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OINK OINK!

Despite their reputation, pigs are not dirty animals – their reputation comes from their habit of rolling in the mud to cool off

Can pigs be dangerous?

Pigs are opportunistic omnivores (which means they can eat anything edible), and large ones can be quite dangerous.

While pigs may not attack humans as they are not hunters , they have no qualms about devouring an unconscious or dead human, any more than they would about eating any other animal that died in their pen – they are omnivorous scavengers, after all. They are dangerous because they are very territorial, destructive and aggressive when in their territory. Male pigs can be quite violent and are possessive, especially about their sows.

Sick pigs can pass on zoonotic diseases to humans, which can include the skin condition erysipeloid and the bacterium Streptococcus suis, which can lead to illness including meningitis and deafness in humans.

There is a great risk in eating pork of any kind. Apart from worms, pigs carry viruses. The widespread use of antibiotics, especially in the commercial pig sector, creates problems of antibiotic residues in pork products and leads to the development of antibiotic resistance.

If moths like light so much, why don't they come out during daytime?

The attraction towards light is called being phototactic. Moths exhibit a specific character called "positive phototactic". The reason why they do not come out during the day is because they are very sensitive to sun's rays. At night, they use the sky/stars as a method to navigate.

Moths prefer a low illumination scenario, where they can easily catch signals. Moths don't like light at all. The reason they fly maniacally around bulbs is that in the pre-electric world in which they evolved, they used the moon to navigate by night. By keeping the moon at a constant angle to the direction of their flight, they could ensure they travelled in a straight line.

Unfortunately, they now confuse electric lights with the moon and try to navigate by them. Because the bulb is not a quarter of a million miles away, its position relative to the moth is not constant. The result is that they just goes around and around in circles.

Why is my pig foaming at the mouth?

Pigs foam at the mouth, usually when it's feeding time or food is disturbed. This does not mean your pig has rabies. Foaming at the mouth is normal. Foam is also used to "scare" a predator when being challenged.

However, in a case where they are already fed and still foam, check for other symptoms like, make sure they are not lying down, panting or breathing heavily, foaming at mouth and are flushed. It could be a result of heatstroke, because they have no access to shade from the sun. In such a case, it is necessary for you to spray them with water and cool them down. Or it may lead to the pig's sudden death.

(Views expressed and information provided are personal. Send your questions to manekaanimallove@gmail.com)

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