I'd Like You To Meet One of my Four-Footed Neighbors

A Pig Who Lives Near Me, © B. Radisavljevic
@bagarad (14283)
Paso Robles, California
August 15, 2015 1:21am CST
I live within walking distance of a neighborhood just outside the city limits. People here like to keep all kinds of animals. A veterinarian lives on the corner by the main street. I have seen horses, goats, cows, geese, chickens and sheep there. But this is the animal who really stands out. I was actually alarmed when I was trying to take the photos because it was very close to what appeared to be a flimsy fence -- especially when the pig butted it to try to knock it over. What interesting animals do you have living near you? Do you own any animals besides cats or dogs? Have you ever been really close to a pig?
13 people like this
12 responses
@sacmom (14192)
• United States
15 Aug 15
I've only been close to a pot bellied pig before. Does that count? lol I have all sorts of animals. It's like a mini zoo! I have a dog, a cat, 2 parrots, chickens, a leopard gecko, and a betta fish. I've also had rabbits, hamsters, ducks, a turkey, and a horse in the past! Oh yeah, and there are also cows and horses nearby. lol
1 person likes this
@sacmom (14192)
• United States
16 Aug 15
@bagarad Why, are you offering me one?
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
16 Aug 15
@sacmom Sorry, but no.
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
15 Aug 15
I think the pot bellied pig counts. My sister-in-law would like to get one, but I'm not sure my brother does. They are pretty expensive, I think. Do you currently have a place where you could keep a large animal?
1 person likes this
@topffer (42156)
• France
15 Aug 15
I have a cat at home, and several birds in the garden. I had nests of blackbirds and doves in the trees this year. I saw once in the countryside a huge rose pig sunbathing on the road. I suppose it had escaped from a farm. I had to stop the car and beep a moment before it accepted to move. I have been afraid once when I was picking mushrooms in a thick forest to see at 10 feet from me a female wild boar with 3 or 4 children. I thought that the boar would charge me soon and I did not moved. They finally decided to run on the opposite direction.
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
15 Aug 15
I used to go to a camp where wild boars sometimes ran through the open air cabins at night. They were often seen in camp because they were used as garbage disposals in the evenings after the last meal was being cleaned up.
1 person likes this
@topffer (42156)
• France
15 Aug 15
@bagarad It is a serious problem for people living near woods today. Wild boars are now considered as a harmful species and can be hunted during all the year. In the past they had 1 or 2 children, but some people who were breeding wild boars in private woods have crossed them with pigs to have more income. Some of these wild boars have escaped and it is not uncommon now to see wild boars with 5 or 6 piglets.
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
16 Aug 15
@topffer At camp they had Friday night luaus with roast boar.
1 person likes this
@allknowing (134944)
• India
15 Aug 15
I have heard of pigs being kept as pets. I hope this pig is a pet and not kept for meat. Who can forget that movie - Pig in the city or some such name!!
1 person likes this
@allknowing (134944)
• India
16 Aug 15
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
15 Aug 15
I'm quite sure this is not a pet. The people in this area are raising meat for market.
@Mavic123456 (21893)
• Thailand
15 Aug 15
wow.. amazing neighbor.. Hello neighbor you look gorgeous. anyway, we are not allowed to have pets here... but, oh well we have so many house lizards (gecko) mosquitoes and spiders (do they count?)
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
15 Aug 15
I'm not cool with the idea of pet spiders, though I have known people who kept tarantulas. Some people do keep lizards as pets. But mosquitoes? I don't think so.
@Mavic123456 (21893)
• Thailand
16 Aug 15
@bagarad hahaha no worries, they are all friendly they are usually called house lizards, house spiders, tarantulas.. ah mmm that's a different story. hahaha we are in Asia tropical countries, mosquitoes love us so much here.. but fortunately in my apartment even if I leave the door and windows open I don't have mosquitoes, maybe it has to do with cleanliness also. and also i am lucky to have NO FLIES. yepeee
1 person likes this
@jstory07 (139309)
• Roseburg, Oregon
16 Aug 15
That is a nice looking hog that you took a picture of.
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
16 Aug 15
Yes, but I'm glad we had a fence between us.
@Gina145 (3949)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
16 Aug 15
You're lucky to have access to all those interesting animals. The only place I get to see them is in the zoo and I haven't been there for years.
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
16 Aug 15
I live in an agricultural area. I used to have alpacas and bison (domestic) where I could see them.
@Gina145 (3949)
• Johannesburg, South Africa
16 Aug 15
@bagarad And I've lived in a city my whole life. Not at all what some Americans expect for someone living in Africa. Unless it's just a myth that many Americans believe we have wild animals walking in the streets.
1 person likes this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
15 Aug 15
When I was a girl, there was a place up over a hill that had horses, and one day they all got free. I will never forget the very surreal memory of horses in our back yard. I would be afraid to get too close to the pig, too. Don't blame you for that.
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
16 Aug 15
I'm sure pigs can be dangerous if they are not used to you and you aren't the one who feeds them. Same with any strange animal, really.
@lucia2 (103)
• Italy
15 Aug 15
@bagarad I live in a big city, so interesting animals do not live near me. At present, I do not have any pets. Never been really close to a pig.
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
16 Aug 15
I even have videos of the pigs on YouTube/
@thesids (22180)
• Bhubaneswar, India
15 Aug 15
I dont see any Pigs here at my place. But yes, when I was working at Allahabad (another city in a different state), there were too many of them but no one had them as pets. I dont have any pets today. Though my nephew had got a white rabbit, a few fishes and some birds. The biggest issue is that we get too attached with our pets and their loss can be a misery. I have very fond memories of the only pet we had (when I was a bachelor and stayed with my parents). I miss her so much.
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
16 Aug 15
People certainly do grieve when they lose their pets. I'm still grieving the loss of one who was not even mine.
1 person likes this
@Jackalyn (7558)
• Oxford, England
15 Aug 15
We have llamas neare because here, in the UK. If you keep.llamas you can circumvent building regulations in some way. I.don't care. I.like llamas.
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
15 Aug 15
Here if you have any kind of agricultural animals or crops your land is zoned differently and is taxed a bit lower than if you are purely residential.
@Hate2Iron (15727)
• Canada
15 Aug 15
lol... funny that you should ask. When I was a kid, my best friend and I decided, since we hadn't a horse to rid, we would try riding some farm animals. We tried a cow... to bony a back and a pig. The cow was easy to stay on... the pig... man is he fast lol! Couldn't stay on longer than a few seconds.
1 person likes this
@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
15 Aug 15
Just how big was that pig? I'd be afraid it would squash me if I fell off.
@sofssu (23662)
15 Aug 15
In the city I don't get to see too many animals.. the strangest animals I saw were monkeys. They had invaded our neighborhood.. until the authorities came and bundled them off to the forests.
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@bagarad (14283)
• Paso Robles, California
15 Aug 15
Here our wildlife invaders are squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons, deer, and opossum. We don't have any wild monkeys around.