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Today (March 1) is National Pig Day, which makes it a great day to meet some of the internet’s most popular pigs.
1. AND 2. PRISCILLA AND POPPLETON
From the time they were piglets, Priscilla and her younger brother Poppleton have dressed in a variety of adorable costumes and posed for pictures, which you can see on their Instagram. The Florida-based siblings are so popular (they’ve got more than 660,000 followers) that they have their own line of plush toys, and are now teaching fellow pigs Posey and Pink to walk in their hoofsteps.
3. PADDINGTON THE PIG
Scottsdale, Arizona-based mini pig Paddington is a beloved house pig who also has a day job: he works as a Thera-Pig, helping his human’s special needs students.
4. HAMLET THE PIGGY
Despite the name, Hamlet—a.k.a. Hammy—is a female micro pig who lives in Los Angeles, and will happily pose in wigs and costumes. You can see more of Hamlet and her human, Melanie, on their YouTube channel.
5. ESTHER THE WONDER PIG
In 2012, Steve Jenkins and Derek Walter adopted Esther the Wonder Pig when she was just a piglet. They were told she was a micro pig, but quickly realized that wasn’t true. The 650-pound pig—who has more than 332,000 Instagram followers—inspired Jenkins and Walter to found the Happily Ever Esther Farm Sanctuary in Ontario, a home for abandoned and abused farm animals.
6. JAMON
In 2013, Andrea Mendes received a very special Valentine’s Day gift from her husband: a precious little pig she named Jamon. Thanks to Jamon’s willingness to dress up in costumes, the São Paulo, Brazil resident became a Facebook and Instagram celebrity—and even inspired a cartoon series.
7. KAMA THE SURFING PIG
A few years ago, Kai Holt was camping with his family at Hawaii’s Bellows Beach Park when a stray piglet made its way into their cabana; he hasn’t left Holt’s side since. In addition to becoming a cherished member of the family, the pig—named Kamapua’a, or Kama for short—is also Holt’s surfing buddy. While he’s pretty good at balancing on a surfboard, he doesn’t mind the occasional wipeout, as he loves the water and is an excellent swimmer.
Since Holt adopted him, Kama has produced a son, Kama 2, who also surfs. You can see Kama 2 surfing with Holt’s son in this video and keep up with Kama and his family at Facebook and Instagram, too.
8. CHRIS P. BACON
Chris P. Bacon was born with malformed, nonfunctional rear legs. He was taken to veterinarian Len Lucero to be put down, but the doctor decided to adopt him instead. As a piglet, he learned to balance on his front legs, but that solution wouldn’t work for a heavy, full-grown pig, so Lucero fitted him with a set of wheels, and now he gets around his Florida home like a champ. Chris’s story was even turned into a children’s book.
9. WILBUR THE TRAVELING PIG
There are few things cuter than an interspecies friendship, and Wilbur the Traveling Pig has got two of them: He lives with two Bengal cats, Suki and Sashimi, and their friendship is one of mutual benefit. The cats consider Wilbur a pillow, and he considers them back scratchers. Wilbur accompanies his humans on road trips and has become quite a well-traveled pig.
10. BACON THE PIGLET
Like the aforementioned Esther the Wonder Pig, Fort Worth, Texas’s Bacon the Piglet is a mini pig that turned out to be anything but. Bacon may be big, but he’s not too big to be lifted (yet). Watch him grow up in his Instagram gallery, where you’ll find videos of Bacon in his apartment complex swimming pool. Bacon is in no danger of becoming bacon, but strangely, he is calmed by being stroked with a fork.
11. AND 12. LEO AND OLIVE
Mini pigs Leo and Olive live together with their family in North Carolina. According to their Facebook page, they like “Cheerios, Raisins, Rooting, Cuddles, Grazing. Fort Building. [And] planning missions to acquire more treats.” According to the photo above, they also enjoy a dip in the backyard pond.
13. BITSY THE MINI PIG
Bitsy is a small pig growing up in Washington State. She takes walks on a leash and loves Cheerios, being around people, and occasionally dressing up in a tutu (much to her more than 13,000 Instagram followers’ amusement).
14. LILY PIG
Lily is a Vietnamese potbelly pig who is an ambassador for Tucson, Arizona’s Ironwood Pig Sanctuary. They take in abandoned or rescued Vietnamese potbelly pigs and give them a chance to either be adopted or live out their lives there in peace.
15. LORD HAMILTON
Lord Hamilton (Hammy for short) is only a year and a half old, but he’s already the director of emotional support for HEAL (the Happily Ever After League) in Scottsdale, Arizona. The organization, founded by Hammy’s human mom, Lauren, provides support for women going through cancer treatment.
March 1, 2017 – 10:00am