Pigs • Vol. 18: #43 • (10-23-2022) Tidbits of Coachella Valley

October is National Pork Month, and what better time for us to pay tribute to the contributors of this dinnertime delicacy? So slip on your barn boots and follow along as Tidbits trods into the wonderful world of pigs!

• Pigs are one of the oldest domesticated animals, with records of their use dating back more than 6,000 years. There are hundreds of different varieties of domesticated pigs. A typical domesticated pig that has avoided the slaughterhouse lives 15 to 18 years, but some live as long as 20 years.

• It’s estimated there are as many as two billion pigs in the world at any given time. It doesn’t take long to produce a litter of piglets. Their gestation period is an easy one to remember – 3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days – a total of 114 days. The mother pig, or sow, can give birth to 8 to 13 piglets each time, twice a year, with each piglet weighing around 3.5 lbs. at birth. The baby’s weight can double in only one week. Once weaned, the piglet will be known as a shoat.

A mother pig, or sow, with her piglets.

• The weight range of pigs is broad, with an adult pig weighing anywhere between 110 lbs. and 770 lbs. The world’s smallest known pig breed is the Gottingen minipig, a breed developed in Europe. A typical adult of this breed weighs about 57 pounds.

A baby Gottingen minipig sniffs strawberries to give perspective on its tiny size.

• In 1933, Tennessee farmer Elias Butler raised a massive pig weighing over a ton at a remarkable 2,552 lbs. Butler named his Poland China breed hog “Big Bill,” a fitting name for the huge porker.

Elias Butler stands beside his massive hog, Big Bill, who weighed an incredible 2,552 pounds.

• Pigs emit many more vocal sounds than just “oink, oink!” The sounds are everything from grunts and barks to squeals, coughs, and pants. Mother pigs grunt during feeding time, while barks might mean either danger or playtime. An anxious pig or one in pain will squeal, but will cough when annoyed. If you hear a pig panting softly, he’s trying to be friendly! Their sounds are so distinctive that piglets learn the tone of their mother’s voice at a very young age, and can recognize her call among the sounds of a large and noisy barnyard gathering. Pig aficionados have identified at least 20 different noises the animals use to communicate with each other.

• What’s the correct term for a group of pigs? It depends on their age. A group of piglets is a litter or farrow, but the group becomes a drove or drift when they are considered adolesents. A group of older pigs goes by several different names – a sounder, passel, parcel, herd, or team.

• Males are boars, and females are sows, but a female that has never been mated is called a queen. If she has never been pregnant or is pregnant for the first time, she’s a gilt. A castrated male is referred to as a barrow.

• We’ve all heard the expression “sweating like a pig,” but it’s an inaccurate phrase, because pigs don’t sweat! When they need to cool themselves, they wallow in mud, getting rid of body heat through their skin and respiration. Once the outside temperature reaches between 63 and 70 degrees F (170 to 210 C), they will seek out mud, frequently covering themselves from head to toe. Wallowing also serves as a sunscreen for their tender skin, as well as a way to protect themselves from lice and ticks. It can also be a way of marking their territory.

• Another erroneous phrase is “pigging out” or “eating like a pig.” While they are actually slow-eating animals, savoring the taste, and easily digesting their food, their "pleasure grunts" can be mistaken for gluttonish sounds. Although pigs are omnivorous, meaning they will eat both plants and animal meat, the most popular pig farm diet is corn or soybeans.

• But pigs will, in fact, eat almost anything – and human bones are no exception. In 2012, a farmer in Oregon was eaten by his pigs after suffering a fatal heart attack and falling into their enclosure. By the time a concerned relative came looking for him days later, only his hat, his dentures and torn articles of clothing remained.

• They may be indiscriminate eaters, but pigs are also highly intelligent and incredibly social animals. When kept in a group they will snuggle close to one another, and prefer to sleep nose-to-nose. Studies have also shown that, much like humans, they dream.

• Maybe pigs can’t fly, but they can definitely run and they can swim! A domestic pig can run up to 11 miles per hour, while the wild boar can reach a speed of 15 mph. Pigs enjoy sunbathing and dipping in bodies of water to cool off. Some of the Caribbean Islands have designated coastal places where humans and pigs can swim together!

• It’s said that an elephant never forgets, but it’s actually pigs who don’t forget! They are believed to have an expansive memory that can recollect events from a young age. Pigs are extremely intelligent animals, perhaps smarter than dogs, and even a three-year-old human! They can be taught tricks just like a dog, and some learn their name more quickly than the average dog does.

• A pig’s eyes are small for the size of their head and their eyesight is very poor, but that’s balanced by a keen sense of smell. They have nine different olfactory glands that enable them to recognize odors for finding food, looking for a mate, and assessing their surroundings. That sharp memory also helps them remember where they’ve found food before. And they really experience the taste of that food! A human has approximately 9,000 taste buds, while the pig has an estimated 15,000!

• Not everything about pigs is good news, however. Pigs can carry parasites and diseases that can prove fatal to humans. Roundworm parasites known as trichinella can live and reproduce in swine, and humans can get the infection by eating undercooked pork.

• While most pigs are not aggressive, they have been known to charge and attack humans if they think their offspring are being threatened. Wild feral hogs cause upwards of $1.5 billion in damages to U.S. crops, forests, livestock, fences, and pastures every year. There are an estimated five million of this destructive species in 38 states today, with 2.6 million in Texas alone.

• A pig is sent to the slaughterhouse when it reaches between 250 and 300 lbs., around six months of age for most pigs.

• Besides the common culinary products – bacon, sausage, bratwurst, ribs, chops, and ham – there is a wide range of at least 185 different by-products produced from pigs. For example, pork gelatin acts as a gelling agent in many types of candy and marshmallows. It’s used in beer, wine, and fruit juices to absorb the cloudiness of the beverages, as well as a stabilizer in whipped cream and cream cheese. Pork glycerin is an ingredient in toothpaste, shampoo, soaps, and lotions. Pigs’ hair is often used as bristles in the manufacture of paint brushes, and is also an ingredient in some fertilizers and weed killers.

• In the medical world, because the human heart valve and that of the pig are very similar in structure and function, pigs’ heart valves are used to surgically replace heart valves for humans. A transplanted heart valve taken from a pig can work efficiently for 15 years and longer.

Tidbits Game Time:

Find at least six differences in detail between the panels.

"Next time I get to choose the course - and for quality instead of the cheapest green fees!"