Hubert's Frosty Winter

I thought Hubert would not venture out on the cold being that he's from Vietnam and is not equipped for the cold but that turned out not to be his main concern.

When faced with snow, Hubert apparently tests the first inch or so and decides that it may be some kind of swamp or quicksand and will not put his full weight on it. I know this because, after shoveling the snow down to the ground, Hubert determined that it was safe and went out to do his business. But, interestingly, not until I left him alone near the door to the outside to contemplate the situation. While I remained at that door, Hubert kept trying to tell me that he would prefer for me to come into the basement and give him some goodies there. I was not about to give in to him and proceeded to walk away into the yard to play ball with the dogs. Sure enough, he was soon in the yard grunting about why he couldn't have stayed in Texas where it was warm all year long. [he was born in Texas].

I also noticed on a previous day, where the ground was covered with just a dusting of snow, that Hubert needs to recognize (smell) the ground. Only after he digged around with his snout did he poop and pee.

Hubert is also terrified of icy conditions. If he detects that he may slide, he does not continue along the same path but finds an alternate route around. Aren't we all like that? Afraid of the road less-traveled.

Hubert is very good at pooping and peeing in areas that are removed from his bedding and his food dish. Yesterday, he had to "go" but Grandma, who usually lets him out in the morning, was not around to open the outside door. Hubert went into my son's (his owner's) room in the basement and pooped there. [My son's room had been left open by Grandpa who needed to make sure that my son, vacationing in Columbia, had not left any heaters on.] I should have suspected something when, later that day, when I took him for his walk, his volume of poop was greatly diminished. My son had told me that these pigs hold their poop for days if they have to in order not to do their business near their living quarters. Ha, Hubert had determined that the operative words were "out of sight" of your living quarters.
.

Hubert chilling in the Fall.

This is Hubert taking his daily walk with me. His tail it not up in the air which means he's not fertilizing the bush. I don't know if it's intentional but Hubert has a preference for plants. It's almost as if he knows that if he does for them (the plants) they'll do for him (berries, leaves).

As you can see, he's kind of exotic looking--very Asian eyes.

He's become very tolerant of Abby, one of our two dogs, but he still gets upset if Abby tries to come into his "room" where he sleeps.
The weather is getting colder. It's now nearly December but the cold days that we've had do not seem to bother Hubert. He still ventures into the yard and will chill underneath his favorite table if the Sun is shining. I think his black coat keeps him somewhat warm. We'll see what the Winter holds for his majesty.

Hubert at a garden wedding.

This is Hubert at my son's garden wedding in July of this 2007. He cleared away the mulch and began to make himself a mud bath. He was the hit of the wedding and was very well behaved but then, people were feeding him food all day.

Hubert gets a taste of his own medicine

There we were; a bunch of us gathered in our backyard. Our neighbor had some relatives over and one of them wanted to see Hubert. He didn't need much prompting because wherever there is a crowd, there is Hubert smack dab in the middle of things.

I took out some soy nuts so that the relative could see Hubert munch on something. But Eddie, our Jack Russell Terrier, asked for some for himself. Now, Eddie does not particularly like nuts but being a JRT he wanted some of the action. I threw some near him and Hubert went over to get them. Well, you'd think someone was trying to abscond with Eddie's meat chunks. He growled at poor Hubert and faked biting him. Hubert was flaggergasted and walked away. I gave him more soy nuts.

BTW,I figured out why Hubert always seems to be in the middle of things. It's just that he isn't very nimble and must plant himself like a log if he is to be at all social.

Green Pig

Hubert is a jealous pig. I've noted that if he and I are alone, he grunts little. If I start talking with someone else in the family, Hubert will start to "complain" by grunting loudly. I seems he requires the undivided attention or loyalty of his most immediate "family" member [perhaps the one who feeds him]. I like to think that he is just "joining in" the conversation.

