The PG Tickled Pig Rescue team had quite the adventure recently when they saved a pig just north of Clinton.
The mixed-breed intact male had been seen along the highway for about two weeks and that’s when a good Samaritan decided she was going to start feeding him even though she had no experience with pigs.
The pig made himself at home even though there was really no place for him there.
The kind lady was afraid of the pig as he started to push his weight around at feeding time and after hearing that report Tickled Pig Rescue’s Kerri Hegel decided she needed to bring him to Prince George.
When Tickled Pig Rescue got him in the kennel they used for transport there were a couple of rumblings but after that he seemed to settle in for the trip.
“He was pretty vocal through the whole trip and would get in on the conversation when he heard us talking,” Hegel said.
“When we got home we worked til 2 in the morning rigging a separate penned area for him but when we got up the next day he had already broken through and introduced himself,” Hegel said. “We knew it was going to happen but we had to try.”
Included in the Tickled Pig family is Kohko, Tater, L’il Guy, Petunia, Tank, Bonk and Mowgli and foster piggy, Ellie, from Terrace as her owner recovers from surgery.
“We’re thinking of calling him Randy because he’s chasing all the girls,” Hegel laughed.
They’ve tried to keep him separated but he just fence crashes his way back to the herd.
And when it was time to get him to his appointment with the vet to get checked and neutered it seemed he knew what was happening and put up such a fuss, breaking out of the crate until it was past his appointment time. The second attempt was a success with Ron's towing offering a secure trailer to secure the wayward Big Red. Everything went great at the vet's and he's recovering back at PG Tickled Pig Rescue.
“He’s a Houdini, pig style,” Hegel said on one of her many Facebook posts as she documents the daily shenanigans of the wayward pig.
They’ve settled on calling him Red or Big Red and Hegel’s daughter calls him Clifford, as in the Big Red Dog.
“He’s definitely a meat pig but we want him to live his life as a pet,” Hegel said. “When pigs are raised for meat they are not cared for like a pet and that leads to medical issues so they could have diseases and right now we’re just hoping he isn’t bringing anything into the herd.”
He’s got a few issues and it even looks like his ears were chewed on by a potential predator and that sparks the idea that he might’ve been out wandering on his own for longer than the two weeks he’d been seen along the highway.
During his first few days at Tickled Pig Rescue he’s been very content just to be included, Hegel said.
“It would be interesting to know where he’s come from,” Hegel said. “Most of the pigs we rescue are very afraid of humans and have come from bad situations. Red seems pretty happy to be around people and other pigs.”
After he is neutered and given a clean bill of health from the vet, Tickled Pig Rescue will rehome Red but only to the perfect piggy pet home.
“He deserves to live out his life as a pet,” Hegel said.
Right now the bills are adding up for his general care and feeding, as Tickled Pig funds their rescue efforts on their own. And then there's the upcoming vet bill.
“If everyone who reads this donated $5, we would have enough to pay the vet and get him healthy,” Hegel said.
If you'd like to donate, do an etransfer to piggiemommakerri@gmail.com.
