On a wing and a pig

True pig facts

Delightful piglets, compliments of funkypancake

Pig litters are unable to sweat, and they wallow in mud to cool off. So no, you don't sweat like a pig.

They are considered by animal trainers to be smarter and more trainable than cats or dogs.

Pigs are unique, from a scientific point of view because they are one of the only large mammals that exist in every part of the world.

The Chinese domesticated the pig over 7,000 years ago, making it the first domesticated animal.
They communicate using calls, snorts, sniffs, and whistles.
Source: PBS, U.S.

The U.S. and Canada toughed it out over their border for many years, but it was a potato-loving pig on St. Juan Island that provoked the Pig War of 1856.

When a female pig smells a male pig, she stands absolutely still.
Source: Columbia University.
In a game called Pass the Pig, where you toss pigs instead of dice, you are more likely to throw pink sides than trotters. Source: Fabrice Derepas

False pig facts

These are impossible to verify.

Link link

Self-description: Porkopolis is a repository of pig knowledge and appreciation. My favorite quote from their pages:
"I learned long ago never to wrestle with a pig.You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it." George Bernard Shaw, Irish-born British writer

And then again, from Porkopolis, this is nice: "Nature has played some weird tricks on the pig. It has taken a creature with a brain thought to be inferior only to primates, endowed it with copious amounts of lard, and made it walk on the animal equivalent of high heels." Steven Hall, U.S. writer

Lost professions: swineherder

Modern farming, free range pigs.

Compassionate farming, from Ireland, with good basic information about how market pigs are raised, and what the options are to improve conditions.

Babirusa: Now this is truly some pig! See the hairless wonder in St. Louis and read about how pigs live in families.

Tomorrow, human flu permitting: flying pigs