Surf's Up!

We've arrived at the part of spring/summer where the thermometer
often hits the 90 degree mark.
And so, each morning I scrub out the pigs' pool and refill it with fresh water.


It's been three years since the girls' first summer here.
(We brought them home in October the previous year.)
It was that first summer that we bought this nifty plastic sandbox to use as a pool for them.
It's sturdier than a plastic kiddie pool and has withstood the test of
time and temperature.
Best of all, it has been pig-tested and pig-approved!


Why do we have a pool for our pigs, you ask?
Because of the fact that pigs are unable to regulate their own temperatures in the summer.
They lack the ability to sweat or to pant, and so, as opposed to most animals,
they cannot cool themselves down.


We often see illustrations of pigs in mud puddles,
and as a result think of them as a "dirty" animal.
In fact, pigs are quite clean...
clean enough that I hug and smooch on them all of the time!


The mud thing is just an effort to cool themselves when there is no other means.
A pig will dig a channel in the earth with their snout to make a cool place to lie,
if there is nothing else available.


Yesterday, being a rather hot one, was a great day for a swim...
as Ginger will illustrate...

As for why I dump, scrub and refill their pool each and every day...
it's to prevent this from becoming a breeding ground for mosquitos.

Today we say goodbye to Sammy #2.
His week at GrammieCamp is over.


We will miss him for sure.
I'll be he will be catching up on a lot of missed sleep in the next week to come!

Comments

colleen said…
What a great idea for a piggy pool!
jaz@octoberfarm said…
those two are just too darn cute!
This N That said…
Love the piggies in the pool..That water would never be stagnant long enough to breed mosquitoes..Much like my bird bath...One more hot day..
NanaDiana said…
Great idea with the pig pool. My father had a scooped out place cemented in place on the farm that he would spray out and then fill with clean water-it was out the back door of the pig house. I loved the baby pigs!!!! xo Diana
deodar said…
Percival the Portly (he's a kunekune too), loves his pool too. My challenge is keeping just enough water in it to cool him but not so much that it's inviting for Betty and Geraldine (rouen ducks), they can turn the water black in a heartbeat and they have their own pool!
Lynne said…
Great timely SPLASH . . . I think the English language is understood!
An American in Tokyo said…
Oh yeah, nice! A pool for hot days!
I would love to be in there with the girls! ;)