Meet Rosie and Tillie, Ojai's First Spokespigs
What a week it's been!
(For pigtures visit: http://www.ojaipost.com/2008/02/a_visit_to_an_ojai_pig_sanctua.shtml)
Early Monday morning I got a call that two pot-bellied pig sisters, Rosie and Tillie, needed a home. Their rescue-mom had two more homeless pigs coming and there was no more room at the Pig Inn. I agreed to take them on faith, sight unseen.
That afternoon the sisters arrived in style in two large dog crates. Each crate was hoisted from the back of a station wagon on top of a child's wagon, in order to pull them into the backyard. The first one out was Tillie, who is black and looks like my old pig Rosie. ("Old" Rosie left her body three years ago.) Then came "new" Rosie, who is white. "New" Rosie does not resemble old Rosie so naturally, for the first few hours, I got "new" white Rosie and Tillie, the black-Rosie-look-alike, mixed up.
Within minutes of being released, the two sisters began happily rototilling the back yard and eating the delicious young spring grass and other goodies. Pig Heaven! So much space, rich mulch and soft earth!
Normally pigs naturally retire at sunset but these girls were too excited to sleep! I tried turning off all the outside lights and hoped they would go to bed like good little piggies. Around 8 p.m. I tiptoed into the yard to check on them. I could see their lumbering figures in the moonlight, one dark, one white, still digging and rooting. I tried luring them into their igloos with pieces of carrot and apple. Finally, somewhat exasperated, I sprinkled cereal into the back of their huts. When they stepped inside, I quickly tiptoed back into the house, turned off all the lights and went to bed.
I had positioned their igloos as close together as possible, thinking that way they would feel more secure in their new digs. I had my bedroom window open, so I could hear them -- just in case. There is a steady stream of night time visitors in my yard: humble possums in various stages of life, from young and fragile looking to more sturdy but still vulnerable looking adults; whole families of fearless raccoons, sometimes all together, sometimes couples and occasionally alone. The fence is high enough to keep coyotes out, but I often hear them yipping and howling nearby.
Later that night, when I very quietly checked on them, I could see that white Rosie was deep asleep. But black Tillie, the more assertive one, was restless and when I stepped on a leaf she burst out of her igloo like a mad dog and turned toward me, ready to attack! As soon as she heard my voice, she made a soft friendly grunt, just like my old Rosie used to do. I quickly scurried back into the house and hoped she'd go to sleep.
I could hear Tillie moving around in her shelter on and off through the night. At dawn I discovered she had dislodged the top of the igloo from the bottom. Both pigs were busy rototilling when I brought them their breakfast-- warm "mush" -- alfalfa pellets and bran mixed with warm water. They had a great morning working the soil and eating everything edible. These are not lazy pigs!
That afternoon I discovered the two of them sleeping snuggly together in one igloo. At first I could hardly believe my eyes. I did not think it was possible for two pigs to fit into such a small space! So cute, the two snouts poking out from underneath the comforter!
I called up Marty, their foster mom, and found out they were used to sleeping together. Aha! That might explain why Tillie was so restless in the night! They figured out how to take turns entering the igloo and maneuvering themselves so they can lie down and fit in a space barely big enough for one pig. (A larger igloo is on the way!)
I've only had Tillie and Rosie for five days but already there's been enough fun and mischief to fill a book!
They are very, very smart! And I know that in the coming weeks, they will have a lot to say...
For pictures of where Rosie and Tillie came from:
http://www.ojaipost.com/2008/02/a_visit_to_an_ojai_pig_sanctua.shtml
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Comments (16)
How cute! Would love to see pics!
Comment #1 Posted by: Lisa Snider | February 29, 2008 09:43 PM
Thanks, Lisa! I rewrote the story after you read it. Just had to put that first week on paper... Will post pics of the pigs soon!
Comment #2 Posted by: Suza | March 1, 2008 05:46 AM
You'll be glad to know that today, March 1, is National Pig day!
Check it out: http://website.lineone.net/~jbonno/greenpigs/pigday.htm
On this day, remember that we pigs are the most intelligent domesticated creatures! We have very distinct personality traits. We are sociable and very much like people in many ways.
Ofcourse, we would never be so cruel as to confine people to steel crates where they cannot move or even turn around. We know for a fact that our less fortunate brothers and sisters go insane with boredom as they gnaw at their steel bars.
But on this day, let us celebrate what lucky pigs we are to live in Ojai!
Comment #3 Posted by: Rosie and Tillie | March 1, 2008 07:51 AM
I'm looking forward to the day when Rosie and Tillie become official Ojai Post Authors!!
Comment #4 Posted by: snarky commenter | March 1, 2008 09:43 AM
Oink, oink!
