Act 2

The first post was the last post of this blog because sadly Piggy did not work out as a pet for us. We did try to make it work. Where we went wrong is choosing a piglet and not waiting for the right one. We kept Piggy for a month. He loved the 2 kids. but as for DD and I he considered us the enemy. We practiced plenty of patience with this little guy and would have continued, but as I was hand feeding him one day he bit me. Not just a little nibble, he was mad because I wasn't feeding him fast enough and he latched on and got me good. The farmer happily bought him back. This pig was going to be too big and was not bred to be a pet. Big mistake. We have heard of plenty farm pets as pigs, but what we did not hear was how it was accomplished. It begins with bottle feeding and things like choosing a female vs a male. Lesson learned and we vowed to be prepared for our next attempt at keeping a pig as a pet. Our time and memories with Piggy will always be cherished. Our experiences with him taught us so much and prepared us for our next pig adventure.

Flash forward 3 years. We have learned a lot in 3 years and have waited for a sweet little mini pig to keep as a pet. Enter Vera Chaples. She is the wonderful woman who runs The Mystic Jungle Educational Facility in Live Oak, Fl. My cousin "Turtle" volunteers there and introduced me to Vera on Facebook. Turtle thought it would be a great idea for my family to take a tour at "The Jungle" when I came out for a visit. I friended Vera on FB and was chatting with her to arrange our tour. In the meantime Vera posted pictures on her timeline of potbelly piglets that were only hours old. The next thing I knew I was arranging to adopt one. We eagerly awaited and anticipated the moment we could tour "The Jungle" and pick out our piglet.

Two weeks after the piglets were born we traveled to Live Oak and spent some time at Turtle's house. She makes a mean turkey sandwich by the way. The kids loved visiting Turtle. She has a large spread and cool animals. When we pulled up her alarm sounded off to let her know we were there. Her alarm also turned out to be the welcoming committee. It is a very special treat to be greeted by Geese. The kids were ecstatic. My daughter, Abbe', could hardly wait to get out of the Jeep because she wanted to get fresh eggs out of the hen house. She even brought a basket to carry them in. Zane loved the goats and DD was just glad to get out in the fresh open spaces. Turtle has lots of cats and Abbe' was thrilled chasing them around the outside and inside of the house. We had to keep a very close eye on Zane because he loves water and Turtle has a pond. After visiting with Turtle we loaded up and headed to the Jungle.

At the jungle we saw lots of big cats and other animals. At the end of our tour Vera took me to see the piglets. They were all precious, but I knew I had to have the little black and white and tan one that did turn out to be a female. Two weeks later Abbe' and I, chauffeured by Turtle, returned to the jungle to pick up our piglet. I showed up with a pink satchel type pet carrier to put her in. Vera's son made notice of my pink carrier. My little piggy is going to be a foo foo piggy and I do not care who knows it. The carrier turned out to work very well in transporting piggy home. St. Johns is quite a ride from Live Oak. It kept her calm and cozy.

We have had piggy 3 weeks now and she has become part of our family We cannot imagine being without her. It will be my goal to blog daily on how she is adjusting and what works out as well as what does not. Since this post is so long winded, I will begin anew tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.