The Brothers

I came home from Critter Corral in early January of 2003 with a hay filled cardboard box that also contained two little baby pigs who had been born there on November 21st. I picked them out myself online on Critter Corral's petfinder, and when I held them for the first time (well it was more like I served as a jungle gym) I knew I had chosen "my" pigs.

We had gotten them a big purple cage, and they came with a blue tube to run through. My friend helped us pick out the other supplies. I learned most of my good pig care through her- what kind of bedding was right, where to get the best hay, etc. And she also told me about her vet at Animal House of Chicago, the only exotic vet in the city. I was set for fuzzy adventures, no doubt.

The pigs at Critter Corral come with names, but you don't have to keep them. My boys came with the names Licorice and Yosemite. Licorice was a solid, black smooth hair and bean shaped so that name fit just fine, but Yosemite didn't seem right for his brother. Yosemite was also solid black, but obviously had some Abyssinian in him because he had a question mark shaped ridge of fur down his back and a crest on his head. While we were debating names, I was petting them and getting all sorts of scratches from their tiny little dagger feet. They loved to jump into my long hair (which was black at the time and must have felt like home) to hide. Yosemite especially loved to jump onto my shoulder. It was essentially because of the dagger and feet and jumping ability that my husband came up with the name Schrapnel- because he liked to launch and embed his tiny claws into me. The name stuck, and so did the pig.

Unfortunately, I have somewhat of an allergy to timothy hay, their favorite food, so I had to wash after handling them frequently as the combination of their sharp feet and their food made my neck all scratchy and red. That didn't stop me from petting them, however. They were the softest little things, and loved to snuggle with each other. I noted that when I had them out on my lap, they would sit close with one facing one direction, and one facing the other in a protective "watch" scheme.

The more I handled them, the friendlier they got. Hand feeding helped build trust, and having them out together made them feel safe. Not that the brothers didn't have the usual sibling rivalry. I would be sitting in the room and hear purring and squeaking- which I knew to be taunting- and I would verbally tell them to cut it out. The squeaking would stop, for a few minutes, but them start up again more quietly until it was back to full taunt level. It got to the point that I could tell who was taunting who and yell "Schrapnel, stop tormenting your brother!". The squeaking would stop, then continue at a lower volume as if I might not be able to hear it. :)

Overall, the brothers were very well bonded and got along just fine. We took them to some Critter Corral events together because they traveled well. The first event we took them to was the summer pignic, and we tried to enter them in a parsley eating contest. Unfortunately, parsley took a back seat to the presence of girl pigs, and we spent more time trying to keep them from greeting the ladies then we did feeding them parsley. Having failed at getting any action, they sulked visibly afterward. We also took them to the November Open House, where we met my third pig Connor. (that's another story for later)

The brothers were very cuddly and sweet, but with distinct personalities that I will get into further in future posts. I still miss them very much, but I have tons of pictures, recorded sounds and one video of Licorice for when I miss them the most.