New Piggyville Girl!

Hello! I am Tilley, the newest member of the Piggyville clan. I am two
months old and a red American piggy. I was born in North Carolina to a
cavy breeder. She decided that I was not show quality so I was adopted
by Ann & Paul. They think I'm a Top Quality piggy. I am named Tilley
after the Canadian hat that my Mum always wears. My nickname is Tilley
put-put because I make little sounds when I'm walking.

Here is a picture of me being introduced to Squirly and Honeydew.
Squirly is sniffing my chin. I think she can smell my favorite
treat....carrots.

It wasn't long after we were introduced that we all sat down for a yummy
pile of grass. Honeydew told me that Mum walks far and wide looking for
different varieties of grass and edible plants for us to enjoy. Squirly
said that Mum always wears her Tilley hat when she goes looking for
grass. There is even a secret compartment in her hat were she hides
edible plants that she finds in the forest. Gosh I am lucky to have been
adopted into such loving home even if my new Mum is a little strange.

New PigPenPals.

We have received some wonderful news from our one time Junior Slave, who now lives in the US. They have had two additions to their family and have sent us some photos.

Please say hello to Ripley.

And also to Zelda.

They have only just gone home and there will be more pigtures later. Zelda was one of 52 piggies from a hoarding case and is settling in well with her new friend. We are delighted to have some new PigPenPals and these two bring their number to six along with Mama Rin, Nico, Maki and Noodle.

We often get to chat to them on Skype along with their cat friend, Nova.

Watch this space for more news.

A story from the Piggyville Girls In North Carolina.

Our friends, Honeydew and Squirly have sent us this true story.

"Hey Squirly did you hear a knock at the door?" asks Honeydew.
"Well yes I did. It looks like Little Red the squirrel is knocking

"Hello Squirly and Honeydew," says Little Red Squirrel. "Please tell your Mum that the bear ate all
the sunflower seeds that she puts out for me and the birds."

"Oh no!!!!" say the Piggyville girls.  "It is not good for bears to eat
birdseed."

"Whew!!! Another exhausting day making sure that all the forest creatures
are fed."

A Piggy A to Z - " H " is for Hay!

Hi!  We're Butch and Sundance from the Prairie Pigs, and we're here to talk about a subject near and dear to any piggy's heart --- HAY!!!  As you can see, we are already experts on this topic and like to keep our skills sharp by sampling as many new kinds of hay as possible.

Any type of grass hay is good for guinea pig tummies and teeth.  There are many varieties to choose from and many places to buy it.  If you're lucky, you might be able to find a farmer nearby who will sell you a bale of fresh hay, and a good pet store will stock different sizes of bags and types of hay.  Piggies are hay connoisseurs and can tell good hay when they taste it, so if your piggy doesn't approve of the first bag you buy, keep trying until you find one he likes!

Here we are with a selection of our favourite kinds of hay: small bags of Meadow Grass and Oat Hay on the left, and a slightly larger bag of Orchard Grass on the right.  Behind us is a huge cardboard box containing fifty pounds of Orchard Grass hay!   We didn't even know you could get so much hay in a cardboard box, but we think it's a wonderful idea!

Our lucky pal Jasper was selected to perform the quality control test on our new giant box of hay.  Here he is, looking quite blissful as he munches away. Who wouldn't be happy if they were sitting on top of fifty pounds of delicious hay?  Mmmmmmm!!!

More photos of the new Piggyfriends. Part 2.

Hazel and Bonny were not quite as amenable as Miss Bonbon and her girls when it came to facing the camera but, after a few rear end views and a bit of climbing up the back of the sofa, they decided that they could cooperate after all.

Here is Bonny.

And here she is again with her sister, Hazel ( on the left.) They are all such sweet girls.

More photos of the new Piggyfriends. 1,2,3.

1. Here is Mama Bonbon.

2. Adding her daughter, Miss Marple on the right.

3. Adding her other daughter, Bella, on the left of the photo.

They all sat perfectly still for their photos. No jumping off the sofa or turning round. No bribery needed. Obviously well trained to be show pigs, as they would have had to sit still for judging. You could learn a lot from them Kiwi! Bella's eyes are not quite as red as they appear in this photo but they have a deep ruby colour.

