Home Forums Miscellaneous Topics Rural Living Funny or Amazing Critter Stories!

I hope you don't mind me starting a thread for us to post Funny or amazing Critter Stories. Stories about Animal antics are always great and lots of fun! I know that there are loads of these here on the Fire and would love to hear them if you might find time to share them with us!

Ok here is the "rest of the story", as Paul Harvey would say...

After Valentino went onto the big pasture with the goats, Huey(his hog roommate) became rather depressed. He barely ate and wouldn't come out the "Taj Mahal"(the X-large home built doghouse). When he did come out he would gaze longingly into the pasture at the goats. This went on long enough for me to consider getting another hog or finding another goat buddy for him. Depression gave way to desperation and Huey escaped the hog pen. After realizing his goal wasn't to terrorize the garden or the neighbors, he gave up trying to keep him in the pen and just watched. He made a bee line for the goat pasture. He runs with the goats and tries to herd the Sunny, my quarter horse. He sleeps in the stall with horse and the male goats.

Huey also was caught red-snouted lifting the gate off the hinges to release my girls to run with the herd!

I need to put him on the payroll!

Thank you for the ever so important first post and the rest of the Story! It is amazing how smart Hogs can actually be and how inter-species relationships like this can develop. I really get a kick out of animals that end up thinking they are a different animal than what they are.

"Why is he doing that?" "because he actually thinks he is a..."

Huey is an interesting hog. He was a runt that I rescue from a horrible situation. He spent the first 5 months in the house with the ankle biters. I have never had hogs or thought about having hogs so every day was a new day for me with him.

I knew he wasn't an ordinary hog when he kept grunting one day and couldn't figure out why until....I heard the crinkling of plastic and went into the kitchen (favorite room of the house). I was rather surprised to find a bottle of water in the empty water bowl. I was standing there by the bowl just waiting for me. I knew I was in trouble!

If you really spend time with your animals, you will have endless tales and endless joy! Who needs TV!

Yesterday I was returning from Little Rock, Ar. where I had attended a Birthday Party for my year old Grandson. I did not eat any of the cake and ice cream since I did not need the sugar, and was a little hungry. At Protho Junction, I got off the I-40 at a McDonnald's to get me some chicken nuggets as they are easy to eat while driving. After ordering at the drive through, I went around the corner to the pick up window, but before I got to the window there stood a good looking Rooster. They had some feed and a water dispenser for Him and he just watched the people go by. He was free to roam but seemed content to watch. miles

Years ago neighbor bought one of them pot belly pigs for his kids. Damn thing got big! Roamed the bottom here and everybody knew Thomas. He had a routine. You could set your watch by him. Had a pair of pear trees here on the fenceline in the front yard. Every day exactly at 4:00 p m, Thomas would be on his return stroll to his place. He would fill up on pears that were laying on the ground and take one home with him.

I think some of the local hooligans finally shot Thomas out of meaness.

Bob, those hooligans need to be read from the book...

My amazing critter...

Buster and I hog hunting yesterday evening.



Sometimes I think he's more human than not.

I'm kinda glad he's not though. I probably love him more for it..

You can love your dog.

You just can't love your dog.

Buster is a good fella! I really like him! But I like dogs!!

These replies reminded me of the Black Lab "Town Dog" named Trouble.

I lived in the very small tourist trap town of Oatman Az for a short while. This was back in my younger party days as a travelling Musician. At that time Oatman had four Pubs within a hundred yards along Mainstreet Rt 66, I think it still does. The most popular organized Community Sport was Drinking and it was played from when the Bars opened in the morning until they closed at 2:00 Am.

The most popular of these for our crew was the Brown Jug, The Jug had an advantage over the others because their license at the time allowed open container drinking out in front on the Boardwalk. This was enjoyable because we could watch the Tourists and contemplate the curiosities of Human Nature and Habit while we enjoyed this very serious Community Sport.

Along with the Wild Burros running through town as the main tourist attraction there were numerous "freerange" Dogs. It was a very animal friendly Community so no one ever complained about it. One of these was a large Black Lab named "Trouble". There were Rumors about who actually owned Trouble but no one really knew for certain and he had pretty much been adopted by the Community as a "Town Dog" in common.

After I was there for a couple months someone pointed out the fact that once in awhile an open full Beer seemed to just disappear from our hangout in front of the Jug without a trace. Always Canned Beer and always at night. The players even started accusing each other of Beer theft which resulted in some pretty hard feelings a couple times. It was time to solve this mystery so we started making it a priority to try and stay alert and keep an eye on each other at all times to catch the thief amongst us.

Over the period of a week, two more Beers disappeared without a trace and it baffled us because we had been watching each other with scrutiny very very closely. Then the next day, as I had my head turned a bit, I happened to catch a movement behind me in my peripheral vision and turned to find my Beer gone from the end of the Bench I was sitting on.

I quickly got up and went around the corner to the back of the building and peeked down along the row of buildings to barely see a Black Flash running away, It was Trouble! So I followed him down along the rear of the Buildings to where he had rounded the last building in the row and returned to the street out front. He carefully sat the Beer Can down next to a depression in the Pavement, knocked it over with his nose, and began lapping it up.

Who would have ever guessed it was the Dog named Trouble that could caused all that Trouble? Well...we were all impaired most of the time though...

