Everybody loves a good mystery. Especially once it’s solved. …
Contrary to what some believe, potbellied pigs are not supposed to be really big. Yes, they have a unique body shape that gives them their oh-so-enviable name, but otherwise, they tend to stay trim and healthy if given the right amount of diet and exercise.
Some of the pigs at Best Friends, however, came in so overweight they couldn’t even see through the skin folds around their eyes. A proper diet and exercise routine has worked wonders time and again with getting the pigs down to a healthy weight. In the wild, for example, potbellied pigs are out foraging for fruits and nuts … not mac ‘n cheese. Amazing what happens once they start eating what nature intended!
At any rate, because of all these strict dietary guidelines and such, it was a little puzzling when Jack the pig started looking a bit more round than usual. Best Friends vet Dr. Tara Timpson commented that he was getting overweight. Yvonne, the pig manager, couldn’t understand how that might have happened. His diet hadn’t changed. He was still getting lots of exercise and walks. They are very careful on treats. What was going on?
And then one day, the jig was up. Jack went on a walk with a volunteer — as he often does — and the volunteer came back with a single question that sealed Jack’s fate. "Um, is he supposed to be getting into all that fruit?" Busted!
Near to the pastures and play areas where the horses and pigs live is a long line of apple and pear trees. Trees that are in season right about now, as it happens. Trees that have, in fact, been dropping fruit to the ground. And Jack, opportunistic fellow that he is, has taken it upon himself to gently persuade his volunteer walkers to go check out that particular scenic slice of the lower canyon. "Hey, come check out the view over here!" Then, as soon as he was within gobbling distance, he’d chow down on as many apples and pears as he could in passing. Clever pig.
Safe to say, Jack is now under strict observation. Nine times out of ten he gets caught before he can get anywhere near the natural smorgasbord. But only nine times out of ten. You see, if Jack can manage to sneak far enough toward the trees before anybody notices, he beelines it even if they start calling after him. Hey, fall only comes once a year. Gotta’ make the most of it, right?
Story by David Dickson
Photos by Molly Wald
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