October 25, 2012
Dennis Goes For A Walk
My Best Buddy
Dennis—Day One
I have been swamped, getting my new book out this week, among a million other things, so I didn’t have time to do a proper blog post. As I was thinking of what to write about I got an email from a reader who asked if Dennis, my wild boar, really goes on walks with me. This was the third or fourth email I’d received asking the same question, so I thought I’d answer that, but first a little history is in order.
Dennis came to our sanctuary when he was only about two weeks old. That’s a picture of him with me on the first day, right after the dogs almost killed him. The vet said Dennis would probably die, as he was bleeding internally and had several broken ribs, but that vet wasn’t counting on the magical healing powers of my wife. She cared for him night and day until he got better.
You’d think that Dennis would have taken to her, after all she did, but for some reason Dennis became my best buddy. Perhaps because it was me who saved him from the dogs? I don’t know. Whatever the reason, Dennis looks forward to my visits each day and loves it when I ask him to go for a walk. Rather than just tell you about it, I thought I’d share a short video I took on one of those walks.
I took this video myself so it’s kind of sloppy, but it will give you an idea of how crazy this boar is. What you can’t see are his silly antics when he comes charging back. He runs around me in a circle and bumps my leg, then takes off again.
Wild boars get a bad name from just about everybody. Destructive, nasty, mean, but there’s another side to a wild boar—if people are willing to open up their eyes and look. Dennis is playful, fun, and loving.
Ciao, and thanks for stopping by,
Giacomo
Giacomo Giammatteo is the author of Murder Takes Time, and A Bullet For Carlos. He lives in Texas where he and his wife have an animal sanctuary with 41 loving “friends.”
He gets so excited when he hears your voice. It’s adorable.
That’s my buddy.
That is one crazy pig! He loves you so much.
Ref: wild boars
I wouldn’t mind the occasional wandering pig, but when they travel in gangs, they can be dangerous and destructive. I imagine the smell of the dogs encourage them to go elsewhere because we’ve never had any problems with them.
Now coyotes are a different story…
Glad Dennis found you first. 🙂
Thanks, Maria. I’m glad Dennis found us too. He’s a prize. And you’re right about the coyotes. We have a lot of them in the woods next to us; they’ve even come in and fought with the dogs a few times.