Cherry and Scarecrow

Scarecrow (aka "Skiggy") was a teenage pig I rescued from the Crocodile Lady on 8th January 2003. She was already weaned, so I liked to celebrate her birthday on Christmas day, as she was probably born around then. Scarecrow was just a nickname I gave her, because as a tiny pig with loads more hair than body she looked a terrible scruff, and when she was chosen by Jack, the same little boy that took SCAMPs Fidget and Scrabble, he liked the name so kept it. I had talked his mum into letting him adopt piggies by assuring her they NEVER bit, only to hear several days later that she had, indeed, bitten Jack - but only in protest at being given her first bath! He wore gloves to bath her after that. Cherry was one of 6 babies (one stillborn) delivered by Cannelle, one of 5 pregnant ladies I rescued at the same time as Scarecrow, and she was born on 4th February 2003. Jack was so delighted with Scarecrow (and Chestnut, who never made it to SCAMP age) that he returned to adopt Fidget, Scruff, Scrabble and Cherry a few weeks later, but then after a year or two he had to move to an apartment on Jersey, and he wouldn't part with his piggies unless I adopted them - so they rejoined the Dolly Mixtures.

Scarecrow was always my tiniest piggie, never weighing more than 800g, but she was also one of the feistiest, along with Soulage, with whom she became great friends. She was one of those piggies with a "hoarse" wheek, but always one of the first to emit it when a slave wandered near who might have access to food. With her colouring and silky hair, she reminded me very much of a friend's tiny Yorkshire Terrier dog, Chelsea. I loved to bath and comb her to make it more beautiful, but as you can see in one of the photos, like Soulage she would always shake it back into its untidy but preferred style as soon as I'd finished messing! As you can also see in the photos, she liked sitting on top of things, be it wooden houses or pigloos - she wanted to be Queen of the Castle!



Cherry was a much more gentle pig, very placid and easy going. She loved to eat and was quite tubby. She also enjoyed being cuddled more than her friend Scarecrow, who would get restless after half an hour or so of lap time. Cherry always seemed a happy pig, and enjoyed the company of the others. In the winter of 2007, she and Scarecrow shared their cage with Soulage. All three of them loved to sunbathe. Cherry had beautiful hair, all one colour and less unkempt than Scarecrow or Soulage, and it did stay wonderful for quite a while after being washed and combed, though sadly I can't find a photo of it like that!


I never really worried about Cherry's health. Soulage and Scarecrow had both had nasty abscesses in their time - Scarecrow's as big as her head - and whilst Soulage had had a urinary infection, Scarecrow's slimness was always a concern. But Cherry was always a good, steady weight and never showed any sign of illness, so it was a terrible shock to find she had gone to The Bridge on the evening of 28th March 2008 - only hours after she had been tucking into some food as usual. She was 5 years and nearly 2 months old, so only just made it into SCAMPS. Scarecrow got to enjoy one last Spring outdoors in the warm sunshine, dining on her beloved lush grass, but she also went to The Bridge very unexpectedly from her hutch during the night of 1st/2nd August 2008, aged 5 years and about 7 months. I was comforted only by the fact that they had both gone quickly and without pain, and were reunited with Cherry's sister Scruff and cagemate Chestnut as well as each other.


Masters to: Debbie
Born on: Cherry ?, 5 years and almost 2 months old.
Scarecrow ?, 5 years and 7 months old