Boston Fall Pignic 2014

The morning of the pignic dawned beautifully sunny, but rather chilly.  The forecast had been for a clear day with a high of 70F, but as we packed the car, the temperature was hovering around 50F.  I had warned people to prepare for the cool weather, but I still worried.

It was still very cool when we arrived, but the sunny spots in the grass were wonderful.  I wandered around in bare feet to make sure the pigs would be comfortable on the ground.  I just wanted to lay down in a sunny spot and nap - so I figured we were good to go.  It never got above 66F in the shade, but the breeze died down in the afternoon, and people brought plenty of cozies and houses to share. It turned out to be a good day for a pignic.

We had a good showing.  People arrived early, despite the cool weather.  We had nearly 60 people and close to 50 guinea pigs.  The guinea pigs spent the afternoon chasing each other and eating grass.  The boars got rather rowdy, and a few ended up in the time-out pens.  Most pigs, though, interacted peacefully and many seemed happy to spend the afternoon with other piggy friends.

Clockwise from upper left: Pignic in full swing; Pigachu; disapproving guinea pig (being with Mom was better than participating in the contest); goofy rodent being inspected; gray guinea pig that completely filled the weigh-in bowl; a boar that was bigger than the tissue box (he broke it!); peeking boar - do you see me?

Pig Patrol!

The Pig Patrol showed up in force.  I can't thank them enough for helping with inspections, keeping peace in the pens, clipping nails, answering questions.  It made for a leisurely pignic.  That's always a good thing.

Pinniped and Cannoli stayed in their own cage for the day.  I felt kind of bad that I didn't give Cannoli the chance to mingle with the rest of the sows.  I'm sure she'd have had a blast.  Instead she snuggled with Pinniped for the afternoon.  Pinni was still recovering from a recent UTI, so I didn't want to attempt putting her in the common pen.

Oh!  there was a Pinni look-alike, named Celeste who was all black.  She had white toes like Pinni, just on her back left foot instead of in front. 

Pinni got her chance to be cute and charm pignic goers when I did a demonstration about subcue fluids and about mites and ivermectin.  I must have gotten some of the lactated ringers on my hands and the syringe, because she got all enthused.  Pinni kept trying to nibble the syringe, much to everyone's amusement.  She loves the taste of that stuff!

Of course, the costume contest was the highlight of the day.  All of the pigs were very good and lined up for photos.  It must have been very difficult to pick the winners because they were all so cute!  There were witches and wizards, a chef, a hot dog, a pumpkin, a bunny, a Pink Lady and Pikachu.  My nephew would have been thrilled.  One had on a little sweater and a latecomer arrived with a hand-made Dumbo costume, complete with floppy ears. 

By the end of the day, guinea pigs were in various states of grass coma and ready to go home to sleep it off. Evidence of a successful day.
  
I have more photos of the pignic and several of the costume contest in my Pignic Album.  Additional photos take by another Pig Patrol member are on Flickr.  Ooh - and another great set here.