Piglet (deceased)

• Name: Miss Piglet (deceased)
• Species: Feral Hog
• Age: 2 years old
• Weight: 150 lbs
• Sex: Female
• Special Needs: NA.
• Personality: One of the smartest and most compassionate pig we have met.  Became the Doctor Pig. Loved her human researchers and followed Mr. Keith everywhere asking him “What is that?” with everything he did. 
• Favorite Food: Anything.  Very food-motivated for such as little pig
• Family: One of the second litter with Macon (brother), Little Red-deceased(brother), Blondie-deceased (brother) and Brownie (sister).
• Likes: Being Doctor Pig. Being a mother pig. Being with Mr. Keith.
• Dislikes: Fighting. All Dogs except the neighbor’s Pit Bull Chunk. She thinks he’s a marshmallow.
• Needs: Deceased.

Miss Piglet was our early favorite.  She was the runt of the first fresh-born litter we met. Because she was the runt, she had to make a place for herself in the pack, either by fighting to become a top tier sow or as a Security Pig or as the Doctor Pig.  Piglet started out fighting everyone to prove she was strong enough to be a top sow. But she soon realized she didn’t like hurting the other piglets and instead would clean any mud or scrapes from her brothers and sisters and giving them nibbles like a mother gives her little piglets.  Soon all of the pigs would line up and lay down near her to get her Doctor Pig treatment.  We soon learned that only one other pig served in this same role.  When that pig disappeared, Piglet become the sole Doctor Pig.  In this role she patched up each of the pigs and cleaned them, removing any parasites. She would them give them the mother nibbles as she cooed to them like their mother would.  This role assured Piglet a position in the pack without any drama.  She was never challenged or chased away from food.  She had become the official Doctor Pig.  Because she had this role, it was more acceptable for her to have a closer relationship with the human researchers.  She would follow us everywhere and watch closely with everything we did, chattering the entire time as if she was telling us how her day had been.  She watched us pull up weeds and then plant new seedlings around the perimeter of our facility, following along behind us all along the way.  The next day, all of the seedlings were gently pulled out of the ground and laid beside their holes.  Not chewed, not rooted, just pulled up and set back down.  It was as if Piglet saw the seedlings and thought they did not belong, and she would help the humans by removing them, like we did the weeds.

Piglet and Brownie became mothers at the same time.  Piglet would often watch Brownie’s litter while Brownie went to eat.  The babies of both litters would lay in a line and Piglet would Doctor Pig every one.  She was truly happy as a mother and very good at it.  When one of her babies was bitten in the leg by Big Mama or CoCo, Piglet brought her to us for extra food and attention.  This little one we named Limpy.  Limpy grew to have the same intellect and compassionate temperament of her mother.  When Miss Piglet was killed by a hunter, Limpy turned to us as Piglet’s replacement as the Ambassador of the Pigs to the Humans. All of the pigs missed Piglet considerably.  It wasn’t until two more litters later that another Doctor Pig was found.  During that time, all of the pigs served as Doctor Pig to each other.  Once the new Doctor Pig was assigned, the other pigs would no longer perform that function. It was a role in the herd that is served for life and one of honor, based on the respect the other pigs show their Doctor Pig.