Introducing a new family at Piggyfriends!

In our last post, we told you about Hazel and Bonny and now we want to tell you about a little family that have joined us. They also belonged to our dear friend, Jason and they are retired show pigs too.

This is Mama pig. She is called Miss Bonbon. She is a big girl and she brought her two daughters with her.

Here she is with her daughter, Miss Bell. They were not keen on posing for the camera but this pigture shows what a large lady Bonbon is. She is the one on the right. It helps to tell them apart as, other than their size, Miss Bell does not have the ginger patch at the back.

And finally, this is her other daughter, Miss Marple. They are all Coronets, which are Shelties but with a little crest on the top of their heads. This pigture does not do justice to her colouring as she has a lot of agouti in her coat.

We will post some more pigtures when they are a little less camera shy. Most of us are used to posing for silly pigtures and we are sure that these five girls will soon learn how.

Please welcome the new additions, who are bringing joy to us all.

Stop press! Slave just managed to take a better pigture of Mama Bonbon and Miss Marple after being bribed with lettuce. Miss Bell snatched hers and ran into a house with it. Please excuse extraneous poo.

Here it is. We won't show you the pigture of Miss Bell as, although she is looking out of the house with her lettuce, someone has deposited a pile of poo right in front of the house. Better luck next time. Slave always says that boars are much more fastidious than sows.

A Piggy A-Z. H is for Honeydew

 Hi my name is Honeydew. I live in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North
Carolina. My slave also calls me Honey-do-do because I love to leave
lots of do dos in my bed and on her lap.

This is my pink piggy bed that my Grandma Colette sent me for my
birthday. It is my favorite bed but it has many uses.  My slave carries
me around in it. She makes me feel like I am the Queen of Sheba. My bed
is also a piggy hide-a-way. Whenever a rabbit or turkey walks by I just
jump in and become invisible. It is like a piggy Tardis. My slave thinks
it is a Piggy mobile. She lets me drive it around on the kitchen floor.
Wheee!!! Sometimes I even nap on top of my bed. But I would not let my
slave take a picture of me napping. I think my slave enjoys this pink
piggy bed as much as I do. Stay tuned for more adventures of Honeydew
and Squirly in Piggyville.

A Piggy A-Z. H is for Hazel ( and Bonny too ).

Hello readers. It has been a long time since the Piggyfriends posted. Slave has not been able to help us with our typing for a while but now we want to tell you all about some new Piggyfriends.

A dear friend, who shows piggies, asked us if we would like to give a home to some of his "retired" piggies. We did not know that piggies stop going to shows when they are 2 years old. Slave did not know anything about showing piggies but we learn something new every day.

Of course, Slave jumped at the chance to bring some more piggies home so, without further ado, let us introduce Hazel.

Here she is in the carrier that Slave took to bring our new friends home. Hazel is on the right and her sister, Bonny, is under the hay.

They were understandably nervous after their journey but Slave took some quick photos before putting them into their new pen. She put them both in an upturned wooden house so that they did not scuttle away under the furniture. This is a photo of Bonny.

And this is Hazel. It is not the best photo in the world but as it is her first proper photo we thought that you would like to see it anyway.

Here they are enjoying a pile of grass. Bonny is on the left and Hazel on the right. They are what we call Shelties in England but Slave thinks that they are called Silkies in the US and is not sure about other countries. They are like Peruvians but their coats grow back away from their faces.

When they are shown, they have to have their coats intact but our friend gave them both a haircut and a shampoo before they became Piggyfriends. Bonny is at the front and Hazel is behind her. They have settled in well and it was not long before Bonny was at the front of the pen begging Slave for veggies.

Please welcome our new little friends. We will tell you about some more new friends in another post.

A Piggy A-Z. H is for Harvest

Now it is springtime in England and the grass is really starting to grow. Our Slave has just returned from visiting her friend Roly's farm and she brought back this lovely Harvest.

