24:10.99N 76:27.82W  The pigs at Big Majors Cay  aka “The incident of the pig bite!”

 

One of the more bizarre attractions in the Exumas, are a bunch of pigs living on an uninhabited island. These “domestic” pigs live on the beach, and swim out in the shallows to the dinghies looking for food hand-outs.  We saw these pigs in 2009 and thought it would be worth showing Sharon & Tim. I had heard that some had died from eating sand/ not having enough water, so we headed out with carrots and a jug of water for them.

 

On arrival I was astounded to see how many there were – about 15 now, ranging from massive brown spotted one to slightly smaller pink ones and then a lot of small to medium sized ones. They literally mob you as you arrive.  

 

   

 

 

Our water was not going to go very far, so Tim and Mike filled up buckets and some old milk jugs with more water.  And this is how the “incident” occurred. We were sharing the water amongst the pigs, in their bins and giving some directly to the smaller pigs, so they could all get some. All went well, and then the water was finished. Another boat arrived with more food and water and I stood watching them, with an empty plastic bottle in my hand. The next minute ... .....OUCH!!! ... a big pink pig came from behind, went for the bottle and bit my thigh. Bloody hell ... I was taken by surprise in the same manner as I was by a stray dog in St Maarten many years ago – same leg!  Damn sore but once again, very lucky that is was only a surface scratch and big bruise.

 

   

 

Excuse the bum close up – but I thought this was worth documenting for the future!