Lucky For Pigs

On a gloomier and warmer afternoon than yesterday we took a drive into the forest.

The pannage season has this year been extended into December.

A group of snuffling, snorting, competitive, piglets on the muddy verge at Ibsley burrowed as far into the leafy coverlet as they could to emerge with acorns from the tree above. The little fellow in the road in the last picture was making his way to plant a round snotty kiss on my trousers.

Further along, at North Gorley, much of the green was now under water which reflected the trees, one of which had now lost all its leaves; ponies grazed beside a Winterbourne stream.

The recently filled ditches of South Gorley did not deter a pair of Gloucester Old Spot sows from unearthing acorns. Sloshing and grunting they nose-dived, grabbed their mast, and rose to the surface dripping, grinning, and crunching. The year 2020 has been lucky for pigs.

Half way down Pentons Hill at Stockton, a thatcher’s straw ducks waddled across a roof he had produced.

This evening Jackie reprised yesterday’s delicious roast chicken dinner with her savoury vegetable rice and green beans. She drank Hoegaarden and I finished the Merlot.

80 comments

  1. Wonderful photos, Derrick–pigs and landscapes. It certainly seems like the pig in the header was right in your face!
    The straw ducks are quite striking.

  2. Oh, those pigs are so lovely – beautiful photos… I can imagine the cheeky porker planting a ‘snotty kiss’ on your trousers – you’re honoured, I’m sure! Having spent the last few weekends tirelessly raking up buckets of Acorns, I’m wondering if there is a better way?!

      1. We could, Derrick – I’ve always loved pigs, and they’d be perfect for this time of the year – but they do like to turn grass into mud and I’m not so sure about that… perhaps I should just start supply acorn rich autumn feed to other pig keepers!

  3. Last year 2019, was the Chinese year of the Pig, so that means they will have to wait ’til 2031 for the next year of the ‘Pig’ Derrick…

  4. I enjoyed the all photos from your day in the forest, Derrick and Jackie, especially the pigs! At least the year was good for someone. Their time on Earth is short, and I am glad to see them out and about enjoying acorns. Gather ye acorns while ye may…. 🙂

  5. I am told that it has been a great year for acorns down south. We have had some but not an astonishing amount. A fine collection of pig photographs today.

  6. I am glad you escaped the kiss. Tangled skeletons of the trees and reflections on a gloomy day have resulted in moody exposures. The procession of straw ducks is cute.

          1. Thanks so much. I made a comment on the first one but somehow got directed away from the second before I could comment. The second one has so many excellent photos in addition to the thatching–the pretzeled heads of horses, the cows munching the greenery. Did you enter those in the competition? Thanks for these photos of thatching. if they did this sort of work in Mexico I’d probably have to have my domes thatched, but they’d be a danger during the yearly fires upon the mountains. There were none this year, however. Perhaps later when the green of the rainy season dries up and becomes combustible.

          2. Thanks very much, Judy, especially for o;;being the links. I didn’t enter either of those others. We were limited to 3 and they should be clearly from The New Forest.

  7. Derrick, I am so pleased you explained about the rings in the snouts of the pigs the other day – not a practice I have observed here. Some time ago when you paid a visit to the pigs I discovered what the season of pannage meant; and today I have added a different meaning of mast to my vocabulary – again it is not a word that crops up here, or if it does then not often enough for me to be familiar with it.So, thank you for enriching my understanding of my home language – and thank you for these fascinating photographs of so many pigs!

  8. Wonderful photos…ALL! 🙂
    And it looks like a snorty, swiney, porciney day! 😉 😛 We should all go hog wild! 😀
    But, no celebrating with bacon or pork chops! 😉
    You know I really love your tree and reflections photos! SIGH 🙂
    HOGS!!! Er…Uh…I mean (((HUGS))) 😀
    ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

  9. I imagine those pigs can do a lot of damage. My sister lives in Forest of Dean where the wild boar can destroy a domestic garden overnight and many village cricket pitches are beyond repair.

  10. The family of ducks was very appealing. In Cornwall they have “witch balls” I think they’re called, which are on the ridge of the roof, usually two or three of them about half way along. If you have them, then there’s no need to worry about witches landing on your house during the night. Which is a comfort to many!

  11. I loved seeing the pigs wallowing in the glorious mud.
    We kept a few pigs here once, on loan from a neighbour. We needed an area of overgrown weeds and grass digging over. Those few pigs cleared it no time. Fascinating to watch too.

  12. Such a carefree life of foraging, with snouts and trotters getting muddy, sloshing through puddles, and slobbering kisses on passing humans. ?
    x

  13. Ponies are OK, but you can’t beat a good pig photo. Thanks for cheering my day Derrick. There seem to be more thatched decorations about than theer used to be – a case of people taking more pride in their work, perhaps?

  14. I was completely ignorant about pannage, and all of the history and traditions associated with the word. Now I’m sort of up to speed. When we have a mast year, I always think of our deer and squirrels enjoying them, as well as some of the birds. It never had crossed my mind that pigs would root for them, too. We have quite a feral hog problem here, and I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that they enjoy the acorns, too. Their meat is quite good, and there are so many that you can hunt them any time, any place. Well, except for your neighbor’s suburban back yard and such!

Leave a Reply