We are hoping Laura Stinchfield, Ojai's own pet psychic and animal communicator, will help us write our Spiritual Memoir.
Comment #5 Posted by: Rosie and Tillie | March 1, 2008 09:55 AM
Sounds like your new friends are getting comfortable in their new home, that they are very lucky to be with you, and...that you are becoming hopelessly attached! Compared to the way pigs are treated on factory farms, these two are truly in Pig Heaven! Glad they're willing to be spokespigs for their brethren.
Comment #6 Posted by: Andrea Aalba | March 1, 2008 10:00 AM
What lucky little pigs! Can we visit other lucky pigs at the Ojai Pig Sanctuary?
Comment #7 Posted by: sharon | March 1, 2008 03:40 PM
Have you seen the little piggies
Crawling in the dirt?
And for all the little piggies
Life is getting worse
Always having dirt to play around in
Have you seen the bigger piggies
In their starched white shirts?
You will find the bigger piggies
Stirring up the dirt
Always have clean shirts to play around in
In their styes with all their backing
They don't care what goes on around
In their eyes there's something lacking
What they need's a damn good whacking
Everywhere there's lots of piggies
Living piggy lives
You can see them out for dinner
With their piggy wives
Clutching forks and knives to eat their bacon
-George Harrison
Comment #8 Posted by: Anon da Kosher | March 1, 2008 11:27 PM
#5-thanks for the major laff this morning.
you know i was raised kosher.
it's still a big deal for me every time i eat bacon or ham.
i usually cross myself, ask forgiveness and take tiny bites
Comment #9 Posted by: El Anonimo | March 2, 2008 07:05 AM
Yesterday we took some PIGtures of Rosie and Tillie sleeping blissfully snout to snout.
I don't have a digital camera, but will figure out how to post them.
There are 44 pigs at the Ojai pig sanctuary waiting to be adopted. Call Marty at 646-8349. Here's a link to photos of some of the rescued piggies in case you missed it:
http://www.ojaipost.com/2008/02/a_visit_to_an_ojai_pig_sanctua.shtml
Comment #10 Posted by: Suza | March 2, 2008 10:49 AM
El Anonimo, we wish that you wouldn't eat our brothers and sisters, but we forgive you.
We hope you will have mercy on the animals you eat and that you will vote YES for the Humane Farming Initiative which will be on the ballot this November.
We wish humans would remember that pigs have nervous systems, just like you do, and that we suffer enormously when we are stored in metal crates like ears of corn.
We feel immense fear and pain when you slice off our snouts, our limbs and boil us alive.
We are sorry to have to tell you this but we know you are someone with a conscience who is seeking enlightenment.
Enlightenment begins with a full look at the worst.
Comment #11 Posted by: Rosie nd Tillie | March 2, 2008 11:17 AM
well i guess the laffs on me.
and truth is i am no longer SEEKING enlightenment.
i AM enlightened, just like you, but you forgot.
just try to remember.
communing with pigs may help
AMEN
Comment #12 Posted by: El Anonimo | March 2, 2008 11:59 AM
Suza,
You stinker!! Are you thinkin'like I'm thinkin'? Those little Farmer Jane porker's on the barbie, say after parade on July 4th!!
Love to you & and the girls, Dottie
Comment #13 Posted by: Grannie | March 3, 2008 06:28 PM
When I went outside to give Rosie and Tillie their Alfalfa Soup, I saw that they had dragged their quilt, which was airing out on a nearby chair, almost all the way inside their new castle! I have been spreading the quilt on the floor at the end of the day, but today I was late...
Comment #14 Posted by: Suza | March 3, 2008 06:44 PM
We wish everyone in Ojai who still eats pigs(whose physiology is most like humans)would read this article in the New York Times:
Our Pigs, Our Food, Our Health http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/12/opinion/12kristof.html?em
We feel so lucky to wake up every morning in our beautiful yard, where we can root to our heart's content. But it haunts us to think of all the millions of pigs living out their lives trapped in metal cages.
For your own sake, as much as for ours, find out where your food comes from. If you must eat us, find a farmer who lets pigs run free!
Have you read, "The Pig Who Sang to the Moon: The Emotional World of Farm Animals," by New York Times bestselling author Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson?
It shows without a shadow of doubt that no living creature is merely livestock. All creatures have natures, needs, and a uniqueness and goodness of their own.
Our job as humans is to open our eyes and see the world as it really is, not as we have been brainwashed to see it.
Comment #15 Posted by: Rosie and Tillie | March 12, 2009 07:21 AM
We meant, "Your job as humans..." (sometimes we forget we are pigs.)
Comment #16 Posted by: Whoops! | March 12, 2009 07:32 AM