Roly grows lots of veggies on his farm but we all think that his grass is the best so we wanted to share a photo. Now we are going to eat it all.

How NOT to Do An Easter Photo Shoot !!!

Hi there, I'm Butch from the Prairie Pigs and this is me wreaking havoc on Slave's Easter photo shoot!

This is what it looked like before I and my brother Sundance arrived:

I guess we were supposed to sit nicely in that middle spot, but as soon as she put us down, Sundance remembered an urgent personal matter he had to attend to back at home and tried to jump off the edge of the bed, so he was excused.  Slave had told us that all of the "props" were just decorations, not edible, but you can't fool a piggy about food --- those carrots are real!!!

Yup, just as I thought (munch munch munch) !

Then Slave thought she would try something less elaborate, maybe just me and the bunny...

  

Hmmm...you're not the kind of bunny I heard about from the Piggyfriends, are you?  The kind who eats the veggies out in the garden before us piggies have a chance at them?

Maybe I'll eat up these carrot greens right away, just to be on the safe side...

I hope everyone had a lovely Easter and is enjoying springtime wherever they are.  

Better luck next year, Slave!

Happy Easter Everyone

All of the Piggyfriends think that this is really a celebration for Slaves as they get to eat lots of chocolate eggs but we love to share our photos with our readers.

Here is Casper Dangermouse investigating Slave's cache of Easter decorations. " I hope that they are not real rabbits" he says. " We do not like them coming into our garden and eating our veggies."

" Don't worry Casper, they are only toy ones," replies Slave. " I do everything that I can to keep real ones out of our garden."

" Thank you for sitting still so nicely whilst I took these photos," says Slave. " You know that I will do anything for chicory," replies Casper.

Slave wanted to take some of us outside to take photos today but it is really hot out there and Slave has had to get the fans out of the attic. It should not be like this in April. So Slave took a photo of some of her tiny daffodils instead.

We hope that your Slaves get to eat lots of chocolate and that all the piggies get yummy veggies instead. Happy Easter everyone.

New Agent Peter Parker Joins Undercover Guinea Pigs

Hi there, I'm Heathcliffe, the newest Prairie Pig.  I was just a little porker when I arrived here, but I've grown a lot and am now big enough to apply for "Agent Status"!   Up until now, none of the Prairie Pigs has ever become an Agent, so I'm hoping that being the first Agent here will give me the inside track to become Number One Boyfriend to the beautiful Bonnie McSmithers.  (Bonnie is the only girl Prairie Pig, so as you might imagine, there is quite a bit of competition among the five of us boys to get her attention!)

I would like my Agent Name to be Peter Parker (alter ego of Spiderman, of course).  I do have some history there, since it was my name at the Humane Society shelter before Slave picked me to come home with her and become a Prairie Pig.  This is my portrait from the shelter website:

I even have a super power, which is cage rattling!  I'm very good at it and practice all the time.  (Slave begs me to stop, because she says she has already spent too much money on piggy dental work, but I ignore her --- slaves don't understand about Agent stuff!)  To tell the truth, I'm not sure how cage rattling would help me in my work as an Agent, but you never know, do you?

Well, it's been almost half an hour since my last snack, so I think I'd better go and eat something   now;  I don't want to take a chance on falling below Agent weight with my first big assignment coming up soon...

Are there any other aspiring Agents out there?  Apply here!  It would be extra fun if there were a few of us rookies who could take training and practice our Agent moves together.

Annual Candle Lighting Ceremony

Casper Piggyfriend is ready to light his candle in memory of a vast number of Piggyfriends past as well as Slave's beloved doggies, many birds and fish. Slave remembers Peter Gurney, whom she was lucky enough to meet at a book signing, where he signed her copy of Piggy Potions.

"Will you help me with the match please Slave? I do not want to burn my whiskers."

"Stand back," says Slave. " I am ready to light our candle. It is not easy to hold the camera at the same time!"

