocked it with such pretty toys. i keep finding slightly battered camellias around the house.]
Ok... now you've given me a second reason to stop reading you. #1, your wonderful lens, sure, I'll admit my photo jealousy. And now #2, cat slander.
ReplyDeleteI resent that cat comment! I know those pups weren't helping Jr!
ReplyDeleteOur pigs have never shown quite that level of brilliance...must be a different strain down there.
ReplyDeleteOurs on the other hand are famous for escaping from all confinement. (Famous because I get mad at the boss for letting them get out and put them (and him) in the Farm Side...good post btw
Aww c'mon, can't you pull a Charlotte's Web moment and give Chewy a reprieve - she/he's "SOME PIG"
ReplyDeleteawww poor chewie. She will be missed, for sure.
ReplyDeleteAre you SURE you don't want to keep her around the house doing your irrigating a fertilizing for you? Think about it just for a minute, FC.
I'm a sucker when it comes to animals.
Pablo,
ReplyDeleteheehee.
Laura,
She's a charmer.
Maybe in Hawthorne she'd fit in.
STEB,
It's good to have Academic Retrievers.
Lightnin,
Buffett the goat was too entertaining for us. Why is your husband trying to find a cheeseburger in Beijing?
Thanks Doug!
Dani,
Elizabeth made my day!
Leslie,
God, I hope so!
Emily,
Good luck with your fair pigs. The dogs rule here!
Kathy A,
LOL! Too funny.
Juli,
No, don't go!
I'll lay off the cat slander.
:)
Cinbad,
Okaaayyyyy, YOU are the real Algebra tutor.
The dogs are better at computer programming anyway.
3C,
I can't explain it, but we are the Sunswine State.
Stacey,
Tempting, but she is livestock. I remind myself that all the time.
HTeen,
I'm afraid she has a date for the fair.
I'm jealous...you have lettuce in the ground!
ReplyDeleteWishing Junior good luck with Chewie. Maybe we'll be set up here for pigs one of these years. I like bacon.
First of all, cats grow their greens in Earth Boxes, thereby eliminating all issues around the proper amount of irrigation. Secondly, I've seen how dogs irrigate plants. Lastly, Chewie is an absolute delight, clever and endearing, but she looks like she might weigh a bit light...I think she would like to have a higher calling than as somebody's pork butt.
ReplyDeleteDeb,
ReplyDeleteI'm picking this weekend.
:)
Vicki,
I've heard of these "Cat Boxes".
I know what cats put in them.
Wow, this sure looks like I can trade my brother in for something that does much more work than him!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastical and supremely charming individual.
Inasmuch as intelligence goes, I figure Chewie is pretty darn smart. Dogs can debug a computer and tutor the neighborhood kids on their SAT's. But a cat would never actually touch a hose or a rake or a shovel. Oh no, no, no. They hire pigs to do it and they worship dogs with flattery so they will debug their computers for them. This seems to put cats somewhere above the pack. No?
Our cat called me after reading your post and asked me to give her feedback:
ReplyDeleteFirst of all manual labor is below the dignity of a cat.
Second - water hose, I don't think so!
Third - Water your own @#%$ lettuce I don't even eat the stuff.
Fourth - I'm hungry feed me some real food, not that "cat food"! (oh sorry I guess that last one was for Lightnin not your post)!
freste,
ReplyDeleteWelcome to Pure Florida!
You make good points. Apparently, like the dogs, I have been completely hoodwinked by the feline conspiracy.
ThunderD,
I've met your cat and when it's head stopped spinning it made a sound I never want to hear again. I'm glad it called you and not me!
One minute with Bam-bam, our cat, would render you a changed man. I have seen this transformation myself in cat-hatin' types.
ReplyDeleteI'll admit, he can be needy, though. It's part of his charm.
Rico Suave, of the International Brotherhood of Felines, Local 459, has put your blog on notice.
ReplyDeleteHeretoforth, representatives of local 459 will check your blog each day in order to watch for defamation of our feline character.
Comparing us to the pork butt in the picture is uncalled for and unfair. No self-respecting feline would wallow in the mud like that. tsk, tsk. Plus, why water the vegetables when the humans will do it? ;)
My only experience with a pig was trying to get it to go where it didn't want to go and it was darned smart about that.
ReplyDeleteThe only critter we've ever had that might have figured out how to water something was a pygmy goat.
Thingfish,
ReplyDeleteNo cat has ever changed my mind. Not even the kittens,
Rico,
I have two old toothless, deaf, nearsighted dogs that could take you in a game of scrabble any day!
I'm going to tell Laura you're using her computer again ... as if the hairballs in the keyboard and a dead computer mouse weren't evidence enough.
:)
Stacy,
LOL! We had a pygmy goat like that too.
And I am about to get up and go out to try and get the pig to go somewhere she does not want to.
I need to weigh her in a livestock scale.
lettuce all get along. everyone knows that cats rule, dogs drool, and pigs just gotta be who they are.
ReplyDeleteKathy A,
ReplyDeleteOh all right ...we'll be good.