Unlikely Loves

by Jennifer S. Holland

  “When they were in the yard, Edgar followed E. T. everywhere,” Pam says. It was a relief for her, especially on photo shoot day. “Because I had E. T. with me on a lead the whole time, Edgar stuck by. He followed E. T. and E. T. followed me.”

  It worked in public, too. “We’d go walking at our local park and people came from everywhere to see Edgar. ‘Wow! A pig on a lead,’ they would enthuse,” Pam says. “He’d roll over and let people rub his belly, grunting with happiness.” And having Edgar draw a crowd gave Pam an audience for her campaign. “Normally if you have a petition you want people to sign, they try to get away from you. But with Edgar there, people came right over to see what we were doing. Edgar allowed their hearts to do the talking—and it was clear they were listening, too.” After meeting Edgar and chatting with Pam, she says, “many walked away with a newfound appreciation of and even love for farm animals.”

  It was only because Edgar liked E. T. so much, Pam says, that the pig eventually learned to like her, too. “I guess he figured that if E. T. thought I was okay, he’d give me a go. I was really touched when he began to trust me.” And eventually, with her inspirational pig on a leash beside her, Edgar’s Mission came to be. “I wanted to give refuge to animals like Edgar, to give voice to both the ones we could save and the ones we couldn’t,” she explains.

  Once the mission was established on the farm where Pam lived, she quickly collected a host of creatures needing asylum. Edgar had his favorites, but otherwise he was a pretty solitary guy. Oddly, he wanted nothing to do with the other pigs on the property. “All the other pigs were buddies with each other, but he’d run screaming from them,” says Pam. There was even a female, Alice, who liked him, to no avail. “She’d chase him around, grunting, and he’d hide in the straw as if maybe if he stayed really still she wouldn’t know he was there.” Pam says whenever Alice got wind of Edgar, “He would run from her as fast as his fat little legs would carry him!”

  In addition to E. T., Edgar seemed smitten with a little sheep, Arnie, who had been attacked by a fox. “Edgar would get in Arnie’s bed and sleep alongside him. He really looked after him,” says Pam. There was a goat, too, who won Edgar’s friendship. All three would hang out together, the sedentary Edgar doubling as a climbing block for the cheeky kid goat named Ryan.

  Pig

  They may not look very bright when rolling around in the mud, but pigs are ranked among the smartest of all animals, not far below dolphins.

  But E. T. received most of Edgar’s affection. They’d take little naps, burrowing into the dog bed together before revving up to play. “E. T. was fascinated by the pig,” Pam says. “No question, they had a special connection.”

  Edgar eventually passed away, just after his seventh birthday. Pam points out that factory-farmed pigs “aren’t designed to go on for long.” Everyone was in mourning after he died, she says, “even those who hadn’t met him. Visitors and our other animals fed off of our sadness. He really touched the lives of so many.”

  Though her best buddy was gone, Pam says she took great comfort in knowing that he would continue to make a difference for many other animals. “Edgar’s memory reminds us not to be prejudiced by the shape or color of another, and that all animals want and deserve kindness and a feeling of safety. Edgar taught us that if you can’t get that from your own species, maybe you can find it in another.”

  That a pig so drastically changed her own life still amazes Pam, and she’s thankful. The 60-acre farm named after Edgar is usually home to some 200 to 300 animals. Soon, the whole shebang is moving to a larger property “because we’re busting at the seams,” Pam says. “It’s an exciting new chapter for all of us.”

  “It’s really lovely to be part of this family,” she adds. “I had no idea that what Edgar started would grow so big, rescue so many animals, and change so many hearts.”

  References

  Books, Articles, and Talks

  Alleyne, Richard, “Can Otters Smell Underwater?” The Telegraph, June 5, 2010.

  Archer, Rosemary. The Arabian Horse. London: J. A. Allen, 1992.

  Balcombe, Jonathan. Second Nature: The Inner Lives of Animals, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.

  Brach, Tara. “The World in Our Heart” (speech), 4/25/12: imcw.org/Talks/TalkDetail/TalkID/371.aspx.

  Denlinger, Milo G. The Complete Boxer. New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1914.

  de Waal, Frans. Good Natured. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996.

  de Waal, Frans. The Age of Empathy. New York: Harmony Books, 2009.

  Herzog, Hal. Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat. New York: Harper Perennial, 2010.

  Holland, Jennifer S. “Bird Guide,” National Geographic, October 2008.

  Holland, Joshua. “In Defense of the Pit Bull,” Salon, February 5, 2013. salon.com/2013/02/05/in_defense_of_the_pitbull_partner/.

  King, Barbara. How Animals Grieve. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013.

