Passionate Pig

Passionate Pig is off for the month of June and will return with regular entries in July 2025.

Follow Wilma and Mona in Passionate Pig.

A new installment arrives each Tuesday.

In 2025, Wilma's weekly entries are in the form of an epic poem. Over the course of the year she'll cover the evolution of the pig-human relationship from ancient history through the present - no small task, but Wilma is ambitious. As a pig of far fewer words, Mona replies to Wilma's epic with a weekly haiku.

The Nose Knows

Wilma: Pig noses tilt up, down, and side-to-side. Pig noses sniff and smell and snuffle. Pig noses lift straw and shift feed and move...

Jul 29

Pig Destiny

Wilma: With nuts and grains and plants and even frogs, North America gave lots of food to pigs. So a few American pigs turned into lots...

Jul 22

The American Pig Dream

Wilma: Colonists came across the Atlantic and brought European pigs along. Those pigs found nuts and plants in forests, and snails along...

Jul 15

Positive Pigs

Wilma: When the Spanish decided to explore the mainland, Caribbean pigs hopped aboard the ships to Florida. They’d had a run of bad luck...

Jul 8

The Columbian Compromise

Wilma: That Columbus, he did not give, he only took. In 1493, Columbus took pigs from the Canary Islands to Cuba and Jamaica. Pigs did...

Jul 1

Too Many Beards, Not Enough Dancing

Jorge the Boar likes pig celebrations, especially ones that include apples. Wilma: Pigs went to Newfoundland, to stay with Norse folks...

May 27

A Prerequisite for Pigs

Wilma: Around 1000 BCE, there were lots of pigs in southern Greenland. European settlers brought them there, To feed the Greenland...

May 20

Pigs in Boats

Pigs are good at posing, too. Wilma: When humans came across the land bridge, or used boats and settled on the coast, It is possible that...

May 13

Pig Parties

Wilma parties with a parsnip. Wilma: Without pigs, what would people be? Cold. Hungry. Pigs gave people heat and food and piglets. With...

May 6

The Pig Cycle

Wilma makes use of overripe tomatoes...with gusto. Wilma: There are many things that humans toss away… Bits of food, rinds and shavings,...

Apr 29

Pig Gifts

Wilma: Pigs were often presents between people, The best gift to give and get – A friend to keep you warm in winter, Years of healthy...

Apr 22

The Mystery Pig

Another mystery: How can two piglets of the same age and from the same litter be so different in size? Wilma: Mona and I, we are...

Apr 15

Pigs Change People, People Change Pigs

Wilma: Traveling with people meant that pigs spread out everywhere. But some pigs liked less travel. Some people liked less travel, too,...

Apr 8

Changeable Pigs

Pig hooves (these are Mona's) are remarkably versatile, allowing pigs to travel comfortably through all kinds of terrain. Wilma: Early...

Apr 1

Domestication?

Young Mona happily cleans up a "mess." Wilma: Pigs lived near to humans for many, many years. Pigs cleaned up the mess of people, and...

Mar 25

A World of Comfort

The comfort of a piglet pile. Wilma: The Great Past Pigs didn’t talk about “me” or “I” or “self.” The Great Past Pigs said that pig-ness...

Mar 18

The Great Past Pigs

Pigs even like to nap in kiddie pools. Wilma: Long, long ago in the Holocene, the Great Past Pigs made friends with humans. Pigs saw that...

Mar 11

Pig-ness

The essence of porcine beauty. Wilma: Long ago, humans honored the Great Pig Way. They sang songs in praise of pigs, they danced for...

Mar 4

Pigs Everywhere

Two big pigs adapt to one small kiddie pool. Wilma: The Babirusa, the Warthog, the Wild Boar, the Peccary. All pigs. The Duroc, the...

Feb 25

Together is What Matters

Wilma: Look around at the Patch, and you’ll see pigs. There is a pig snuffling, there is a pig scratching. There are pigs eating, there...

Feb 18

Eat Pigs

Wilma demonstrates how pigs love to eat. Wilma: Pigs are silly, pigs are hungry. Pigs love to eat, pigs love to scratch. Pigs know how to...

Feb 11

The Great Pig Way

Mona practicing the "Great Pig Way." Wilma: When pigs began helping humans, humans were grateful. People saw that pigs were smart and...

Feb 4

Food and Flavor

Mona and Wilma eating hay together. Wilma: The Great Past Pigs decreed that pigs should help humans by giving them good food. Now there...

Jan 28

Not Negotiable

Wilma's piglets in a pile. Wilma: Five pigs are at the Patch, except when there are lots of piglets running ‘round. The Feeders at the...

Jan 21

Same and Different

Mona on the left (black and white), Wilma on the right (ginger). Wilma: I am Wilma, that is Mona. I am loud, Mona is quiet. I am small,...

Jan 14

Some Pigs

Young Mona (left) and Young Wilma (right). Wilma: I am a pig, a round and hairy ginger pig. They call us KuneKunes, those Feeders who...

Jan 7

First Passionate Pig