Tuesday's Topic -- Are Swine Fine or Unusual Pets in your Household

[SaintLouieWoman]

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/lif...A?OpenDocument

In my search for a topic for the day, I glanced at the morning paper, our lib rag that's mostly suited for the bottom of a bird cage. On the first page of the lifestyle section was the headline "Swine are Fine". Seeing how the heartland is such a hick place, I had to check it out.

As Missouri's native son (President Harry S Truman) so wisely implied, man's relationship with the pig is a complex one. Maligned for filthiness and gluttony, pigs are actually highly intelligent, emotionally sophisticated animals whose physiology is remarkably similar to our own. Whether we raise them as livestock, buy them as pets, use them as organ donors, hunt them for sport or eat them for lunch, pigs have a unique place in American culture.

We've had Vietnamese potbellied pigs at the Children's Zoo in the past for the kiddies to pet. They actually were nice little pigs.

Patriot45 hunts feral pigs in Florida and fills his freezer with lots of pork.

We have politicians who love pork, well, pork-barrel spending at least.

Sorry, this is what happens when I'm the relief Tuesday thread starter.

TOTD: Has anyone had non-traditional pets (not dogs, cats, birds, etc). How did they fit into your family?

I'll start. My sons long ago begged for a snake. We had a boa constrictor, which somehow escaped. We also had an African pancake tortoise and various reptiles. Personally, I prefer the greyhounds. :D

[linda22003]

TOTD: Pigs are for eating, not pets. Dogs are the only pets I've had - or wanted.

[SaintLouieWoman]

TOTD: Pigs are for eating, not pets. Dogs are the only pets I've had - or wanted.

Agreed. After our vacation in Florida with 5 cats in the bedroom with us, I was convinced that dogs rule!!! (learned never to stay with relatives, no matter how kind they are---hotels are best).

I wouldn't want one of those potbellied pigs snuffling around my back yard. The Humane Society had so many of them turned in when the potbellied pigs were a fad.

The article said they're also used as a source of about 40 medicines. But bacon is always good. :D

[Gingersnap]

No point in a weather update since it's the same as it has been all last week.

TOTD: We nursed an owl back to health one time after he got his head wedged in the grill of my Mom's Impala. I don't think we considered the owl as a pet. I babysat a giant Macaw once for a week and thought I would go insane. We've had a few snakes and tortoises over the years but that's about it.

Otherwise our pets have been dogs, cats, fish, and songbirds.

I would not care for a pig as a pet. I feared them as a child and I only want to encounter them in food format now.

BTW - Bacon is medicine. :D

[FlaGator]

I perfer swine to be on a plate next to the mashed potatoes.

[megimoo]

No point in a weather update since it's the same as it has been all last week.

TOTD: We nursed an owl back to health one time after he got his head wedged in the grill of my Mom's Impala. I don't think we considered the owl as a pet. I babysat a giant Macaw once for a week and thought I would go insane. We've had a few snakes and tortoises over the years but that's about it.

Otherwise our pets have been dogs, cats, fish, and songbirds.

I would not care for a pig as a pet. I feared them as a child and I only want to encounter them in food format now.

BTW - Bacon is medicine. :D

You haven't lived until you try to remove Potbelly pig crap and the smell from a fine living room carpet !

[Shannon]

I'm extremely grumpy today. I'll try not to post much.


TOTD: I can't think of any unusual pets. Hamsters and guinea pigs (foul creatures) are fairly common, I think. Other than that it was just cats, dogs, birds ( I hate birds) and fish. I let Tristan have a turtle for a couple of days before I changed my mind.

[linda22003]

[QUOTE=Shannon;25123I let Tristan have a turtle for a couple of days before I changed my mind.[/QUOTE]

After you changed your mind, was turtle soup on the menu, or was the critter small enough to flush? :D

[Junebug68]

Pigs are bacon on legs :D

[asdf2231]

We have had geckos before.

Note the past tense there. ;)