  May, Allyson N. The Fox-Hunting Controversy, 1781–2004: Class and Cruelty. Ashgate Publishing, 2013.

  Ramos, Kelsey, “Pearls Before Swine: Animal Cognition Study Says Pigs May Be Smarter Than We Think,” Los Angeles Times, November 11, 2009.

  Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, “Purebred Arabian Horses Compete in One of the Many Races Organized Exclusively for the Breed in Saudi Arabia”: saudiembassy.net/files/PDF/Publications/Magazine/1997-Spring/horse.htm.

  Sherman, Josepha. Trickster Tales: Forty Folk Stories from Around the World. Atlanta: August House, 2005.

  Springett, Martin and Isobel. Kate and Pippin: An Unlikely Love Story. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 2012.

  Select Web Sources

  African Mecca: africanmeccasafaris.com

  American Kennel Club: akc.org

  All About Great Danes: all-about-great-danes.com

  Alpacas of Montana: alpacasofmontana.com

  American Boxer Club: americanboxerclub.org

  American Miniature Horse Association: amha.org

  Aragon Alpacas: aragonalpacas.com/alpaca_info.html

  BBC Nature: bbc.co.uk/nature

  Big Cat Rescue: bigcatrescue.org

  Cornell Lab of Ornithology: allaboutbirds.org

  Grevy’s Zebra Trust: grevyszebratrust.org

  Guide Horse Foundation: guidehorse.com

  Humane Society of the United States: humanesociety.org

  Live Science: livescience.com

  National Geographic: nationalgeographic.com

  National Zoo: nationalzoo.si.edu

  Oklahoma State University Department of Animal Science: ansi.okstate.edu

  Out to Africa: outtoafrica.nl

  Peregrine Fund: peregrinefund.org

  PetWave: petwave.com

  Purdue University Food Animal Education Network: ansc.purdue.edu/faen

  Rocky Ridge Refuge: rockyridgerefuge.com

  Whale Facts: whalefacts.org

  Why Pandas Do Handstands: whypandasdohandstands.blogspot.com

  Wisconsin National Primate Research Center: pin.primate.wisc.edu

  World Wildlife Fund: worldwildlife.org

  Videos

  “Baby Rhino Calf Finds Friends in the Wild After Abandoned by Mother”: youtube.com/watch?v=tOn2RhH36Mc

  “Cat and Owl Playing—Perfect Friendship”: youtube.com/watch?v=Iqmba7npY8g

  In addition, the author referenced many general-interest resources, including the Daily Mail, Huffington Post, Facebook, Spiegel, and Wikipedia.

  Additional Reading

  Balcombe, Jonathan. Pleasurable Kingdom: Animals and the Nature of Feeling Good. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.

  Brown, Augustus Why Pandas Do Handstands. New York: Free Press, 2010.

  Fishkin, Shelley Fisher, ed. Mark Twain’s Book of Animals. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2010.

  Gran
din, Temple, and Johnson, Catherine. Animals in Translation. New York: Harcourt, 2005.

  Hare, Brian, and Woods, Vanessa. The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter Than You Think. New York: Dutton, 2013.

  Mather, Jennifer, Anderson, Roland C., and Wood, James B. Octopus: The Ocean’s Intelligent Invertebrate. Portland, OR: Timber Press, 2010.

  McConnell, Patricia. For the Love of the Dog: Understanding Emotion in You and Your Best Friend. New York: Ballantine Books, 2007.

  Mitchison, John, and Lloyd, John. The Book of Animal Ignorance: Everything You Think You Know is Wrong. New York: Crown, 2008.

  Morell, Virginia. Animal Wise. New York: Crown, 2013.

  Pepperberg, Irene. Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Uncovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence—and Formed a Deep Bond. New York: Harper, 2008.

  Pineño, Oskar. The Thinking Rat. CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2010.

  Sheldrake, Rupert. Dogs that Know When Their Owners are Coming Home. New York: Three Rivers Press, 1999.

  Acknowledgments

  No book is a solo effort, and in this case I am really just a messenger of other people’s (and their animals’) stories. I owe those people, quoted in these texts, my deepest gratitude for generously sharing their tales with me.

  Special thanks to Workman Publishing’s Krestyna Lypen for her kind and gentle edit, Melissa Lucier for another heroic effort on the photo front, Raquel Jaramillo and Tae Won Yu for making this book, like Unlikely Friendships, such a lovely thing to behold, and Beth Levy for all the copyediting, and finishing fixes and touches. Many thanks also to Jarrod Dyer for the expert typesetting, Maggie Gleason for all the publicity, and everyone else who had a hand in the creation of this book.

  Thanks to all the friends and family who sent me story leads—much appreciated!

