PIGGYVILLE: HOME OF THE SWIMMING PIGS OF ABACO
No Name Cay has a name. Which is ‘No Name’. Which is a logical paradox. Since I last wrote about it, the Cay has acquired a new nickname in honour of its only permanent residents: Piggyville. You can find swimming pigs on Exuma, of course – they are a famous and well-promoted tourist attraction. Abaco’s own population of feral swimming pigs is much less well-known, even now.
When I first posted about the pigs a couple of years ago, several people – including locals – contacted me in surprise and wonderment. And people still get in touch to ask (1) if there are really swimming pigs on Abaco and (2) “how do I get to see them?” (a short boat ride from Green Turtle Cay). Now the word is spreading, and indeed the piggies even have their own FB page HERE.
Recently, a reliable replenishable water supply system was introduced to No Name Cay to ensure enough fresh water for the denizens. You’ll find more about nutrition and other vital porcine matters in Amanda Diedrick’s excellent post on LITTLE HOUSE BY THE FERRY, a wonderfully informative blog for Abaco in general and Green Turtle Cay in particular.
WHERE IS NO NAME CAY WHEN IT’S AT HOME?
Craig Russell, Pig Guardian of No Name Cay
Credits: Adam Rees / Scuba Works (1); Craig Russell / FB (2, 7, 8,9, 10); Tim Mantle (3); Patricia Labarta Douglas (4); Barefoot Sailor (5); Claire Towning (6); Lynn Collins (11); Samantha Regan (12); Ruth Albury / Destination Abaco for Piggy PDF [link removed]
ROLLING HARBOUR ABACO 
7 of the pigs on Big Major Cay, Exumas have died from sand ingestion. PLEASE do not feed the pigs on the beach or leave food on the beach for them. Pigs are natural foragers and rooters and will eat sand with the food left on the beach. If you must feed them feed them in the water natural fruits and vegetables grapes, apples etc..not processed foods. Preserve our pigs!
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Arnie, thanks for passing on this sad news about the Exumas pigs. I can’t speak for how it works there, but I know the Abaco pigs are well looked after, with proper arrangements for appropriate feed and fresh water. I believe the problems you raise are understood and avoided. RH
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I love these pigs. I must swim with them some day 🙂
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You absolutely must. Or we can train a couple of them to swim over to you maybe?
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No, I’ll come to them, the water is better there 🙂
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Wow, they are utterly adorable, RH! 🙂 Looks like they are having the time of their life. Very nice shots!
Wishing you and your loved ones all the best for 2017!
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Aren’t they just? They lead happy lives and are very well cared-for. Plenty of food, water and shade. No one else lives on the cay, so they are left to their own devices when the humans have gone. Have a good 2017, you happy band of… 4, and at the least an improvement on 2016, which has had its fair share of trials!!!!! RH
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Amazing and original! 🙂 Good to know that! Bye K
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Hi Kamila and thanks. Lovely creatures – but they can nip a bit! RH [ps off to Florence, staying Oltrarno for a change – revisited your post, for which thanks…]
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Hope you have a wonderful time in Florence, RH.
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Thanks Dina! I am v lucky that Mrs RH’s best printers are just outside Florence (on an industrial estate at an autostrada intersection), and if I have behaved myself more of less, I sometimes get to join the adventure! RH
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