The Mast-Head: Leo the Love Pig
Leo has an Instagram account. He launched it after learning that a pig in Canada had 200,000 followers, and a book deal. Or at least that’s what I’ve been telling people.
At first, our daughter, the one who convinced us over my repeated objections to get Leo in the first place, was outraged. Then, after some of her school friends saw Leo’s account and declared it “the best thing ever!” she lightened up.
Instagram, a photo-sharing smartphone app, in case you didn’t know, is more or less where people go online these days when they want to brag about something great, great, great that they are doing or eating or whatever. A week in, Leo the Love Pig, as he calls himself on Instagram, had about 30 followers not counting family. On the other hand, Esther, the pig with the book deal, was on the cover of People magazine the other day.
Jealousy is part and parcel of the Leo experience. Heaven forbid he catches me or Lisa scratching one of the dogs. He hits the roof, whining and whining, when Weasel, our Lab mix, so much as stands on the staircase within a stride or two of the water bowl.
Why Weasel’s mere proximity vexes him so, I have no idea. But then there is a lot I don’t understand about the pig mind. I tell anyone who asks that they are like cats; they like human company but only on their own terms. There is none of that drooling, eager to please stuff you get with dogs. No, it’s all about them — what they want, when they want it.
And, oh yes, they’re smart. Leo knows, for instance, that the minute I step anywhere near the cutting board on the kitchen counter that it’s time to start poking at my leg with his snout. If you’ve never examined a pig close up, I recommend you take the first opportunity. Their noses, like the rest of their hulk, can be soft and tentative but at other times a real pain in the, um, ankle.
Leo, unlike that fancy pig in Ottawa, is small for his species. On a good day, I can still lift him off the ground and wobble us over to the bathroom scale. The last time I did it, he weighed in at about 104 pounds; judging from Esther’s Instagram, she might want to lay off the cupcakes a bit.
Leo would eat a cupcake, but with a pair of perpetually hungry kids at home, one would have to be completely inedible before being tossed to him. Instead, we try to give Leo snacks of the healthy variety. No matter how deeply he might be wedged into his bed by the fireplace, the second I begin peeling a tangerine, he will appear at my side peering at me, his tiny eyes filled with longing.
Today, though, as he chowed down on half my breakfast, I was able to turn that tender moment into Instagram glory.
Up!
A photo posted by Leo the Love Pig (@leothelovepig) on Apr 4, 2016 at 2:25pm PDT