I had a little three legged sheep dog when I was a kid that went everywhere with me during the summer but when winter rolled around and I had to go to school he'd walk me to school and then head over to the fire house to spend the day mooching from the firemen or anyone who happened to stop by....the fire house was kind of a local meeting place back then....
Old Gimpy became as good at telling time as the pig Bob spoke about above....the firemen said you could literally "set your watch" by his ability to know when school was about to let out.....

He was my best bud and pretty protective....he even went after the old man one time when he was fixing to give me a whipping for leaving a shed door open that he'd told me to keep closed at least a hundred times....Gimpy's interference didn't get him to far but it disrupted the old mans concentration enough so the whipping wasn't near as bad as I thought it was gonna be.......
I sure miss that dog.....(-:

We were fishing for Dolphin in the Florida Keys when my captain threw a dime overboard for good luck. A Dolphin cruised by the boat and took the dime while we were watching it sink towards the bottom.

Not more than 15 minutes later we hooked a Dolphin and managed to land him. Ralph took out his knife and out of curiosity opened the stomach on the Dolphin and nothing was in there...

Hell Shrap, I thought it was gonna give you change!

The last 2 hogs I raised were a strange pair- got them cheap as weaners because they were a bit out of the norm. One was short, wiry and goofy-looking, the other was a big, long solid black thing. Was milking a Jersey cow at the time, and they got lots of extra milk, as she was really outdoing herself. Best meat hogs I ever finished, by far. But I digress- the little one would climb on the big one's back, to get a boost over the fence and run around. All 4 feet, then the big one would actually arch his back to help.
When they were little, the kids wanted to name them, of course. I told them they had to name them after someone they wouldn't be sorry to see the end of. This will date the story, and maybe explain the behavior. The big one's name was
"Slick Willie". The little one was, "Perot".

Been out on the porch watching the baby goats. I have an REC wire spool next to the cattle feed bunk and the tank is about forty yards away. They spent the better part of an hour running like kids in a foot race from the bunk, around the tank, up on the bunk and jump to the spool. A couple of minutes later repeat

Here's a two for one- goat and hog story! I introduced everyone to Huey the Hog and he never ceases to amaze me!

Everyone has that one goat that they are not too proud of- in the south we would say "Bless her heart"! My girl is named Ellie. She is notorious for getting her head stuck in the fence and hollering. She always seems to go after the one blade of grass on the other side of the fence even though there is a pasture full of grass. Her latest episode happened a few weeks ago, she is firmly stuck in the fence bellowing. I ran out to release her only to find Huey laying down behind her. He was protecting her virtue from my ever amorous billies. He got up and found himself trying to help me release her. We managed to release her and all is right with the world.

Stay tuned- I'm sure there is more forthcoming...

All these hog and pig stories remind me:

Guy pulls up to a farm house and a three legged pig runs out to greet him, Excited and oinking.

He gets out and the farmer walks up. He asks if the pig is a pet and how did he end up with three legs? Farmer tells him that pig is fantastic, the house caught on fire and the pig broke in and ran around oinking and squealing, woke them all up, saving their lives, even carried the baby outside by holding its diaper in its mouth.

Did he get injured in the fire? Is that how he ended up with three legs? No! No! he was fine then, had four legs. Well how did he end up with Three legs?

Last winter I was down breaking the ice out of the pond so the cows could get water and I fell in. Had my winter clothes on and they got soaked, I nearly drowned. The pig ran down and tore a limb off a tree with his teeth and stuck it out to me and with all his might pulled me out and saved my life. Did he get hurt doing that? Is that how he ended up with three legs, No! No! he was fine then, had four legs. Well how did he end up with Three legs?

There was another time....WAIT!!, just tell me how he ended up with three legs!!!!

Well, would you eat a quality pig like that all at one time?

One of my uncles used to raise goats. He had a nanny that wouldn't have anything to do with a newborn kid, so he took it home and bottle raised it. The goat had the run of the place and grew up around the dogs, at the house. It would lay under the front porch, just like a dog.

If anyone drove up, the dogs would run out barking and the goat would run out bleating. When you drove off, it would run the car, just like a dog.

They finally put it back in the pasture, with the other goats, but it wouldn't have anything to do with them. Stayed off by itself and would wait for someone to come feed it. It ate scraps and dog food.

The state took the land from my uncle and he had to sell out. Never did know what happened to that goat.

If any of you ever have the opportunity to set around the campfire with Randy (Oldman03). Do it!! He is a font of good stories!

Randy. My late uncle had a javelina that was like that goat! Except it would lay under front porch and wait for car to get up and park in front of house. Javelina would run out and hid under car. First leg out got nipped! Nipped grandmaw one day! And she was a big woman! Porky was exiled to the white brush country after that episode.

My FIL was a game warden and spent a lot of time fishing and hunting. One day he came upon a nest of baby nutria rats and took one home for the kids who were about 10 to 12 yrs. old.

They dug a hole at the end of the porch in the flower bed, by the water hydrant, filled the hole with water, and that was home to Scooter.

As time progressed, and Scooter grew, he got possessive, calling the flower beds and the porch his territory. Anyone coming onto the steps was carefully scrutinized before being allow onto the porch. The milkman kicked at Scooter one day and from that day on was not allowed on the porch. Scooter would hiss, hair would stand up on his back, show his teeth, and would actually nip you. The milk got left on the steps.

MIL was sweeping porch one day and hit Scooter with the broom to move him out of the way. Well, from then on, she wasnt welcome on the porch. Of course, that didnt go over too good, so after a month or so of MIL having to dodge Scooter, they had to take him back to the bayou.