Hubert has a love for company. Yesterday, I invited some neighborhood girls to pet Hubert. They enjoyed him as they would have enjoyed a puppy. Today, Hubert remembered the petting and took off for the front of the house where we had first encountered the girls (he never goes there unless I lead him there). After a bit of waiting where no one showed up, Hubert returned to the back of the house but not before trying to taste the mortar that I had just used to repair some cracks. Luckily for me, he listens to me when I call out, "HUBERT." Interestingly, Hubert always listens to me when I speak to him; but if I should physically try to move him, he complains loudly before finally acquiescing.

If I have time, I'll try to record his many grunts to see if I can garner any meaning.

I promised to talk about Hubert's excrement (aren't blogs great?). As I told you earlier, Hubert plops down some real doozies. But they are great for seeding grass. I mix the poop with water, soil, and seeds. I then spread it around bald spots. If I keep it watered, seeds sprout in 3 days.

By the way, pig manure stops smelling within seconds of landing on the ground. Within minutes, it can be scooped up without any of it sticking to the tools (I use a hoe and shovel). I maintain a compost heap of sorts. When the turds come in, I cut them up with a straight hoe so that they decompose more efficiently. I'll mix them with soil which I water and turn over every two days or so.

This blog is about Hubert, the Vietnamese pot-bellied pig, but I'd like to tell you that I found the flies interesting. I've noted two different species, the common house fly and a red, elongated fly. If the red flies are on the turd, the house flies stay away and vice-versa. The flies stay on the turd only for a few minutes. When the turd dries out the flies take off but they will return if you re-wet the manure.

As concerns Hubert's lovability factor, let me tell you about my 15 year-old daughter. She had acted like she didn't like Hubert because of the way he treated our Pit Bull mix terrier, Abbey. My daughter and I argued good-naturedly about Hubert and she, at times, had me convinced that she didn't care that much for Hubert. Today, however, I caught her hugging Hubert as he lay on the ground; it almost seemed as if she were apologizing to him for "being mean to him." No one who knows him can hate him.

However, the following caveat applies: If you are doing any yard work, Hubert must, if it's not a hot sunny day, be in the thick of things. He will come over to you when you are working and ask if you are foraging. Because foraging in the yard is the only activity he understands; what else would you be doing there? He will come over and sniff around and stay there until he figures out that there is nothing to be gained by lingering. If he determines that you offer nothing to eat, he will head for the nearest shade.

These pigs do not sweat and must be near a heat sink at all times. The purpose of the mud bath is to cool their bellies down. He is so consistent with his shade requirements that I think he might explode if left in the Sun.

Yesterday I discovered that Hubert would rather drink from a leaking hose then drink from his stainless steel bowl that is filled with the same water. Go figure!

Hubert GentleGuy

Grandpa has been barricading his tomatoes against Hubert but the truth is he is turning our yard into a third world country shanty town and, all for naught, because Hubert only goes into the yard when I let him in and he is quite the obedient pig. All I have to do is call out his name and he steers away from the tomatoes. Of course, if there is a tomato leaf sticking out, he's quick to grab a bite. He also likes dandelions but only those hand-picked by my neighbor Juan. Today, I discovered that he likes crabgrass. There are several other plants around the yard that he nibbles at. Junk food includes: pizza crusts, maple syrup, soy nuts, peanuts.

For some reason, although he has a sweet tooth, he will not eat watermelon, sweet peppers, and mangoes. My theory is that avoidance of brightly-colored food enables him to stay away from poisonous mushrooms such as may be found in the jungles of his native Vietnam.

Speaking of jungles, Hubert hates the Sun. He will seek shade wherever he can find it. He loves to plop down on a cold concrete floor and, in the yard, he'll dig up a swath of grass only to plop his belly on the humid earth. I think perhaps his intestines tend to overheat with all the digesting biomass there.

When it comes to defecation, Hubert has a human characteristic in that he prefers to do it hidden from view. Oh sure, he'll output some dastardly torpedoes but when he's alone, he'll seek to do it behind some object. It's almost as if he feels vulnerable when he's alone and seeks protection. When he's with me, he'll drop one wherever he happens to be (I'm not taking offense at this).