  For taking on research tasks great and small, a huge thank-you to my tireless assistant, Kate Horowitz.

  For translations, my gratitude goes to Mariola Maklakiewicz-Carroll, Barbara Büllmann, Steffi Steinberg, and Wanjiku Kinuthia.

  For keeping me sane with loving words of encouragement and support, I thank especially Melanie Carlos, Lynne Warren, and Mark Bolander.

  Thanks to youngsters Will, Kate, Jasper, and Elliott for being my favorite audience and for keeping my inner child alive and well.

  For buying my books by the ton, I am grateful to Lenora Holland and Lorie Holland.

  To my husband, John, thanks for being confident in me, proud of what I’m doing, and tolerant of the ups and downs.

  To my dogs Tai, Waits, and Monk, I forgive you for all your interruptions, your barking, your constant shedding, and your demands for attention as I tried to write this book. You are my true muses, after all. (Tai, may you rest in peace!)

  Jennifer S. Holland

  About the Author

  © John Holland

  Jennifer S. Holland is a contributing writer for National Geographic, specializing in science and natural history. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with her husband, three dogs, and numerous lizards. Her unlikeliest love story: One of her dogs found and saved the life of her runaway pet chameleon, Hank.

  Copyright © 2013 by Jennifer S. Holland

  All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced—mechanically, electronically, or by any other means, including photocopying—without written permission of the publisher. Published simultaneously in Canada by Thomas Allen & Son Limited.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

  eISBN 978-0-7611-7873-6

  Photo research by Melissa Lucier

  Front cover photo: Matthew Tabaccos/Barcroft Media/Landov

  Cover design: Raquel Jaramillo

  Photo Credits (reference print edition): © Associated Press: p. 29; Jordi Amenos Basora/Falconer: p. 114, p. 116, p. 117; Marcy Berra: p. 152, p. 155, p. 157; Jenny Brooker/Glen Afric Films: p. 160 (bottom), p. 162, p. 164, p. 167; Caters News Agency Ltd: p. viii, p. x, p. 40, p. 42, p. 43, p. 44, p. 45, p. 50, p. 52, p. 74, p. 76, p. 77, p. 79, p. 90, p. 93, p. 95; Chestatee Wildlife Preserve, Inc. “Preservation through Education”, Dahlonega, Georgia USA: p. 197; Lance Clifton: p. 202, p. 205; Michael Durham © Oregon Zoo: p. 187; Edgar’s Mission: p. 219; Europics: p. 30, p. 33; Jane Ferguson/Tiger Photo: p. 130, p. 133; Julie Free: p. vi, p. 54, p. 57 (left and right), p. 59; © Lauren Grabelle: p. 210, p. 213, p. 214, p. 215; Svetlana Harper: p. 96, p. 99, p. 101; Sarah Harris/Paradise Wildlife Park: p. 188, p. 191; © John Holland: p. xv; Doug Lindstrand/AWCC: p. 34, p. 37 (left and right); Christoph Matzke: p.198; Ewa Narkiewicz/elephantstay.com: p. 138, p. 139; Newspix/Getty Images: p. vii (bottom), p. 216, p. 221; Nuneaton & Warwickshire Wildlife Sanctuary: p. 124 (bottom), p. 128, p. 129; Brock Parker © Oregon Zoo: p. 182; Heather Rector: p. 46; © Tom Reed/Chestatee Wildlife Preserve/ZUMApress.com: p. 192, p. 195; © Rex USA: p. iv; p. 60, p. 63 (left and right), p. 65, p. 80, p. 83, p. 85, p. 140, p. 143, p. 144; Alex Rhodes/Lewa Wildlife Conservancy: p. 176, p. 179; Rafael Rosa: p. 172; Ross Parry Agency: p. 14, p. 17, p. 20. p. 25; Isobel Springett: p. 2, p. 5, p. 7, p. 9; © Sukree Sukplang/Reuters: p. 134, p. 136; SWNS: p. 86, p. 89, p. 118, p. 121, p. 122, p. 123, p. 124 (top), p. 126, p. 146, p. 149, p. 150; Matthew Tabaccos/Barcroft Media/Landov: p. iii p. 160 (top), p. 165; Steph Tufft: p. 26; Glen Vena/BFF Shamwari: p. 206, p. 209; © Wales News Service: p. 66, pp. 70–71; Alexander D. M. Wilson/Aquatic Mammals: p. 168, p. 171; Janice Wolf/Rocky Ridge Refuge: p. vii (top); p. 102 (all), p. 104 (all), p. 105 (all), p. 106, p. 107, p. 108, p. 109, p. 111, p. 113; Missy Ziler: p. 10.

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