Nora Bahr
UC Davis undergraduate,  4th year
Major: Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology

Amid studying for finals, I find myself yearning for more and more time at the ranch. It really does feel like an escape, a place where I can forget about the daily responsibilities of school and the stressors of life and simply exist with and appreciate animals. When I pass the minis on my way to the pig stall, I send a “Good morning!” their way, and all four of them trot up to the gate to greet me back. After giving Memphis copious head scratches, I make my way to the pigs, and as soon as they hear my footsteps they start squealing. Though ear-splitting, it’s a comforting sound because it reminds me of the strong bond Claire and I have built with them. Each pig perks up and oinks at me when I call their name. I could sit and watch them all day. It’s such a joy to know and be known by animals, and I want to share this feeling with as many people as possible. After spending months training the pigs and designing an experiment, we’re getting closer to achieving that goal.

It’s been quite a while since my last blog, and a lot has changed on the ranch since then! The pigs and the minis are doing well, and the garden is looking incredible. These past few weeks, we’ve all been focusing more centrally on our research. Our little pigs have been exposed to an abundance of people, regularly interacting with our colleagues and families, so their comfort level approaching strangers has really improved! But, how are we to know if our animals are actually capable of providing therapeutic services for those in need?

Nora Bahr
UC Davis undergraduate,  4th year
Major: Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology

Nora Bahr
UC Davis undergraduate,  4th year
Major: Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology

Romeo has been a bit of a menace this week. In our first few training sessions, myself and my fellow Pig Whisperer, Claire, had been rewarding the piglets with treats straight from our hands. We quickly discovered, however, that this leads to the pigs associating food with our fingers and therefore encourages biting. So, we changed things up and placed their food rewards on the ground instead of a sensitive body part. For a while, this seemed to greatly deter biting! Until this week…

Nora Bahr
UC Davis undergraduate,  4th year
Major: Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology

For the past two weeks, my fellow undergrad research intern partner, Claire, and I have been working on a presentation together reviewing pig therapy/animal-assisted therapy research and how we can use these findings to shape our own mini pig therapy programs. In scrolling through Google Scholar, we found close to zero articles in which pigs were utilized as a therapeutic resource for human health. Most of the research done on animal-assisted therapy focuses on dogs, though we also found studies that investigated the therapeutic effects of farm animal (cow, goat, horse, etc.) interactions on human participants. It was frustrating to not have a clear model on which to base the development of our own work, but it was also exciting because it meant that we were entering a novel field and paving the way for future studies on the effects of using mini pigs in therapy. Now, we had to present our findings, and that was a whole other story for me…

Nora Bahr
UC Davis undergraduate,  4th year
Major: Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology

​During a team meeting a couple of weeks ago, Becca mentioned to Jessie that she wanted her to start thinking about which mini horse or donkey would be best to treat certain conditions. As we worked on training the pigs this week, I couldn’t help but evaluate this suggestion and examine their personalities closer. I began to wonder: which pig would be most effective in treating specific illnesses? Are their personalities even different enough to support this approach?

This week was an all-around social event for the piglets. First, we had to figure out a solution to the dog issue. Last week we had a bit of a run-in with one of the dogs on the ranch while out on a walk with the piglets. The dog is very curious about the pigs, but they're (understandably) a little scared of this strange new creature. One of the owners of Pine Trails generously suggested that Claire and I put the dog away whenever we were planning on walking the piglets. This seemed to be the most efficient way to combat our compatibility issue, so we went right to work! The next time we planned to walk the pigs, we searched high and low for the dog but it was nowhere to be found. We discovered that it was with one of the owners, content and leashed by their side. Now we were free to walk the pigs without having to worry about running into a not-so-friendly face.

This week at the ranch was unbearably hot. As I became soaked through my t-shirt with sweat, the piglets basked in their cool water bowl as if it were a spa day. Despite the humidity, I found quite an escape on my walks with the pigs in the early mornings and dusky evenings. The walk we take is lined with redwoods and covered in a thick layer of soft green grass. In the mornings, just before the sun rises over the barn, the path is still cool and dewy and small rays of sunshine peek through the branches of the redwoods. In the evenings, small white butterflies flit along ahead of us. Walking the piglets like this is incredibly calming. I find myself not focused on other tasks or to-do lists, simply at peace in the practice of walking through nature with an animal. Though the pigs are just a bit more excitable than their trainers and occasionally get spooked by certain things along the walk like unfamiliar surfaces or odd smells, they do seem to look forward to and revel in their walks. ​

The beginning of this week consisted of harness training in the stall, some crate training, and a whole bunch of belly scratches. When I was finally able to work with others at the ranch after quarantine, Claire and I began to take the piggies out into the great big world beyond their horse stall! The pigs were definitely wary upon exiting the stall: the horses across the way were much larger than any human they'd ever come into contact with, and the smells and sounds were more intense outside their small bubble. Despite this initial shock, they adjusted quite well, and even seemed to enjoy it! Jelly Bean and Romeo charged their way along the perimeter of the ranch in their harnesses, rarely stopping to smell the flowers. Romeo was more sensitive to different surfaces, while Care Bear seemed to be a bit more timid, taking her time to sniff and inspect new things and occasionally getting scared by too-tall grass. ​