We are starting to develop a routine. When he hears that I'm in the yard he'll come out and ask if I have any food for him--I almost always do. We then take a walk around our yard. Sometimes he leads; sometimes I do. At one or two places in our walk he'll nudge my leg and roll over on his side. It's belly scratching time. His belly is soft and I gently scratch him there; but when it comes to his hide, it's rhinoceros-like and for this I use an old saw that I gently drag across his backside. On the way back from the yard, I tell him to go inside (he lives in the basement with my two twin boys--one of whom is Hubert's owner) and he and I part company until next time.

Next time, I'll discuss pig manure.

Hubert the smarty pants

I think I've come up with the final solution to outwit Hubert and his need to scavenge the back yard. I built a stair case of two steps that the dogs can climb but that Hubert will, hopefully, not attempt.

We've decided that Hubert has a very real need to navigate our back yard and that Grandma's flower beds and Grandpa's vegetables must be kept away from Hubert's palate.

Today, I discovered that Hubert is super smart and knows and respects me more so--I'm ashamed to admit--than any of my eight kids. Where did I go wrong? Not enough peanuts and Maple syrup?

I decided to follow Hubert on his excursions and teach him what he's allowed to chow down on and what he' not. Much to my amazement and delight, Hubert loves my neighbor's berry tree. He loves it when I shove a ripe berry into his mouth. I do not ever feel his teeth when I do this; just his little tongue and lip. My neighbor passed away last year but he never ate his berries and I know he would look at Hubert and say, as he did with our Jack Russell terrier, "stupid, ugly ______(fill in animal species; dog, pig)" and then reach out and caress the pet.

Don't get me wrong. Hubert will always try to get away with things. It's his nature to be independent and adventurous. But, if you build barriers, he will respect them if only because there's so much he can do with his snout (his only means of altering his environment.)

At the entrance to my yard, I built stairs that my dogs could climb but that Hubert would view as Mr. Everest (two steps). I'll keep you posted on the efficacy of this technique.

Hubert Porkroll gets a pen.

We had to do it. Hubert took a fancy to our entire yard as his toilet. So, I built him a pen and enticed him into going in it with some nuts (I found out that VPBP's do not like to munch on food hidden within blades of grass preferring to eat what's underneath the root ball. They will, however, find the smallest morsel on flat ground).

Now, Hubert has his private toilet which he likes, and I'm trying to convince Grandpa that pig manure might just be as good as horse or cow for his tomatoes. He says he's afraid and if you saw Hubert you would understand why. Darn pig looks like a demon when he stares at you and only looks pigglely when you lay on the ground and view him from the bottom up. His other end is a tale in itself. How a 3 inch turd can effortlessly make its way thought such a tiny hole is beyond me. I only wish I could embarrass my own hole into opening up for those moments when I get off my vegetarian diet.

Hubert's manners are developing well. He now knows through a series of fancy maneuvers on my part that biting my foot to tell me he's hungry is not appreciated and now lifts up my sneaker and puts it in his mouth without chowing down on it (remember what Hanibal the Cannibal said about pigs and how they could crunch bone with their teeth? I believe it just to look at his massive masseters that endear him to us by making him look chubby and friendly--which he is.

Vietnamese Pot-Belly Pig

Hubert is loved by the entire family. I have come to admire his sense of smell. I could throw Hubert some assorted nuts and even if hidden from sight Hubert can find every last morsel. He'll sometimes be seen to return to a site that once held a morsel. He is the ultra intelligent pet. It is amazing how he tries to communicate what he needs by first, getting your attention (he nudges you or gently bites your shoe) and,then, sniffing the ground or going to his bowl and giving it a nudge.

He's a little rambunctious as when he waits for you to be in a compromising position (kneeling, squatting) and then pushes you as if to say, "let's see how strong you are down here where I roam!"

He's very obedient. You just say his name in a warning voice and he walks away from where he was and doesn't return.

I love Hubert. Now, if I can only inform my Jack Russell and my mixed Terrier that I love them too, perhaps they would accept Hubert into their lives too.