What is it like living with a “crafty” little pig?

Posted March 19th, 2011 by Nealia

I know if you are reading this, it sounds like my piggy did not work out too well but, things are really pretty good around here, pig and all.  My only complaint is the spiteful peeing once in a while.  Binky likes a routine and she likes to be around everyone…that is everyone who LIVES in this house.  Binky KNOWS her people and she is not sure if anyone else should come in the house and stay for any length of time.  Sherrill comes in and works in the office with Mark about once a week and let’s just say Binky does not like to share her #1 man.  This usually means after a couple of hours, Binky walks in the office, looks at Sherrill, and pees.  Binky will run to the door as soon as she has everyone’s attention.  I think that is Pig Latin for your time is up, you need to go home.  I am thinking if everyone did that when they had guests in the house, they would soon have no guests.  The new saying should be smart like a pig.

Binky is very much like a small, sometimes naughty child.  If she feels left out or ignored she will “act out” by peeing. After a busy day with work and a busy evening cleaning up after Binky, I was just about to thrown in the towel. That night while trying to go to sleep I told Mark, “You know what?   Binky is acting like a child that needs attention!”   The next day after work I was much more careful to keep her busy little mind VERY BUSY with stuff to do.  It worked!   No accidentally-on-purpose accidents!!   In the the long run, spending more time with Binky saved me time with no clean up of toxic waste (pig pee).

Binky loves being part of the action.  When the dogs run to the door barking to greet Mark or Jason, Binky is right in the middle of the pack. I must say it is a little weird to hear dogs barking wildly on the other side of the door, and open it to find one small little pig standing in the middle of the dogs with her tail wagging wildly. Binky’s reaction is always the same, I walk in, Binky greets me then runs to her cage to show me she has no food in her bowl. That trick does not work on me because she always cleans her plate in 3.5 seconds and then spends the next several hours trying to trick us into believing she is starving.

Our routine has changed a little and one of the big changes is Binky will not go to bed early anymore.  She likes to lay down in front of the sofa and have me lay a blanket over her so she can nap, but still be with the family.  We still do not allow Binky to sleep in our room.  Why you ask?  #1) she SNORES BIG TIME!! #2) she pees! or maybe I should say #1) she goes #1 and #2) she SNORES!

Yesterday the weather was perfect and Binky spent the day running around in our backyard. Now I know that sounds like “what could go wrong” but let me tell you about Binky’s “BIG ADVENTURE”. Monday Mark took Binky in the backyard and showed her “around”.  Mark had a temporary brain freeze and walked her around the fence in the backyard.  The “hole” in that was we had a hole in the fence in a far corner, which Mark did not apparently notice or “forgot” how smart pigs are.  Mark thought nothing of the hole but Binky made a mental map and a “Plan”.  On Tuesday morning when Mark and I woke up Binky was waiting for us to give her breakfast in her room just like always.  My day started out like every day but as soon as I got to the barn Jason told me that Lalo told him that when he (Lalo)went out in the back field to empty the manure Binky was out there rooting in the dirt. Of course Binky does not really “know” Lalo so she would NOT let him catch her.  Binky thought nothing of being a little bear “snack”, but she would have no part of  “stranger danger”!!  Lalo had to chase her all the way back to our house, and of course she used the hole in the fence to get back in. Needless to say we fixed the hole that morning so we would not have Binky running amok in the 1000 acres of woods that surround our house. Yes, we are surrounded by 1000 acres of state land:  see our website to view pictures.  The funny part of the whole thing was Mark was totally “SURPRISED” that Binky found the hole and got out. All I could say was “Mark pigs are the fourth smartest animal on this planet…. humans, primates, dolphin/whales, THEN PIGS!!!

Mark and I both love Binky and enjoy her “pigness”, BUT I cannot say the same thing for our dogs.  My dogs seem to have an invisible target or sign on them that makes them easy pickins for a crafty little pig.