Pigs save their bacon

As the floodwaters rose around her north Canterbury home, 20-month-old Sharnika had one question. ‘‘Boris?’’ Sharnika’s parents Staven and Genna Mcquillan thought they would have to break bad news to their daughter once the sun rose on Friday.

They feared that Boris the much loved boar had been swept away and drowned along with three breeding sows, 10 porkers, 16 piglets, 50 chickens, 10 to 15 turkeys, 10 sheep and a goat.

The Okuku River burst its banks on Wednesday evening, roaring through their 20-acre north Canterbury farm, felling trees and sweeping away property.

But when the floodwaters receded and the sun came up on Friday, they discovered that all the pigs had survived the flood by swimming through the night and ‘‘holding on with their arms wrapped around a branch’’, Staven Mcquillan said.

Boris was found in the morning, sleeping off the rough night and basking in the warmth of the recently returned sun.

He was a bit grumpy, but very much alive.

Staven Mcquillan was the first to discover him.

‘‘We weren’t sure if he was alive. ‘‘He was very still. ‘‘I poked him in the butt and he let out a little grunt and then went back to sleep. ‘‘He was buggered.’’ ‘‘We thought we had lost all the pigs. We care for these animals and it was awful to think they had all drowned.’’

Staven Mcquillan spent most of Wednesday night trying to find the pigs and drag them to higher ground. ‘‘I wasn’t warm and cosy in bed. I was out here in my boxers, covered in mud with a head torch on trying to find the pigs. Sharnika was screaming for us while we were in the water.’’

Genna Mcquillan said her daughter was thrilled to see Boris alive and well. ‘‘She was so happy. ‘‘She loves the pigs so much. She was at the window all day asking where Boris was.’’

The 16 piglets were found sheltering under the house. The piglets popped out one by one through a small gap in the clapboard as Staven Mcquillan herded them out on Friday.

The sheep and the goats managed to cross the swollen Okuku River and flee to higher ground.

The only casualties were about 40 chickens that drowned, although some survived by roosting in the trees.