Pig-ture perfect
Our porcine friends are intelligent and cute
MORE then 5,000 years ago, Chinese Emperor Fo Hi wrote a book about keeping animals. But his subject wasn’t cats, dogs or goldfish… he chose to write about pigs.
Learning that pigs were the first animals to be domesticated reminded me of a time at university when we would look after a small, black pot-bellied pig.
The pet pig would be dispatched round to our student house each week so we could ‘pig-sit’.
We spent many a happy Saturday playing with her, bottle-feeding her and scrambling to hide her when our landlady came to collect the rent.
Apart from being quite cute, pigs have many interesting quirks – they can run at speeds of up to 11mph, they can use their sensitive snouts to dig up food from the ground and can even squeal at a volume of up to 130 decibels – that’s louder than a jet engine (120 decibels).
Pigs are omnivores, enjoying a diet of both plants and meat.
They are also extremely intelligent – almost as clever as apes and dolphins – and can “talk” to each other using a whole range of piggy sounds.
In Chinese culture, this month marks the beginning of the Year of the Pig.
If you are born in the Year of the Pig, it is said you are likely to be trusting, honest and peaceful.
People with a Pig sign make great friends but can often be shy and prefer to work behind the scenes.
This is certainly true of famous film-director Pigs Steven Spielberg and Alfred Hitchcock.
But some celebrity Pigs love being in the limelight – actor and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger, Thor actor Chris Hemsworth, Superman Henry Cavill and singers Elton John and Snoop Dogg for example.
Two Mary Poppins stars – Julie Andrews and Emily Blunt – were both born in the Year of the Pig.
Like Mary Poppins, pigs are naturally very clean and organised creatures. So next time you are told that your room looks like a pigsty, take it as a compliment!