Porkers hog limelight riding in Pig Mobile

Couple hauls tractor trailer around southern Ontario so city folk can learn about pigs

Three things to know about pigs: “Aaawww, they’re adorable.” “Eeewww, they’re stinky.” “Wow, that one’s ginormous!” Those last two points clearly didn’t sway the besotted lady at Markham Fair on the weekend, who took one look at a little pink snout and declared: “I want one. I’m serious. We’ll keep it in the garage and name it Charlotte.”

The cute little porkers in Ron and Sharon Douglas’s travelling Pig Mobile have a way of hogging the spotlight. But their 500-pound mom dozing in the glass-sided display unit commands her share of attention from sharp-eyed spectators. “Are those boobies, Mommy?” “That’s where she feeds her babies, honey.” With the 10-metre trailer hitched to their truck to tour fairs and agricultural events, the Douglases have given new meaning to the term “pulled pork.” Over the past 20 years, they’ve hauled a piece of their Huron County farm to millions of wide-eyed city folk around the province. Even Queen Elizabeth was amused during a meat-and-greet with the oinkers at a Golden Jubilee event in Toronto 10 years ago.

Hogs are the original fast food, needing only six months and a diet of ground corn, grain, vitamins and minerals to become 250pounders ready for market, explains Ron Douglas. “People can’t believe how fast they grow,” says the farmer of 40 years whose exhibit is so popular he can’t meet the demand for appearances. “There are a lot of kids who’ve never seen a pig before.”

“Is that a cow?” one tyke asks, eyeing one of the four-legged meals on wheels.

For many, first impressions have odiferous overtones.

“It tastes too stinky in here,” complains one tyke in a group of kids crowding around the display windows with noses pinched between fingers or tucked inside shirts. Adults have a different perspective. “They’re so-o-o-o-o cute,” coos one woman. “That’s it, no more bacon.” Her companion reads the sign over six-week-old weanlings: “Weaner pigs! So that’s where hot dogs come from.” Some visitors are worried about predictions of a pork shortage next year because of rising feed prices, says Sharon Douglas. “But I don’t think it’s an issue. With 96,000 pigs shipped to market every week, there’s no shortage in Ontario.”

And there’s no end to their uses, according to a chart listing porcine products that range from ham, ribs and sausage to brushes, crayons and soap.

This little piggy doesn’t do much except eat and sleep, visitors notice at the Pig Mobile at the Markham Fair. The travelling exhibit will return in November to Toronto’s Royal Winter Fair.

CAROLA VYHNAK PHOTOS One-week-old piglets scramble to find a spot to nurse. Their 500-pound mom is kept in a farrowing unit so she doesn’t squash them.