Pig Trivia – Did You Know...

Pigs or hogs are part of the order Artidactyla (even toed, hoofed animals) and the family Suidae. The five genera and nine species live on every continent except Antarctica.

Wild pigs roam forests, meadows, and swamps, living on an omnivorous diet of fungi, roots, bulbs, tubers, fruit, snails, earthworms, reptiles, young birds, eggs, small rodents and carrion.

In Canada, consumers are used to the taste of pork from neutered male pigs. Testosterone from intact males may give the meat a distinct flavour known as ‘boar taint’. Males are usually castrated before 3 weeks of age.

Sweating like a pig is to not sweat at all! Pigs have no sweat glands so they rely on shade and water to keep cool. Some barns even have sprinkler systems to keep the pigs cool and comfortable.

The largest pig recorded in history was Big Bill, a 5-foot high, 9-foot long Poland China hog, who weighed in at 2,552 pounds at a fair in Tennessee in the early 1930s.

“Bud”, a crossbreed barrow from Texas, became the world's most expensive pig when he was sold for $56,000 on March 5, 1985.

A pig's squeal can reach up to 115 decibels, 3 decibels higher than the sound of a supersonic Concorde.

The pig is rated the fourth most intelligent animal.

The first domestication of the pig is thought to have taken place in China around 4900 BC and may have occurred as early as 10,000 BC in Thailand. China still is the world’s largest producer of pigs.