What I am reading now - Oink

The Whole Hog by Lyall Watson.

Its about the pig. Now, its not a topic that most people would probably want to read about, but I am intrigued by pigs. Not only is it my Chinese Astrological sign, but I've always had a grudging admiration for the porkers. I don't just see them as something you see on the supermarket shelf, or put on the braai for a meal. To me pigs are highly intelligent, adaptable and perceptive creatures.

There are thousands of varieties of pigs around the world. All have adapted to their surrounding and environments. Pigs are not the unclean slovenly creatures portrayed in fiction and other works. Nope, they are organised societies of individuals who have a highly structured and organised way of life. A group of pigs is called a sounder, a female virgin pig is called a gilt and a castrated male a barrow and an adolescent pig, a soafer. Pigs are not the filthy creatures we imagine them to be. Yes, they do enjoy a good roll in the mud (only to remove skin parasites and to keep their skin from drying out. They also have certain areas that they do their business in, and they are quite secretive about these areas, in fact they've become quite secretive about them.

Its been estimated that pigs have been around for millions of years, and recent fossil findings in America indicate that they were a lot larger and more fearsome than their cousins of today. Some skeleton finds have shown that some species were as large as a horse and weighed hundreds of kilograms. They showed no resemblance to the many languid pigs species of today, and many scientists think they might have been carnivorous as well!

Pigs are said to closely resemble human beings in regard to their organs and their placements, and tests conducted on their DNA show that we might be more closely related than we thought. In Japan they are doing extensive tests to see if pigs DNA can be used to treat human diseases, and although the project is in its infancy, the results are promising.

So next time you see a pig, stop and think. Its not all about the meat - these are highly intelligent and aware individuals that deserve our respect and admiration.