— by Lin McNulty —
Wednesday, February 15, Eric Lum came across a pig in the roadway at the end of Grindstone, just past the ferry landing. This is not necessarily an unusual occurrence on our mostly rural island. This particular porker, if she could speak, however, would have a short, curly tall-tale to spin.
Lum went back home to get a stock trailer and with the help of an employee, they coaxed her into the trailer with food and water, and brought her home. Unable to locate an owner in the local neighborhood, Eric’s wife, Amy, posted a picture of the found sow on Facebook.
An owner was unearthed, not locally, however. Here’s where the story gets a bit unusual. The cute little sow lives on San Juan Island.
A sail from Friday Harbor to meet up with a blind date on Lopez for a romantic interlude may sound enticing to humans, but resulted in said pig jumping off the bow of the ferry, while underway, between Orcas and Lopez.
The owner of Sweet Earth Farm in Friday Harbor, was transporting Ms. Pig on the 8:25 ferry from Friday Harbor on Valentine’s Day for a quick fling. Upon arrival at Lopez, the back of the pickup was empty of piglet. In a frantic search, the ferry crew checked surveillance video and found that the oinker had jumped off the bow of the ferry between Orcas and Lopez. With the southwest wind that day, she washed up (or swam) on the shore at Grindstone Harbor.
This little piggy went way overboard in celebrating her enchanting Valentine’s Day tryst.
The owner and the slightly-brined pig have been reunited. As of press time, we were unable to contact Sweet Earth Farms.
great angle, Lin! Elaine and Amanda are SO happy to have Frieda back safely on the farm! It takes an archipelago!