"There we are," says Slave. "We will keep our candle burning so that our light passes around the world in memory of so many friends, both human and animals, who are no longer with us but are watching us from the Rainbow Bridge."

The Piggyfriends ask that, if you lit a candle, could you send us a photo so that we can share it with our readers. GPDD readers have a link to send their details for publishing on the Digest and somewhere to send their photos too.

Peter Gurney Annual Memorial Candlelighting Ceremony

Nugget and Stuart Little here. Our mom allowed us to light a practice
candle (OK, we didn't really light it) to get ready for the Peter Gurney
Candlelight Memorial. This is an annual event that began on the Guinea
Pigs' Daily Digest in 2006, the year guinea-pig-advocate Peter Gurney
passed away. Since that time, on March 9th, his birthday, we light
candles around the world in his memory and the memory of others who have
passed away (human, furred, feathered, finned).
If you'd like to participate, just light a candle at 8 p.m. your time.
As candles in other time zones are lit, the light travels around the
world. We usually display our candle for at least an hour, until the
next time zone joins in the tribute.
After the big day, we hope you'll send an e-mail to pg_memorial@gpdd.org
and tell us your location. A list of locations (no names or e-mail
addresses) will be compiled and posted at gpdd.org. (Mom is telling us
all this, and we are typing as fast as we can!)
We are excited and hope you will be, too. Nugget says he's an old pro at
this, but for me, Stuart Little, it's my first year!

It is not a very good photo but.....

....little Kiwi always runs off as soon as he sees the camera but Slave managed to sneak up on him and this is the result.

His mind was on the grass that he was sharing with his brother Picchu and seconds later he was off and away but at least you can see him. Slave wishes that he would sit still for a photoshoot as she loves an agouti but he is still very nervous. He will take a veggie from Slave's hand now so one day he might actually pose with the rest of us then, when we get round to K in our Piggy A-Z, you will be able to see some better pigtures.

Guinea Pig pullovers

Hi there readers. Slave read this article on the BBC news page. We do not know how to copy it here for you to see but here is the link. Do have a look at the lovely pigtures.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-47412397https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-47412397

Slave knits lots of stuff. Maybe she could make us pullovers but we think that they might be too warm.

From the Piggyfriends.

It's Agent Queenie's birthday today!

Hi all,

Today our Raani, AKA agent Queenie is turning 3 years old.
After Cookie she wanted to me to share her agent skill of climbing on top of things with you all.
The video's are the 2nd and 3rd slide, hope everyone can see them, even if you do not have an instagram account. 4th slide is the email we got from our vet today, congratuling us with Raani's birthday.

View this post on Instagram

Happy birthday to my little critter Raani. She's 3 today, and she climbed up on their house. She's the only one who does that, and she just uses the ramp, previous pigs would mostly try to jump up on the house instead of using the ramp. Last pic is the email we got from the vet congratulating us 😁 #guineapig #birthdaygirl

A post shared by Mieke (@pandameisje) on Feb 26, 2019 at 3:08am PST

Friday Video: smart Cookie

Long overdue agent introduction!! She has been agent weight since 29 october 2017... And still keeping that weight above a kilo since then. Recently she has managed to up her weight to 1120, so she is doing a good job in the eating department.
Here you can see Agent Meerkat, aka Cookie, showcasing one of her special skills.
Next to the demonstrated skill, agent Meerkat is a very suitable name for her, because she is always keeping an eye out for us, especially for pig dad, and will alert the others loudly when she thinks food is on the way (which is pretty much every time she hears pig dad ;)!

View this post on Instagram

Cookie (the cream colored one,) WILL get that piece of veg I put in the middle of the bed for Raani (the black, red and white one) #guineapigs #chicory #smartcookie

A post shared by Mieke (@pandameisje) on Feb 17, 2019 at 3:12am PST

Our Friend Avalanche

Readers of the GPDD will know Avalanche, who arranges wonderful virtual Hallowe'en parties for them with the help of his mom, Carol.

He has sent us a photo so that you can see what a handsome fellow he is.